Deadline: 12-Mar-23

The International Finance Corporation (IFC) and Viva Technology announced the second edition of the 2023 African Plant Nutrition Scholar Award, an initiative to spotlight Africa-focused companies with innovative solutions addressing key development challenges linked to climate change, health care, and financial inclusion.

Founders are invited to apply for the awards in three categories – climate tech, fintech, and health tech.

Purpose

• VivaTech, in partnership with the International Finance Corporation (IFC) as co-host, (VivaTech and IFC being together referred to herein as the “Co-hosts”) organizes the second edition of the AfricaTech Awards. This initiative aims to recognize and support innovative Africa-focused companies with new solutions in the climate tech, health tech, and fintech sectors.
• The final ceremony, in which the winners of the AfricaTech Awards will be awarded, will take place during Viva Technology 2023 (the “Event”), which will be held from June 14 to June 17, 2023 in Paris.

Organizer and Object

• This Challenge is co-hosted by IFC, the largest global development institution focused on the private sector in emerging markets.
• To launch this second edition of the AfricaTech Awards, VivaTech will rely on Deloitte, one of the world’s largest audit and consulting firms, as a knowledge partner.

Prizes

• For the 9 finalists:
  • Take part in VivaTech
  • Invitation to the Event (including flight, booth and passes*)
  • Pitch on stage on the AfricaTech Lab
  • Take part in the official AfricaTech Awards ceremony
• A finalist startup wins 1 plane ticket from its country of origin to Paris  with a maximum reimbursement of 1500€, hotel accommodation for the duration of the Event for 1 person, 2 passes for the 4 days at Viva Technology Event and a booth at the AfricaTech Lab. Only the hotel reservation will be made through the Viva Technology organization.
• In order to receive the reimbursement of the plane ticket, the startup must provide to Viva Technology a Certificate of registration (or a Kbis), a bank account number or a bank certificate, an invoice in addressed to Viva Technology and a proof of purchase of the ticket. The amount refunded must not exceed 1500€.
• Meet key players to scale your business
  • Network with top corporate partners
  • Pitch your startup to top VC funds
  • Refine your ideas with fellow entrepreneurs
• Benefit from a strong visibility
  • Get highlighted in the VivaTech program
  • Be included in the VivaTech communication plan
  • Each of the three category winners will benefit from increased visibility and access to the networks provided by Viva Tech and IFC, including select one-on-one meetings with leaders and top executives in the tech industry.
• Not included in the prizes are:
  • Personal expenses of the startup
  • Insurance
  • And more generally, any service not specifically described.
  • The Pitch Session is planned to take place in person; in case any Pre-Selected Startup decides in its sole discretion and under its own responsibility to physically participate in the Pitch Session in Paris, the Candidates are responsible for taking care of all administrative and health procedures required for a stay in France in view of their personal status, in particular of customs formalities.
  • The Prizes will be awarded to the winner(s) at the end of the Challenge during the Official Awards Ceremony, on one of the three stages of Viva Tech.
  • The presence of the winning team of the startup is mandatory when each prize is delivered, except in the case of force majeure. In case of absence of the winner for said prize, the runner-up Candidate will be declared a winner and the original winner shall be disqualified from the Challenge.
  • Viva Tech reserves the right to replace the prizes with prizes of similar content and equivalent or higher value if circumstances so require.
  • Finalists participating in Viva Technology accept the terms and conditions of the event mentioned on the Viva Technology website.

Participants

• The AfricaTech Awards is open to all startups operating in Africa, with a majority of the team based in Africa and/or serving African markets and focused on one of the following categories: Climate Tech, Health Tech, or FinTech.
• An application to the AfricaTech Awards must be written in English according to the process described in article 4. Any African startup meeting the criteria (the “Candidate”), can participate in the Challenge as long as it provides all of the necessary information so that the jury may correctly evaluate the application.
• By participating in the Challenge, the CEO or a representative of the startup’s management committee will be expected to attend the AfricaTech Labs during the Event, the AfricaTech Dinner, the Pitch contest and the Awards ceremony (which will take place during the Event at VivaTech, Paris Expo Porte de Versailles, 1 Place de la Porte de Versailles, F-75015 Paris, France, exact dates will be communicated later) if selected amongst the 3 finalists per Category (total of 9 startups selected). VivaTech will provide an official invitation letter for the Event to finalists. If a Candidate is unable to attend one of the meetings for unforeseen reasons or any other type of reason, they must inform VivaTech as soon as possible, and before May 16 at the very latest, the Candidate will then be disqualified from the Final and the next Candidate in the ranking will be selected for the Final.
• By registering and taking part in the Challenge, the Candidate accepts the terms and conditions of its participation listed and is agreeing to respect them. VivaTech reserves the right to declare incomplete, false, or non-compliant entries invalid.
• Registration and participation in the Challenge is completely free, and without obligation to purchase. However, the cost of the internet connection required to register for the Challenge remains the responsibility of the Candidates.

Participation in the Challenge

• The legal representative or the Candidate of the startup shall:
  • Connect to the platform Agorize
  • Register the Startup by following the instructions;
  • Fill in the required information;
  • Upload any other relevant document to enhance the application.
• Startup exposition in the AfricaTech Lab for the 3 finalists per category
• AfricaTech Dinner for the 3 finalists of each category
• AfricaTech Awards Ceremony rewarding the winner in each category
• They will allow a delay of one week after this date for startups that have not completed their applications.
• Candidates who have not provided proof of their full contact details and identities or who have provided them inaccurately or misleadingly will be disqualified, as will persons refusing the processing of personal data concerning them strictly necessary for the management of the Challenge. The information provided by the Candidate as part of his registration for the Challenge is his responsibility and any error, anomaly, inconsistency, intentional or not, relating to the information communicated by the Candidate may result in his disqualification.
• Viva Technology reserves the right to carry out all the necessary verifications concerning the identity, the postal and / or electronic address and the activities in Africa.
• The deletion of a Candidate’s user account on the Challenge Site will be considered as an abandonment of the latter’s participation in the Challenge. In this case, the Candidate, even if he is able to provide proof that this deletion is not his fault, will not be able to rejoin the Challenge, nor will he be able to obtain any compensation from Viva Technology.
• The 9 selected startups are asked to come and exhibit their startup during 4 days, from June 14 to June 17, 2023, at the AfricaTech Lab at Viva Technology in Paris Expo Porte de Versailles, 75015 Paris. They will also have to present their project during the Viva Technology’s final ceremony. The exact date and time will be communicated to the selected startups at a later date.
• There will be one winner per Category.
• All the finalists will be invited to pitch their startup on the AfricaTech Lab stage. All detailed information regarding the format, time and dedicated space will be sent by VivaTech to the 9 finalists.
• Top 45 Selection:
  • Once the Challenge is closed, the knowledge partner will be in charge of screening all the applications and select 15 startups per Category (45 startups in total).
•  Top 9 Selection:
  • Once the 15 startups per Category are selected, a jury composed of representatives from VivaTech, IFC, sponsors, ambassadors and other key ecosystem players, will be in charge of selecting the Top 3 startups per Category (9 startups in total).
• Top 3 Selection:
  • The jury composed of VivaTech, IFC representatives, sponsors representatives, ambassadors representatives, and other key ecosystem players will be in charge of nominating the winning startup of each Category. The winner of each Category will be announced during the Awards Ceremony at Viva Technology.
  • Notice to Participants. At each selection stage, the Candidate will be notified by email, telephone, or by any other means, at the sole discretion of Viva Technology, of the results of the selection. Viva Tech will be free to modify the dates on which the results are communicated in the event that the number of startups to be examined makes this change necessary. The ranking decided by the jury will be announced on the day of the Final and will designate the Big Winner.

Eligibility Criteria

• Eligibility of the startup:
  • Operating in Africa: majority of the team based in Africa and/or serving African markets
  • Having a solution or product addressing the African market
  • Must have raised between US$200K to US$10M in capital
  • Must address one of the following themes: Climate Tech, Health Tech or FinTech

Details

• May 3, 2023 (to be confirmed): Official Announcement of the Top 45 (15 per category)
• June 2, 2023: Announcement of the 9 finalists (3 per category)
• June 14-17, 2023: VivaTech Event.

For more information, visit IFC.