“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

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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/.

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