Franco-German financial group launches new award for startups

ODDO BHF is a German-French financial group with a history of over 170 years. The Group emerged from a French family-owned bank and a German private bank with a focus on medium-sized businesses. The financial group employs 2700 people (around 1400 in Germany and Switzerland and 1300 in France and Tunisia), manages €128 billion in assets for its clients and is active in Private Wealth Management, Asset Management and Corporates & Markets.

Opening for German-speaking startups

ODDO BHF has been awarding prizes to innovative startups in France for two years now. A total of 270 companies from 18 different sectors have already applied there. Almost 50 % of these companies were founded or co-founded by women. This year, promising young companies from the German-speaking DACH region can now also apply for the awards. The winners will receive prize money of 5,000 to 20,000 euros as well as coaching and mentoring by experts from ODDO BHF and external partners such as BayStartUP, BAND, Futury, High-Tech Gründerfonds, UnternehmerTUM and the Werte-Stiftung. Each application is reviewed by a committee of experts who make an initial selection. In February 2024, the finalists will present their company to a jury, including Philippe Oddo, at the "Award Ceremony." The winners will then receive their awards.

Philippe Oddo, Managing Partner and Chairman of the Group, says: "We believe in the ability of young companies to find innovative solutions to the challenges of the future. It is therefore a particular pleasure for me that we, as an owner-managed Franco-German financial group, are now supporting German-speaking entrepreneurs in their development with OYEA, following our launch in France." Joachim Häger, Partner and Member of the Board of Managing Directors as well as Global Head Private Wealth Management of the Group, emphasizes, "As ODDO BHF Group, we see ourselves as a long-term and trustworthy partner of family entrepreneurs. For our clients, we offer not only private equity investments but also access to exclusive direct investments in all growth phases. With the award and the subsequent support of excellent young entrepreneurs, we will now gladly promote the most promising companies of the Next Generation."

Requirements for an application

The "ODDO BHF Young Entrepreneurs Awards 2024" are aimed at startups (teams, not individual founders) headquartered in the German-speaking DACH region that have been founded in the last three years and have been entered in the commercial register. Prototype and business model must already exist and a first seed financing must have taken place. Startups from the following industries can apply: AI, Clean Energy & Storage, Digital Business Models, Engineering, Health-Care, Proptech, Industry & Materials, Life Sciences, Med-Tech, Mobility & Transportation. Interested parties have until October 15, 2023 to submit their application: https://oyea.oddo-bhf.com/de-de/index.php.

Source: www.oddo-bhf.com