Entrepreneurial initiative award 2021

Entrepreneurial initiative award 2021 - in partnership with Atos

For the fifth year in a row, the Danish-French Chamber of Commerce will award the ”Entrepreneur of the year" award in partnership with Atos.

Have you recently started your own business or do you plan to expand in Denmark or France ?

The Danish-French Chamber of Commerce wishes to support entrepreneurs of Danish-French projects by holding a contest that grants the winner increased visibility, legal support and a free payroll service for one year. See the conditions at the bottom of the page. Below you can find all the details about the contest. Do not hesitate to contact us for further information.

“Entrepreneur of the year” 
The award is aimed at entrepreneurial projects carried out by French entrepreneurs in Denmark or by Danish entrepreneurs who would like to develop their business in France. 

Registration criteria 
• You are in the process of starting your business or have started it in Denmark or in France
• All fields of activity are welcome 
• You have a turnover of less than 150.000 euros in Denmark (for French companies or French Entrepreneurs) or in France (for Danish companies or Danish Entrepreneurs), or have carried out a fund raising of maximum the same amount since the creation of the company.

What information should I provide? 
Each application should contain: 
• A motivational letter (2 pages maximum: why you have chosen Denmark or France, what your motivation is for participating in this competition and which impact the award from this prize could have on the launch or development of your company)
• A Business Plan (no more than 6 pages)

In the Business Plan, the following must be included: 
• A presentation of your activities 
• The history of your company
 
• Your knowledge of the local market (market size, competitors, growth, ...)
• Strategy: how you will launch and/or develop your business, positioning, price, innovation etc.
• 3 year provisional financial plan

Our commitments  
• Provide personalized feedback on each Business Plan 
• Ensure the confidentiality of the applications submitted

Important dates 
• Monday the 5th of July 2021: open for submissions of registrations 
• Wednesday the 31st of January 2022: last day to send in registrations
• From the 1st of February to the 4th of March 2022: final oral presentations by the chosen candidates
• In March/April: award ceremony at the French Embassy.

Selection criteria 
The principal factors, which the judging panel will select the winner from, are the quality of the project, its potential, the team and the innovative character of the project in the Danish-French ecosystem. The objective is to detect, highlight and support an entrepreneur or a startup in a "Danish-French" project. It shall be stated that the judging panel selects the companies in a sovereign manner, and will not have to justify its choice or owe any justification to the eliminated participants.

The judging panel
The judging panel (that selects the winning project) will be composed of various profiles: 
• The members of the board of the Danish-French Chamber of Commerce 
• C.C.E.s, French Foreign Trade Advisors 
• Business France Denmark 
• Danish-French managers 
• Elected Frenchmen 
• Institut Français
• Atout France
• The French Ambassador in Denmark.

Rewards for the winning project
The selected company will receive several rewards: 
• Extensive visibility: your project/company will be presented to the network of the Danish-French Chamber of Commerce through email, social networks and at a ceremony at the French Embassy, 
• Legal support: 360 Law Firm will offer a grant to legal support of up to 20.000 DKK to the winner of the competition. https://www.360-lawfirm.com/ 
• A membership of the Danish-French Chamber of Commerce: The winner will join the Chamber of Commerce as company member and thus be able to participate in all of our events, benefit from our network, from our discounts for members and present his or her company in our directory and newsletters, 
• Administration services free of charge: 
The Chamber will provide you with a one-year payroll management service for one employee in Denmark for free.

How to participate in the contest? 
Please send your application with the information listed above on January 31st at the latest by email to: contact@danish-french.com.

Please contact the Danish-French Chamber of Commerce for further information. We will be happy to meet you and discuss your project/company. You can use the contact form on our website or the email address below:
contact@danish-french.com

In March/April 2022, we will organize the award ceremony at the French Embassy in Copenhagen. You will receive more information about the date later

Find more information about the previous editions below:
- Entrepreneurial initiative award 2020 (winner: Ecotree)
- Entrepreneurial initiative award 2019 (winner: Lapee)
- Entrepreneurial initiative award 2018 (winner: Tomorrow)
- Entrepreneurial initiative award 2017 (winner: Double-U) 

Formand for komitéen:
Pierre-Yves Jullien,
viceformand for Handelskammeret. 

Medlemmer af komitéen
Anders Torbøl
Claire Camdessus
Frederic Hasbani
Joelle La¨ïk Caroz
Luc de Visme
Marie-José Caron
Pascal Badache
Patrice Caron 
Samuel Vaillant-Jørgensen