Introduction

This call for applications aims to identify and support project leaders (start-ups, micro-businesses, SMEs) that develop innovations on the theme of the smart, sustainable city.

Organised by Euroméditerranée Urban Development Agency.

What are the themes?  

Improving the urban experience using digital tools:

• Digital urban services, mobile applications and other media
• Contactless technology and connected objects

Offering a pleasant and hospitable urban environment:

• Equipment for buildings or personal use that contributes to housing comfort or workplace well-being
• Services or equipment that contribute to the quality of public spaces, living together and the security of people and property
• Social innovation and solidarity mechanisms in the city

Making the city greener and more energy-efficient:

• Design solutions that reduce the city’s
  environmental impact (energy, water, waste, space)
• Systems or equipment that facilitate urban management and cost control

What are the selection criteria?  

• Identification of the need and the issue to be resolved: applicant’s ability to explain the proposed solution in terms of the identified need
• Impact on the testing ground: the innovation must be able to be implemented within the EcoCité Euroméditerranée
• Robustness of the project / business model: appropriateness of the solution, technical feasibility, commercial maturity, implementation timeframes
• Level of maturity of the innovative solution: > or = TRL 6 (prototype or system model demonstrated in a relevant environment)
• Quality and credibility of the team: ability to lead a project

When is the period for applications?  

• The call for applications is open continuously from 8 am on the September 1st to 11:59 pm on September 30 2020 (UTC+1).
• Applicants must apply online, using the dedicated section: APPLY

Confidentiality  

The documents sent during the competition are subject to the strictest confidentiality and will only be communicated to the selection committee members.
The information will only be used to allow the application of the project leader to be judged.

What are the benefits for winners?  

• €40,000 of funding (to be shared between the two winners)
• Contributions in kind and dedicated support:
  • Joining an accelerator: Each winner will get three months’ membership of the P.Factory accelerator’s “Académie” programme. Further information: www.pfactory.co
  • Legal support: The Fidal legal practice offers each winner six hours of legal support to be used over a period of six months from the award date, under the following terms: Three hours on issues relating to intellectual property law, information technology law or contract law (licensing, sales, distribution, etc.), one hour for company law, one hour for tax law, and one hour for social law. Further information: www.fidal.com
  • Mentoring and support for winners from an ad hoc steering committee
• A testing ground to test and demonstrate the innovative solution: EcoCité Euroméditerranée (the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 14th and 15th arrondissements of Marseille).
• Targeted networking with key accounts
• Integration with EMUL (Euroméditerranée Metropolitan Urban Lab), a network of industrial partners working to develop innovative solutions on eight themes linked to the sustainable city
• Visibility (press communications, social media, websites, trade fairs, etc.)
• Free 1-year membership of the Euroméditerranée Cité des Entrepreneurs

All finalists will be offered a week of support to the AFD acceleration program, "Social and Inclusive Business Camp (SIBC)". The "SIBC" allows each year about 60 social entrepreneurs in Africa to accelerate the social impacts of their projects and join a dynamic community.

Organisers

The Euroméditerranée Urban Development Agency  

Innovation at the heart of building a new Marseille  

For the past 20 years, the Euroméditerranée Urban Development Agency has been designing, developing and building the sustainable Mediterranean city of the future, right in the heart of the Aix-Marseille-Provence Metropolis. This “scheme of national interest”, State-run in partnership with local authorities, has created over 37 000 private-sector jobs and 6 500 public-sector jobs and led to the establishment of more than 5 300 businesses. The impact of Euroméditerranée extends beyond the international business district and its 650 000m² of offices. Piece by piece, the puzzle is being put together, involving public and private facilities, shops, residential buildings, transport and parking infrastructure, parks and public spaces. The scheme is therefore not yet complete. It is now being continued over 170 hectares to the north of the original 310 hectares, and has entered a new phase. Labelled “EcoCité”, this new area is intended as a testing ground for urban planning, in which innovative services and technologies for smart, sustainable cities are tested, deployed and developed.