7th Edition Finalists - Pierre-Louis Théron for Streamroot ; Camille Delebecque for Afineur ; Jonathan Cherki for Content Square ; Charlotte Ogeé for Your LoveBox 

8^th French-American Entrepreneurship Award Competition Opens

New York (December 3^rd, 2015) – The Club 600 today announced a call for entries for the eighth French-American Entrepreneurship Award (FAEA), an annual startup competition. The Award, established in 2008, recognizes young French entrepreneurs launching businesses in the United States.  This year, two exceptional startups will be selected to receive cash and in-kind prizes. Winners will be announced in May 2016.

“The French-American Entrepreneurship Award honors deserving young entrepreneurs who are breaking into the highly competitive American market,” said Anne Busquet, Executive Director of FAEA. “We believe there is strong potential for exciting young businesses to thrive, and we are delighted to have the opportunity once again to support their growth and development.”

The French-American Entrepreneurship Award is open to company founders who are 35 years of age or under and are fluent in both French and English. Geared to early stage projects (three years or fewer in business), eligible entries must offer a product or a service that is commercially viable with a demonstrated ability to generate revenues.

The first place and second place winners of the eighth annual French-American Entrepreneurship Award will receive cash prizes of $10,000 and $5,000 respectively. Both winning teams will also receive: a six-month coaching package with entrepreneurs from Club 600, who will provide strategic, legal, accounting, and financial advice; fully furnished office space in New York City for six months provided by Corporate Suites; one round-trip airline ticket New York-Paris on La Compagnie; a one year membership to the French-American Chamber of Commerce and to French Founders; and high impact media appearance and media coverage opportunities.

To apply, entrepreneurs must first submit a one-page business overview for judging by a panel of French-American business leaders and entrepreneurs with expertise across a variety of professional disciplines and industries. Submission guidelines and more information about the awards are available on the FAEA website. Applications must be submitted by February 22, 2016.

Six competition semi-finalists will be announced on March 14, 2016.  These semi-finalists will be invited to submit a business pitch deck by April 8, 2016, which they will subsequently present in New York City to a jury of French-American business leaders, led by members of the Club 600.  The jury will select four businesses to compete in the final round of the FAEA competition. For this eighth edition, finalists will present their projects to an audience of French-American entrepreneurs and business people; two winners will be selected via live voting at an event to be held in May 2016.

The previous winners of The French-American Entrepreneurship Award were:

• 2015: Camille Delebecque and Sophie Deterre for Afineur (a company which uses designer fermentations to craft tastier, healthier, and more sustainable food. Its flagship product, Cultured Coffee, redefines the coffee experience by unlocking new aromas and flavor landscapes);
• 2015: Pierre-Louis Théron, Nikolay Rodionov, and Axel Delmas for Streamroot (a new streaming solution that allows online broadcasters to provide better quality streaming while drastically reducing bandwidth costs);
• 2014: Arthur Lenoir, Adrien Cognée, and Baptiste Poirier for Jellynote (a social media platform that allows users to create and share sheet music, tabs and covers);
• 2013: Melchior Scholler, Felix Winckler, and Etienne Adriaenssen for Poutsch (now known as VoicePolls - a social media platform to express, collect and analyze opinions);
• 2012: Thomas Ferré for Tomi-O-Tee (the first line of golf wear made sustainably and in a design unique to the golf lifestyle, now part of Loomstate);
• 2011: Céline Legros for Canelé by Céline (a food business specialized in the baking and selling of French mini pastries to introduce the concept of Café Gourmand to New Yorkers);
• 2010: Stéphane Chong and Klaus Speidel for Hypios (a global online market place connecting communities of problem solvers and innovators);
• 2009: Sébastien Payen and Thibaut Scholasch for Fruition Sciences (a California-based business which assists individual wineries in capturing and analyzing vineyard data to improve consistency, yield, and quality).

Since its founding in 2008, the Award has enabled outstanding startups to advance their U.S. business objectives. As 2015 winner Pierre-Louis Théron of Streamroot noted, “The French-American Entrepreneurship Award helped us move our company to New York, a step that has been crucial for achieving our expansion goals.”

Club 600

The Club 600 was established in 1985 by a group of French-speaking business executives in New York City. Their intention was to create a forum for the exchange of ideas and experiences among Francophones living in New York and to contribute to the development of economic, commercial and financial relations between French and American business entities.  The Club continues the same mission and today is composed of senior managers and owners of US companies with more than 100 members in four chapters (New York, Miami, France and Mexico).  The FAEA was created to honor the memory of one of its members, the late Dominique Mercier, a successful entrepreneur. www.club600.com.

Sponsors

The French-American Entrepreneurship Award is supported by the generosity of the following sponsors:

Platinum: La Compagnie, The French-American Chamber of Commerce

Gold: Corporate Suites

Silver: JC Decaux, Deloitte, Deborah A. Nilson & Associates, PLLC, Sofitel

Bronze: Altour, French Founders

For more information about the French-American Entrepreneurship Award and how to apply, please visit http://www.faea-us.com/. Help us spread the word to potential candidates:

Twitter: @FAEAward

Facebook: French-American Entrepreneurship Award

LinkedIn: French-American Entrepreneurship Award

Press Contact: Fraîche PR +1-212-463-8930

Diana Tedesco (diana@fraichepr.com)

Elsa Degioanni (elsa@fraichepr.com)

“The goal of the French-American Entrepreneurship Award is to help deserving young entrepreneurs get their businesses off the ground in the highly competitive American market,” said Emmanuel Cargill, SVP Human Resources at Pernod Ricard USA and Co-Executive Director of the FAEA.  “This year, we are delighted to be able to honor entrepreneurial excellence in each of two distinct areas of strength for young French-American businesses, Art de Vivre and Digital Innovation.”

The French-American Entrepreneurship Award is open to company founders who are 35 years of age or under and are fluent in both French and English. Geared to early stage projects (three years or fewer in business), eligible entries must offer a product or service that is commercially viable with a demonstrated ability to generate revenues.

The two winners of the 2015 French-American Entrepreneurship Award will each receive: a cash prize of $10,000; a six-month coaching package with a mentor from Club 600, who will lead a team of relevant strategic, legal, accounting, and financial advisors; fully furnished office space in New York City for six months; and high impact media appearance andcoverage opportunities.

To apply, entrepreneurs must submit business plans for review by a panel of French-American business leaders and entrepreneurs with expertise across a variety of professional disciplines and industries. Submission guidelines and more information about the awards are available on the FAEA website. Applications must be submitted by January 31, 2015. Six 2015 competition finalists (three for each category) will be announced on March 15, 2015, and the winner will be announced at the award ceremony on April 13, 2015.

“We believe there is strong potential for exciting young businesses to develop and to thrive, as evidenced by thesuccess stories of our six previous winners,” said Yves Coleon, Founder/President of Transmark Partners and Co-Executive Director of the FAEA. “The French-American Entrepreneurship Award helps propel businesses ahead with positive exposure, new resources, support from industry experts, and networking opportunities.”

The previous winners of The French-American Entrepreneurship Award were:

·      2014: Arthur Lenoir, Adrien Cognee, and Baptiste Poirier for Jellynote (a social media platform that allows users to create and share sheet music, tabs and covers);

·      2012: Melchior Scholler, Felix Winckler, and Etienne Adriaenssen for Poutsch (now known as VoicePolls- a social media platform to express, collect and analyze opinions);

·      2011: Thomas Ferré for Tomi O Tee (the first line of golf wear made sustainably and in a design unique to the golf lifestyle);

·      2010: Céline Legros for Canelé by Céline (a food business specialized in the baking and selling of French mini pastries to introduce the concept of Café Gourmand to New Yorkers);

·      2009: Stephane Chong and Klaus Speidel for Hypios (a global online market place connecting communities of problem solvers and innovators);

·      2008: Sebastien Payen and Thibaut Scholasch for Fruition Sciences (a California-based business which assists individual wineries in capturing and analyzing vineyard data to improve consistency, yield, and quality).

FAEA Advisory Council and Sponsors

Advisory Council

-     Sylvain Ardiet, AlphaServe Technologies

-       Norbert Benaiche, Deloitte

-       Martin Bischoff, The French-American Chamber of Commerce

-       Anne Busquet, AMB Advisors

-       Emmanuel Cargill, Pernod Ricard USA

-       Diana Castelnuovo-Tedesco, Fraiche PR

-       Yves Coleon,Transmark Partners

-       Eric Draghi,1000 Passions

-       Thomas Ferre, Tomiotee (FAEA winner)

-       Melchior Scholler, Poutsch (FAEA winner)

-       Stephan Thollot, Ernst & Young LLP

Sponsors

The French-American Entrepreneurship Award is supported by the generosity of the following sponsors:

Platinum:

Pernod Ricard USA

Gold:

La Chambre de Commerce Franco-Américaine, Corporate Suites, Constantin

Silver:

JC Decaux, Deloitte

# # #

For more information about the French-American Entrepreneurship Award and how to apply, as well as daily news updates of interest to entrepreneurs, please visit http://www.faea-us.com/.

Help us spread the word to potential candidates:

Twitter: @FAEAward

Facebook: French-American Entrepreneurship Award

LinkedIn: French-American Entrepreneurship Award

Picture: FAEA's 6th Edition Winners - Jellynote - Adrien Cognee and Baptiste Poirier

(From left to right: FAEA Co-Director Emmanuel Cargill; Jellynote Co-Founders Adrien Cognée and Baptiste Poirier; FAEA Co-Director Yves Coleon)

New York – (April 7, 2014) – The Executive Directors of the French-American Entrepreneurship Award (FAEA) announced that Jellynote is the winner of the sixth annual business plan competition for French-speaking entrepreneurs.

Led by three engineers, Adrien Cognée, Arthur Lenoir, and Baptiste Poirier, Jellynote is a new social platform about music creation and performance that enables users to create and share sheet music, tabs, and covers. The site brings a new dimension to the experience of playing and learning music: while users play a song, Jellynote listens and gives feedback in real time.

Jellynote was selected from among four finalists who presented their business plans on Sunday, April 6 to a judging panel representing expertise across a range of disciplines and industries. The other three finalists were awarded honorable mentions in the competition:

• Jarvis Legal (founders: brothers Anthony Yérémian and Alexandre Yérémian)  —  Designed with lawyers for lawyers, an all-in-one SaaS application to manage a law firm (including cases, contacts, calendars, time tracking and billing) on the go.
• Sketchfab (founder: Alban Denoyel) — The first web service to offer an easy way to publish, share and embed interactive 3D content in a browser without a plugin.
• Souk (founder: Thomas Devos) — A mobile app that serves as a transaction and communication channel between fashion retail stores and customers.

The Sixth Annual French-American Entrepreneurship Award judging panel were:

-         Sylvain Ardiet, AlphaServe Technologies

-          Norbert Benaiche, Deloitte

-          Cyrille Bessière, Palais des Thés USA

-          Sandrine Bernard, Solstiss USA

-          Emmanuel Cargill, Pernod Ricard USA

-          Diana Castelnuovo-Tedesco, Fraîche PR

-          Yves Coleon, Transmark Partners

-          Eric Draghi, 1000 Passions

-          Thomas Ferré, TomiOTee (FAEA winner)

-          Julien Legeard, LMC Corp (FAEA finalist)

-          Stephan Thollot, Ernst & Young LLP

The competition was open to founder-entrepreneurs who are 35 years of age or under and are fluent in both French and English. Geared to early stage projects (three years or fewer in business), eligible entries must offer a product or service that is commercially available with a demonstrated ability to generate revenues.

“The goal of this award is to help deserving young French-American entrepreneurs get their businesses off the ground in the United States. Jellynote stood out for its innovative concept and for the outstanding traction that the platform has gained with musicians in the 15 months since launch. The judging panel was impressed that the site already attracts more than one million visitors per month, before even starting a dedicated marketing effort,” said Emmanuel Cargill, Co-Executive Director of the FAEA, and HR SVP at Pernod Ricard USA.

At a ceremony at the Helen Mills Event Space in Chelsea, the Jellynote co-founders received a cash prize of $10,000; a six-month coaching package comprised of strategic, legal, accounting, and financial advice from relevant business and industry leaders; fully furnished office space in New York City for six months; and complimentary one-year memberships in the French-American Chamber of Commerce, the most important private organization for promoting trade and investment between the United States and France, and in the Club 600, a leadership organization of U.S.-based francophone senior executives and business owners.

During the evening, Souk was selected by attendees as the FAEA People’s Choice Award winner, based on live voting after mini-presentations of each of the finalists’ businesses.

“The French-American Entrepreneurship Award is delighted to recognize and reward such a promising young trio of entrepreneurs, “ said Yves Coleon, Co-Executive Director of the FAEA and Founder/President of Transmark Partners. “We look forward to providing coaching and advice to Jellynote as its team expands to New York from Paris.”

Pernod Ricard USA Student Challenge Winner Named

FAEA Platinum Sponsor Pernod Ricard USA (PR USA) also announced the winner of the Pernod Ricard USA Student Challenge, a new pilot program to engage students of legal drinking age from universities in the tri-state area surrounding New York City.

Students at least 21 years of age from New York area universities were invited to submit a project proposal either independently or in pairs around one of two topics: how to reduce binge drinking or how to reduce drunk driving. PR USA chose Alexander Kutler based on the innovation, creativity, feasibility, clarity, and factual research of his proposal.

Kutler, who will graduate in May from Columbia University, will receive a 10-week paid summer 2014 internship at PR USA’s New York City headquarters, where he will have the opportunity to bring his project to life; obtain mentorship and career counseling; have lunch with the CEO of PR USA; and be recognized in the company’s internal newsletter.

###

Sponsors

The French-American Entrepreneurship Award is supported by the generosity of the following sponsors:

Platinum:

Pernod Ricard USA

Gold:

The French-American Chamber of Commerce

Club 600

Constantin

Corporate Suites

Silver:

JC Decaux

Deloitte

Visit:  http://www.faea-us.com/

Twitter: @FAEAward

Facebook: French-American Entrepreneurship Award

LinkedIn: French-American Entrepreneurship Award

The French-American Entrepreneurship Award is open to company founders who are 35 years of age or under and are fluent in both French and English. Geared to early stage projects (three years or fewer in business), eligible entries must offer a product or service that is commercially viable with a demonstrated ability to generate revenues.

The winner of the 2014 French-American Entrepreneurship Award will receive: a cash prize of $10,000; a six-month coaching package comprised of strategic, legal, accounting, and financial advice from relevant business and industry leaders; fully furnished office space in New York City for six months; and complimentary one-year memberships in the French-American Chamber of Commerce, the most important private organization for promoting trade and investment between the United States and France, and in the Club 600, a leadership organization of U.S.-based francophone senior executives and business owners.

To apply, entrepreneurs must submit business plans for review by a panel of French-American business leaders and entrepreneurs with expertise across a variety of professional disciplines and industries. Submission guidelines and more information about the awards are available on the FAEA website. Applications must be submitted by February 28, 2014. A short list of 2014 competition finalists will be announced on March 18, 2014, and the winner will be announced on April 7, 2014.

The previous winners of The French-American Entrepreneurship Award were:

• 2012: Melchior Scholler. Felix Winckler, and Etienne Adriaenssen for Poutsch
• 2011: Thomas Ferré for Tomi O Tee
• 2010: Céline Legros for Canelé by Céline
• 2009: Stephane Chong and Klaus Speidel for Hypios
• 2008: Sebastien Payen and Thibaut Scholasch for Fruition Sciences

# # #

For more information about the French-American Entrepreneurship Award and how to apply, as well as daily news updates of interest to entrepreneurs, please visit http://www.faea-us.com/.

Help us spread the word to potential candidates:

@FAEAward

 French-American Entrepreneurship Award

 French-American Entrepreneurship Award