Terms & Conditions  

Female Founder Award 2026 

As part of its different actions to support women in tech, Viva Technology is launching the eight edition of the Female Founder Award.  

The Female Founder Award Pitch Session and the VivaTech Global Awards Ceremony will take place at the Viva Technology Paris event, which will be held from June 17 to June 20, 2026, physically in Paris, (the "Event"). Candidate applications will be reviewed and assessed by a panel of experts based on qualitative criteria as set out in the present document. 

No registration fees are required to participate, nor are Candidates (as such term is defined hereafter) supposed to acquire or use any item whatsoever. However, the cost of the internet connection required to register for the Award remains the responsibility of the Candidates. 

MSL France, a joint-stock company with capital of 182,400 Euros, having its registered office at 145 rue de Courcelles, 75017 Paris, registered in Paris Trade and Companies Register with number 347 895 096 RCS Paris, acting as manager of the partnership formed between MSL France and Les Echos Solutions, a company having its registered office 10, boulevard de Grenelle 75015 PARIS registered in Paris Trade and companies Register with number 408 165 157, (hereinafter “Viva Technology”) organizes between 25/11/25 and 18/06/26 included an Award entitled “Female Founder Award” (hereinafter the “Award”). 

Participation in the Award implies the express and unreserved acceptance of these Award rules. 

The Female Founder Award is open to all female founders, co-founders, CEOs or Co-CEOs of a startup in the Tech sector wishing to raise funds. A startup refers to an independent company with a tech product, fewer than 100 employees, and which was created less than 8 years ago.   

This eighth edition of the Award also remains open to all candidates from previous editions of the Female Founder Award, except for the winners of the past editions. 

The candidate must be a natural person (and not a legal entity) over the age of 18 who has participated in the incorporation of and/or is the legal representative of the satrtup. 

The application must be written in English. It does not require the candidate to provide proof of residence or nationality. The candidate startup does not need to be limited to a specific topic, industry or technological solution. Any female founder, regardless of her company or location, can participate in the Award as long as she provides all of the necessary information so that the jury may correctly evaluate the application (see selection criteria below). 

By participating in the Award, the candidate will be expected to attend the Pitch Session and the VivaTech Global Awards Ceremony (which will take place between June 17 and June 18 at VivaTech, Paris Expo Porte de Versailles, 1 Place de la Porte de Versailles, F-75015 Paris, France) if she is selected amongst the 5 finalists. If the candidate is unable to attend one of the meetings for unforeseen reasons or any other type of reason, she must inform VivaTech as soon as possible, and before May 17 at the very latest, the Candidate will then be disqualified from the Pitch Session and VivaTech Global Awards Ceremony and the next Candidate in the ranking will be selected to be part of the 5 finalists. 

By registering and taking part in the Award, the candidate accepts the terms and conditions of its participation listed above and agrees to respect them. VivaTech reserves the right to declare incomplete, false, or non-compliant entries invalid. 

The candidate of the startup shall: 

Connect to the Award page between November 25, 2025 at 16:00 CET Paris and February 2, 2026 at 23:55 CET Paris; 

Register the Startup by following the instructions; 

Fill in the required information; 

Download any other relevant document to enhance the project. 

The key dates of the challenge: 

March 24, 2026: Official release of the Top 30 

April 28, 2026: Official release of the 5 finalists  

June 17-20, 2026: VivaTech Event (Pitch Session and Global VivaTech Awards Ceremony) 

Office Hours (TBC) 

Afterwork in a VivaTech Lounge (TBC) 

5 selected startups will have to present their project in front of the jury members and the public present at a date to be confirmed between June 17 and June 20 to Viva Technology, Paris Expo Porte de Versailles, 75015 Paris during the Pitch Session. The exact day and time will be communicated later to the selected Startups. 

The pitch format details will be sent to the finalists later before the Pitch Session. At the end of this session, the finalist will be chosen by the jury and will be revealed during the VivaTech Global Awards Ceremony on June 18. She will receive her prize during that ceremony. 

4.1 Jury Members  

The Jury will be composed of 6 members among employees of the knowledge partners (Forvis Mazars and IRIS), sponsors of the Award, VCs, Top entrepreneurs, and ecosystem key players. (the “Jury”).  

4.2 Selection Process 

Once the Challenge is closed, the knowledge partner FORVIS MAZARS will be in charge of screening all the applications and select 100 best startups following the selection criteria below: 

Innovation: Level of relevance, originality and innovation demonstrated by the tech solution 

Scalability & Viability : Ability of the solution to scale while remaining technically, economically and environmentally viable 

Team profile: Profile of the female founder(s) and co-founder(s), ability to lead the project to success, hard and soft skills of the operational team 

Business model: Your business model demonstrated traction and product/market fit 

Impact: Solutions that contribute to improving environmental and social impact 

The Top 30 Selection : 

From that top 100, Forvis Mazars and IRIS (the other knowledge partner), a venture capital and growth firm, will select a top 30 among the 100 best startups according to the same selection criteria with a higher level of expectation. 

The 5 Finalists Selection: 

Once the 30 startups are selected, the jury will be in charge of selecting the 5 finalists. 

The selection criteria will be the same as the Top 30 selection criteria, with a higher level of expectation.  

The Winner Selection: 

The 5 finalists will be invited to pitch their startup in front of the Jury and the public during the Pitch Session at Viva Technology. The exact time and date will be communicated later to the finalists.  

The Jury will be in charge of nominating the winning startup based on selection criteria set out above.  

The winner will then be revealed and invited to pitch during the VivaTech Global Awards Ceremony, with the winners of all the other VivaTech Awards. 

 The exact date and time of the Award Ceremony will be communicated later. 

For the Top 30 Female Founders: 

For the 5 finalists 

For the Winner 

• Fundraising coaching by IRIS (from pitch deck revamp to intros to VCs)   

• Extensive visibility across VivaTech’s communication channels 

• A free Startup Corner at the 2026 edition of VivaTech (€3,500 excluding VAT) 

• A 5-month business development mentoring program with Forvis Mazars XFactory 

• An interview in the VT news, the live channel of VivaTech 

Are not included: 

The Prizes will be awarded to the Winner at the end of the Award, during VivaTech 2026, between June 17 and June 20. 

The presence of the winning founder of the startup is mandatory when the prize is delivered. In the case of absence of the winner for said prize, the candidate immediately after in the ranking will be declared a winner and the candidate absent will be disqualified from the Award. 

Viva Technology reserves the right to replace the prizes with prizes of close features and equivalent or higher value if circumstances so require. 

Viva Technology cannot be held responsible for a problem of communication, network connection, computers or faulty connection. Viva Technology cannot be held responsible for the malfunction of the site for a given browser. 

Viva Technology is not responsible for any malfunction of the platform Agorize or any late, lost, damaged, misdirected, incomplete, illegible, undeliverable, or destroyed applications due to system errors, failed, incomplete or garbled computer or other telecommunication transmission malfunctions, hardware or software failures of any kind, lost or unavailable network connections or technical malfunction(s), which may limit a Candidate's ability to participate. 

In no event will Viva Technology be held responsible for a loss of data or a deterioration of this data. Viva Technology cannot be held responsible if the data relating to the registration of a Candidate did not reach it for any reason or it could be illegible or impossible to process (for example, if the Candidate has computer hardware or an inadequate software environment for registration or an Internet connection problem). 

Viva Technology shall not be held responsible if, for any reason (including computer fraud, virus, fire, flood, strike, force majeure, pandemic such as COVID-19 or any other reason) this Award has to be shortened, modified, postponed or cancelled. In fact, Viva Technology reserves the right to shorten, modify or cancel this Award if the circumstances so require, without repair of any damage to the Candidates nor reimburse any expense incurred by them. Any amendment to these rules may be the subject of information to the Candidates. 

Any false statement or data automatically results in the disqualification of the startup. The proven fraud or attempted cheating of a Candidate may be sanctioned by Viva Technology without notice.  

Candidates participating in the Award allow Viva Technology to: 

Use the logo, brand and other distinctive features of their startup starting from their participation in the Challenge, during the Event (ie Viva technology) and for three (3) years from the end of the Event, for any promotional campaign organized by Viva Technology in particular, they allow Viva Technology to: 

8. PERSONAL DATA COLLECTION 

8.1 Principle 

Participation in the Award requires the submission of personal data relating, in particular, to the identity of the Candidates (including names, mailing and correspondence addresses, phone numbers, photos, CVs, etc.). Personal data will be processed in compliance with the French Act on Data Protection n°78-12, as modified by the General Data Protection Regulation of the European Commission (GDPR) of 27 April 2016. 

The Candidate retains the right, at all times: 

These rights may be asserted free of charge on simple request to privacy@vivatechnology.com 

Unless marked as optional, if the Candidate disagrees to provide or asks for the deletion of the personal data, this may result in the non-registration at the Award. 

Data relating to Candidates will be deleted by Viva Technology three years after the 2026 Event. 

If the Candidate doesn’t object, her personal data will be communicated to Forvis Mazars for potential inclusion in its incubation program and participation in a study on female entrepreneurship.  

Data relating to unsuccessful Candidates will be deleted three years after the 2026 Event. Data relating to the Selected Candidates will be retained for the whole duration of the business relationship between the Sponsor and the Candidate. 

8.2 Purpose and recipients 

The collection and processing of such personal data will be transferred to our knowledge partners and used for the purposes of the Selection and the Award including: 

The recipients of the data are specifically designated employees of MSL France, Forvis Mazars, IRIS, Agorize  being a subcontractor of MSL France for the purpose of the collection of such data in the context of the Selection. 

Their candidatures will also be transferred to the Jury members to select the 5 finalists and the winner.  

For further information on Viva Technology's data protection policy in relation to the organization of the challenges, candidates may consult the privacy policy provided to them upon registration. 

9. APPLICABLES LAWS, SETTLEMENT OF DISPUTES AND ILLEGALITY 

9.1 Governing law 

These Challenge rules shall be governed and interpreted in accordance with French law. 

9.2 Settlement of disputes 

In the Event of a dispute arising out of or in connection with these User Rules (a "Dispute"), the parties shall first seek amicable settlement of that Dispute. Either party may commence amicable settlement by sending to the other party a written request , setting forth the subject of the Dispute and the relief requested (the "Notice"). 

If the Dispute has not been amicably settled within 60 days following the date of the Notice or within such other period as the parties may agree in writing, either party may initiate proceedings before the French courts which shall have exclusive jurisdiction to hear the Dispute. 

Any Notice or correspondence in relation to a Dispute should be addressed to: startups@vivatechnology.com .