Orange launches the 6th edition of the Orange Social Venture Prize
Orange launches the 6th edition of the Orange Social Venture Prize. Four winners will receive 55,000 Euro. Please share the news to help the entrepreneurs you know seize this opportunity. If they use information and communication technologies (ICT) in an innovative fashion to exert a positive influence on society and/or the environment in Africa or the Middle East, they can have a piece in this adventure. If you are this very person and your social entrepreneurship could enjoy a little help, take part to the contest!
Encouraging innovation and the use of ICT for development
The Orange Social Venture Prize rewards entrepreneurs developing products or services that use ICT in an innovative way to meet the needs of people in Africa or the Middle East in fields such as health, agriculture, education, energy, industry or trade.
Over the past five years, the thousands of projects which have been submitted for the Orange Social Venture Prize display the dynamism of entrepreneurs and the potential of the telecommunications sector in the region.
Supporting social entrepreneurship to accelerate development in the Africa and the Middle East
Orange serves 100 million customers in Africa and the Middle East. Due to the transformative impact of digital services, the Group plays an important role in the economy and future development of the region. As a result, one of Orange’s main priorities is to improve connectivity, particularly in rural areas, and to introduce innovative mobile-based value-added services.
To achieve this, the Group supports entrepreneurs, small and middle size firms, by facilitating access to finance, supporting structures for incubation and giving access to tools for digital development. Since 2010, Orange is a partner of the CTIC Dakar incubator, a reference in Western Africa in terms of ICT development. In April 2014, the CIPMEN incubator, initiated by Orange, opened its doors to start-ups in the fields of ICT, renewable energy and the environment.
The 2016 edition of the Orange Social Venture Prize rewards winners with grants for a total value of 55,000 EUR
Four winning projects will receive grants of 5,000 EUR, 10,000 EUR, 15,000 EUR and 25,000 EUR.
Once again this year, internet users can vote online for their favourite project on Entrepreneur Club, the entrepreneurship section of StarAfrica, the Orange portal. The project thus elected as the “favourite project” will be introduced to the jury along with ten others shortlisted by the experts, and will therefore maximise its odds of receiving one of the monetary grants.
Who can enter?
Any entrepreneur (aged 21 or over) or legal entity that has been in existence for fewer than three years at the time of the competition may participate at no cost and with no restriction on nationality. Submitted projects must be designed to be deployed in at least one of the African or Middle Eastern countries in which Orange operates (as listed in the rules) and must use information and communications technology in an innovative way to help improve the living conditions of the populations in these countries.
Applications are accepted from 18 May to 21 September 2016 on Entrepreneur Club.
A few Orange Social Venture Prize facts:
– it has been existing since 2011;
– candidates applied with more than 2600 projects;
– Orange rewarded 16 winners with 265,000 Euro;
– 22 projects benefited from hundreds of hours of mentoring and advice by experts.
