Shake’Up, Wavestone’s startup accelerator, is pleased to present the first edition of the “Women Entrepreneurs in Tech” prize. Conceived and piloted jointly with the French newspaper Les Echos, this prize will be awarded on March 5, 2025. The aim is to highlight one of the women who is shaping or actively contributing to Europe’s technological landscape (in the geographical sense of the term). For this first edition, a female founder or director of a startup or scale-up in the cyber world will receive personalized coaching from Shake ‘Up, as well as a promotion in the French newspaper Les Echos.
Why launch the “Women Entrepreneurs in Tech” award?
The goal of the “Women Entrepreneurs in Tech” award is to highlight a female director or founder of a startup or scale-up. In particular, we’re looking for B2B or B2B2C startups with strong innovation potential that Shake’Up could support in their development.
By launching this ‘Women Entrepreneurs in Tech’ award, the Shake’Up teams wanted to highlight the firm’s technological DNA and contribute to its CSR commitment regarding gender equality”, explains Mathilde Peyret, co-lead of the firm’s Shake’Up asset.
To ensure the best possible sourcing, in addition to the startups and scale-ups in our database (from our Radars, Calls for Projects and Vivatech Screening), we will be relying on our various partners (BPI, France Digitale…) as well as the vast network of Les Echos newspaper. And, of course, your suggestions!
A 1st edition dedicated to cyber
For this first edition, we’ve decided to focus on the theme of cybersecurity, on a European perimeter (see precise criteria at the bottom of the article). Noëmie Honoré, head of Wavestone’s Belgian office, and very committed to the theme of “Women in Cyber”, was a natural choice to sponsor this initiative alongside Charlie Perreau, head of the Tech-Médias-Start-up department at Les Echos.
The winner will be selected by a jury comprising two members of Wavestone (Gérôme Billois and Noémie Honoré) and two key journalists from Les Echos (Charlie Perreau and Florian Debes). They will assess the quality of the project, the relevance of the solution for market needs, and the suitability of the startup/scale-up in terms of the support it could receive from Shake’ Up.
The award ceremony will take place on March 5 at Wavestone’s offices in La Défense, in the presence of the firm’s partners and associations from the world of cyber. One of the five finalists invited for the occasion will be awarded the prize.
How to apply?
Are you a woman entrepreneur in the cyber world and does your organization meet the selection criteria? Please submit your application via this form:
Click here to submit a candidate
Award selection criteria
The prize will be awarded to a (co)founder or (co)director of a European cyber startup or scale-up (Europe in the geographical sense).
Startups and scale-ups must be headquartered in Europe, and sales of security products must represent at least 50% of their turnover.
Startups must be less than 7 years old and have fewer than 35 employees.
Scale-ups must meet at least one of the following two financial conditions:
– either have received financing over 3 years by raising funds of at least €10M in one go.
– or have sales of at least €2.5M and annual growth in excess of 25% over the last 3 fiscal years.
This financial condition must be coupled with a consolidated workforce of less than 250 employees.
If the company is linked to another (over 25% shareholding), this consolidation is the combination of its own workforce and:
– If the holding is between 25% and 50%, the workforce of the holding company is added on a pro rata basis.
– If the holding exceeds 50%, the full workforce of the holding company is added.
About Shake’Up
Since its launch in 2016, Shake’Up’s aim has been to help our teams learn about offers, solutions and innovations from the startup ecosystem in order to bring value to our customers. To date, Shake’Up has supported 50 companies, including Yuka, Phoenix Mobility, Isahit, Olvid, Hackuity and Néolithe.
About Les Echos
Founded in 1908, Les Echos is now France’s leading provider of business news. The brand helps decision-makers and entrepreneurs stay one step ahead. Every day, it offers them a global vision of world events and the economy. It deciphers corporate strategies and captures major emerging trends. It stimulates public debate with a plurality of opinions and contributions for a responsible economy. Les Echos reaches 9 million readers a month.
