Back to the Awards

Back to the Awards

Female Founder Award
Female Founder Award
Female Founder Award
Empowering Women. Accelerating Innovation.
Empowering Women. Accelerating Innovation.
Empowering Women. Accelerating Innovation.
The Award

The Female Founder Award celebrates women leading innovative startups that are driving the disruptive technologies shaping the future.

Apply now and join us for the 10th edition of VivaTech, taking place from 17–20 June 2026 in Paris.

Compressed image
Compressed image
Female Founder Award

While female-founded companies still receive only 12% of venture funding, it’s time to help women make their voices heard.* 

The Female Founder Challenge was created 8 years ago to empower women entrepreneurs by facilitating networking opportunities, raising brand awareness, and providing access to funding. 

The five finalists will be invited to pitch in June at VivaTech 2026. 

The winner will be announced alongside the other award winners during the VivaTech Global Awards Ceremony, gaining significant visibility and a prominent spotlight during the event. 

Don’t miss your chance! 

*Source: Sifted – 100 Women in Tech 2025 

Selection Criteria
Innovation

Level of relevance, originality and innovation demonstrated by the tech solution 

Scalability & Viability

Ability of the solution to scale while remaining technically, economically and environmentally viable 

Team Profile

Profile of the female founder(s) and co-founder(s), ability to lead the project to success, hard and soft skills of the operational team

Business Model

Your business model demonstrated traction and product/market fit 

Impact

Solutions that contribute to improving environmental and social impact

Rewards
  • Compressed image
    For the Top 30 Female Founders

    One VivaTech Startup Pass

  • Compressed image
    For the 5 finalists

    • Pitch your solution in front of a jury of top decision makers and investors 

    • One-to-one meetings with VCs

    • Strong visibility across VivaTech’s communication channels 

    • Two VivaTech Startup Passes

  • Compressed image
    For the Winner

    • Pitch your solution during the VivaTech Global Awards Ceremony 

    • Fundraising coaching by IRIS (from pitch deck revamp to intros to VCs)   

    • Extensive visibility

    • A free Startup Corner at 2026 VivaTech

    • A 5-month business development mentoring program with Forvis Mazars XFactory  

  • Compressed image
    For the Top 30 Female Founders

    One VivaTech Startup Pass

  • Compressed image
    For the 5 finalists

    • Pitch your solution in front of a jury of top decision makers and investors 

    • One-to-one meetings with VCs

    • Strong visibility across VivaTech’s communication channels 

    • Two VivaTech Startup Passes

  • Compressed image
    For the Winner

    • Pitch your solution during the VivaTech Global Awards Ceremony 

    • Fundraising coaching by IRIS (from pitch deck revamp to intros to VCs)   

    • Extensive visibility

    • A free Startup Corner at 2026 VivaTech

    • A 5-month business development mentoring program with Forvis Mazars XFactory  

Timeline

00:00:00:00

00:00:00:00

left to apply

left to apply

  • Launch of the Female Founder Award

  • End of applications

  • Official announcement of the Top 30

  • Official release of the 5 finalists

  • Final on stage at VivaTech and Awards ceremony

  • Launch of the Female Founder Award

  • End of applications

  • Official announcement of the Top 30

  • Official release of the 5 finalists

  • Final on stage at VivaTech and Awards ceremony

  • Launch of the Female Founder Award

  • End of applications

  • Official announcement of the Top 30

  • Official release of the 5 finalists

  • Final on stage at VivaTech and Awards ceremony

Download rules

Download rules

2025 Winner
Hélène Briand

Co-founder & CTO of Verley

Verley is a biotechnology company dedicated to transforming the dairy industry through its precision fermentation technology.

Compressed image
2025 Finalists

Last year, these five inspiring and ambitious women made it to the finals and took the stage at the Female Founder Award Final to present their innovative products in front of a prestigious jury. Be one of them this year!
Find more details on our dedicated article. 

Compressed image

Jasmine Tagesson

Co-Founder & COO

Hormona

Hélène Briand

Co-Founder & CTO

Verley

Aranzazu Carmona Orbezo

Co-Founder & CTO

Parallel Carbon

Lara Gervaise

Co-Founder

Virtuosis AI

Elissa Brunato

Founder & CEO

Radian Matter

FAQ

Who can apply to the Female Founder Award?

What is the difference between a Startup Challenge and an Award?

Do I need to buy a pass to apply for a Startup Challenge / an Award?

Can I apply for more than one Startup Challenge / Award?

Who can apply to the Female Founder Award?

How do I add images?

Do I need to buy a pass to apply for a Startup Challenge / an Award?

Can I apply for more than one Startup Challenge / Award?

FAQ

Who can apply to the Female Founder Award?

What is the difference between a Startup Challenge and an Award?

Do I need to buy a pass to apply for a Startup Challenge / an Award?

Can I apply for more than one Startup Challenge / Award?

******* JAVASCRIPT *******/ /** * Allowed parameters for the tracking code */ const allowedParameters: string[] = [ 'ca', 'utm', 'utm_source', 'utm_medium', 'utm_campaign', 'utm_term', 'utm_content', // 'cat', // Blog // 'ag_t', 't', // Warning this parameters is used like tracking for Challenges partners "Agorize", 'wid' // Paramters for revolugo urls ]; /** * Rreturn the object with the allowed parameters * @param ownParams URLSearchParams * @returns Object */ const ownCtmParameters = (ownParams: URLSearchParams) => { let obj = {}; for (const [key, value] of ownParams.entries()) { //console.log("ownCtmParameters key: ", key); if (allowedParameters.includes(key)) { // console.log("PAss key: ", key); obj[key] = value; } else { // console.log("No PAss key: ", key); } } return obj; }; /** * Insert the tracking code in the anchor elements * @returns void */ const insertTrackingCode = () => { // Get tracking parameters from URL search params const searchParams = new URLSearchParams(window.location.search); // Convert search params to object const filteredParams = ownCtmParameters(searchParams); // If no parameters, return early if (Object.keys(filteredParams).length === 0) { return; } const paramsString = new URLSearchParams(filteredParams).toString(); const baseUrl = window.location.origin; // Get all anchor elements from the current document const anchors = document.querySelectorAll('a'); for (const anchor of anchors) { const href = anchor.getAttribute('href'); const target = anchor.getAttribute('target'); if (!href || target === '_blank') { continue; } // Normalize href const normalizedHref = href.startsWith('https') ? href : href.replace(/^\.\//, '/'); try { const url = normalizedHref.startsWith('http') ? new URL(normalizedHref) : new URL(normalizedHref, baseUrl); const baseUrlObj = new URL(baseUrl); const isExternal = url.origin !== baseUrlObj.origin && !normalizedHref.includes('vivatech.com') && !normalizedHref.includes('vivatechnology.com'); if (isExternal) { continue; } // Add tracking parameters const hasExistingParams = url.search.length > 0; if (hasExistingParams) { url.search += '&' + paramsString; } else { url.search = '?' + paramsString; } anchor.setAttribute('href', url.origin + url.pathname + url.search + (url.hash || '')); } catch (e) { // If href is not a valid URL, skip it continue; } } }; /******* END JAVASCRIPT *******/ /******* INTEGRATION *******/ // Or with DOMContentLoaded document.addEventListener('DOMContentLoaded', () => { insertTrackingCode(); }); /******* END INTEGRATION *******/