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Publicis Groupe to support 90 digital start-ups; launches Publicis90
Going forward, the Group has taken a new approach to usher in its 90th anniversary.
As part of its 90th anniversary celebrations, the Publicis Groupe, which was founded by Marcel Bleustein-Blanchet in 1926, has launched Publicis90, a platform which will mentor, support and fund 90 digital start-ups.
Entries through the Publicis90 platform (www.publicis90.com) can be submitted during the period January 18-February 28, 2016.
The Publicis90 platform will first select projects on a region-wise basis from countries which include the US, Asia-Pacific, Europe, West Asia and Africa, where the first round of votes will be open to all Publicis Groupe employees (all projects submitted remain anonymous). A regional jury will draw up a shortlist of the projects selected from the list of pre-selected projects prior to the final selection, which will be made by a global jury which will choose the 90 most promising start-ups.
The selected projects will be mentored and guided by Publicis Groupe experts from the marketing, communications, management and technology divisions.
These projects will receive funding that will be an investment within the range of 10,000-5,00,000 Euros for projects which are about to be launched and for start-ups that are already scaling up, respectively. Moreover, the selected projects submitted by Publicis Groupe employees will stand to benefit from a special internal incubation scheme.
Besides this, those whose projects get selected will get a chance to be invited for participation to Viva Technology Paris (www.vivatechnologyparis.com), which claims to be the first forum in France to bring together people who matter most in digital.
The Viva Technology Paris event will be held at the Paris Expo Exhibition Centre at Porte de Versailles, during June 30-July 2, 2016. The 90 selected projects will be honoured at an awards ceremony held during the event.
Maurice Lévy, chairman and CEO, Publicis Groupe, says, "Publicis90 is very much in line with the philosophy of Publicis Groupe and its founder, Marcel Bleustein-Blanchet. The idea is to help young entrepreneurs achieve their goals. Not just through investment, but also by putting Groupe's resources at their disposal for a year. Rather than look back and pat ourselves on the back for 90 years of history, we have taken the forward-looking approach of extending a helping hand to young entrepreneurs."
Publicis Groupe is a global leader in marketing, communication, and business transformation.