OVHcloud STARTUP PROGRAM SHOWCASE CONTEST - RULES

OVH, a simplified joint-stock company with its registered office at 2 rue Kellermann in Roubaix (59100), registered with the RCS of Lille Métropole under the number 424 761 419, (hereinafter “OVHcloud”) is organizing a contest, called the “OVHcloud Startup Program Showcase Contest” (or the “Contest”). By entering the Contest, you represent that (1) you have read, understand and agree to be bound by the following terms and conditions (“Rules”) and (2) you have the authority to enter these Rules on behalf of the company you have name as the Participant and to bind that company to the Rules.

 

Article 1: PURPOSE

OVHcloud is organizing a 2024 edition of the OVHcloud Startup Program Showcase. This edition consists of the organization of a sales pitch competition between startups and scaleups. A first screening phase will select three (3) startups and three (3) scaleups (the “Finalist(s)”) amongst those who have indicated their willingness to participate in the competition. A second and final phase will take place during the OVHcloud Startup Program Showcase, when each startup and scaleup Finalist will present the purpose, product and ambitions (the “Pitch”) to a jury. The most convincing startup and scaleup Finalist will be selected as the winners by the jury (the “Winner(s)”). The Contest is organized within the framework of the Startup Program. By “Startup Program”, OVHcloud means the program benefits, obligations, and services offerings detailed at the following webpage https://startup.ovhcloud.com/en/ , which OVHcloud may change from time to time in its discretion, that are made available to participating startups and scaleups selected by OVHcloud. In accordance with the following rules, the participants of the Contest may join the Startup Program.

Subject to compliance with the Rules, each Finalist and the Winner will receive a prize (the “Prize”):

- The scaleup Winner’s prize consists of:

• A cheque of 5 000 euros,
• Online mentoring meeting with OVHcloud Global Start-up Program Leader.

 

- The startup Winner’s prize consists of:

• A cheque of 3 000 euros,
• Online mentoring meeting with OVHcloud Global Start-up Program Leader.

 

- The Finalist’s prize consists of:

• A spot in the Startup Program provided that the Finalist submits a complete registration form available on the OVHcloud website dedicated to said program. Or an extension of 1 year if Finalist is already in this program.
• Participation in a communication campaign led by OVHcloud mentioning the Finalist including: one Press Release, social media announcement of the finalists.

 

All prizes awarded are non-transferable and cannot be redeemed for cash or credit (as a whole or in part).  The value of the prices is final and binding and cannot be challenged or appealed. Apart from the Prizes awarded as part of the Pitch Contest, no monetary compensation will be paid.

 

Timeline:

• 20 November (00:00 am GMT) 2023: Call for applications (« Call ») is open;
• 18 February (11:59 pm GMT) 2024: Call is closed;
• 29 February 2024: Decision shared with all applicants & 6 Finalist pitches shared with Jury;
• 21 March 2024: Online Q&A session with Jury, deliberation & Award Announcement

 

Article 2: Participation eligibility

 

To be eligible to the Contest, a participant (“Participant”) shall:

• Operate a cloud-hosted digital product or service commercial activity

• Be a registered company
• Employ less than 100 employees
• Have launched the company in the last 10 years (ie: MVP, traction or seed stage) maximum
• Have, or plan to have, its infrastructure with OVHcloud within the 6 months following the Contest
• Have its headquarters located in the worldwide geographic scope of OVH SAS, except USA
• Not conduct its activity and/or not having a link with a jurisdiction subject to trade restrictions or other sanctions
• Not act in corruption or bribery
• Be in line with OVHcloud’s anti-corruption standards and its Code of Ethics
• Not use any grants, rewards or any facilities provided by OVHcloud and/or not having a link with a jurisdiction subject to trade restrictions or other sanctions
• Not use any grants, rewards or any facilities provided by OVHcloud in a corrupt or bribery act or any act which could be considered as corruptive
• For the scaleup category, have received Series-A funding or beyond
• Be preferred if they are using GPUs or AI solutions.

Failing to comply with the above-mentioned requirements will be subject to refund all the rewards granted by OVHcloud.

 

Additional criteria applicable to the Winner:

To receive the prize, the Winners must submit a complete registration form available on the OVHcloud website dedicated to said program and sign the Startup Program Agreement (a copy is available upon request under the conditions set forth in Article 7). The Winners also undertake to spend 20% of the aggregated credits provided within the framework of the Startup Program within 6 months following their admission. The Winners recognize and accept that in the event of breach of the above undertakings, OVHcloud may declare void any credits provided in accordance with this program.

If the Winners do not meet all the eligibility criteria and do not sign the Startup Program Agreement within 15 days from the notification of the prize or cannot otherwise be contacted to confirm their eligibility, an alternate winner may be selected from the remaining eligible Finalists at OVHcloud’s discretion.

OVHcloud reserves the right to request from Participants the supply of any evidence regarding their participation in this Contest at any time to confirm their eligibility. Failure to provide proof within eight (8) calendar days shall result in the Participant’s participation in the Contest being void. Only the participant whose participation has been validated (hereinafter the "Participant") are eligible to the Contest.

The Contest is not open to employees of OVHcloud or its affiliates, or to anyone who has been involved in the organization of the Contest.

Participation in the competition implies full acceptance of the Rules in their entirety. In the event of non-acceptance or non-compliance with the Regulations, the Participant is deprived of participation, as well as any possible staffing. The Rules apply to any Participant participating in the Contest.

Article 3: Call period

The Call period shall start at 00:00am (GMT) on 20 November 2023 and shall continue in effect until 11:59pm (GMT) on 18 February 2024 (“Closing Date”). During the Call period, the Participant shall confirm its participation by filling in the form located at [TBC] that includes a pitch deck in accordance with the instructions provided by OVHcloud.

Any participation received after the expiry of the Contest Period will be deemed invalid. OVHcloud has no responsibility to accept late, lost, delayed, or misdirected participations.

OVHcloud cannot under any circumstances be held responsible for the transmission problems of aforementioned emails, particularly in the event of non-receipt, whatever the cause (in particular internet hazard).

Article 4: Winner selection

The selection of the Winners takes place in two phases.

Participants will be selected by OVHcloud according to the following criteria:

• Technological innovation & feasibility of their project with a preference for startups and scaleups using GPUs or AI solutions
• Answer to market requirement/problem is constructive & international
• Mission is based on common values (transparency, collaboration, accessibility…)
• Articulated and substantiated business plan to invest the amount of the prize

 

Phase 1: Pre-selection phase

OVHcloud carries out a preselection among startups and scaleups who have indicated their willingness to participate in the Contest in the manner set out in these Rules. Among the participating members, three (3) startups and three (3) scaleups are then selected for the final phase of the competition. The selection is made by OVHcloud, based on Participants’ answers to registration form referred to in Article 3 of the Rules.

 

Phase 2: Winner selection

Phase 2 is the final phase of the competition. It takes place between 29 February and 21 March 2024.

The three (3) startups and three (3) scaleups selected will have a limited time, which will be specified later, to present their Pitch and answer to the jury’s questions via a videoconference organized on 21 March.

After each of the three (3) selected startups and three (3) selected scaleups have performed their pitch and answered the jury’s questions, that same jury shall withdraw in order to deliberate and share their decision with OVHcloud.

The final results are results of the jury’s decision. They will be shared on 21 March at the final event.

In the event of a tie, the jury will make the final decision to decide between the two (2) Participants who would be in a tie.

Article 5: Obligations and responsibilities of the Participant

Once selected, the Participant agrees to attend and present its Pitch during the OVHcloud Startup Program Showcase.

The Participant is solely responsible for any costs related to the participation in the Contest. To participate to the Contest, the Participant must ensure that it has access to a remote connection (such as the Internet or a private network), which it is solely responsible for and bears the costs of.

The Participant is hereby informed that the Internet presents technical hazards and security risks that are external to the technical measures employed by OVHcloud in the provision of the Contest. OVHcloud shall not be held liable for any faults by Internet access providers or other third-party data transport networks (including but not limited, to lack of reliability of connection lines, bandwidth fluctuations, connection interruptions, etc.), nor for the consequences of said faults, particularly in cases when they result in the unavailability or discontinuity of the Contest.

With the exception of items provided by OVHcloud, OVHcloud does not intervene in the handling of information, data, files, systems, applications, websites and other items which are reproduced, hosted, collected, stored, transmitted, distributed, published and more generally used and/or operated by the Participant within the scope of the Contest (collectively known as “Content”). OVHcloud does not perform any verification, validation or update operations on said Content.

The Participant is solely responsible of the Content it publishes. The Participant undertakes to not publish any Content that may be:

- defamatory, slanderous or insulting for third parties;

- discriminatory, racist, xenophobic, homophobic, or inciting to hatred;

- pornographic nature, child pornographic, indecent, obscene, or containing scenes of nudity;

- against human dignity;

- detrimental to morals or public order;
- violent, chocking, or constituting a threat for the safety of persons or goods;

- encouraging or facilitating any criminal, tortious, unlawful or sensitive and, in particular, but not limited to, promoting gambling, arms, explosives, tobacco, or other related products, drugs, or medicine, politics or religions, piracy, or unlawful copy of files;

 

Article 6: OVHcloud liability

OVHcloud reserves the right to modify, extend, shorten, suspend or cancel the Contest without notice, due to any event and without any indemnity of any kind. OVHcloud reserves the right to take any decisions that it deems useful for the application and interpretation of the Rules. OVHcloud may inform the Participant of this by any means it chooses.

OVHcloud reserves the right to cancel and/or invalidate all or part of the Contest if it appears that fraud or malfunction occurred in any form. In this case, OVHcloud reserves the right not to allocate the compensation(s) to fraudsters and/or to prosecute the perpetrators before the competent courts. Fraud results in the immediate disqualification of the perpetrator.

OVHcloud and the Jury are the only decision-makers respectively in the context of the pre-selection and winner designation, decisions that cannot be contested by the Participants and/or their representatives. No compensation can be requested from OVHcloud or the Jury for this reason.

 

Article 7: Rules access

The Rules and the Start Up Program agreement are sent by e-mail, free of charge, to all Participants who request it from OVHcloud “OVHcloud Startup Program Showcase” - 2 rue Kellermann BP 80157 - 59053 ROUBAIX CEDEX FRANCE.

 

Article 8: Intellectual property

The Participant grants OVHcloud a non-exclusive, royalty-free, fully paid up, personal license to use its brand and logo worldwide for a duration of five (5) years. This license is used to communicate on the OVHcloud Startup Program Pitch Contest (including future editions), and the OVHcloud Summit, particularly on social networks, the OVHcloud website, and the OVHcloud Summit official page etc.

The Participant expressly and specifically authorizes OVHcloud to photograph and film their Pitch.

The Participant grants the reproduction and representation rights of the aforementioned photographs and videos for the entire legal duration of the copyright, for the entire world, in all mediums known or unknown to date (including social networks, the Internet, the OVHcloud website and its Partners, the official page of the OVHcloud Ecosystem Experience etc.), and in particular in order to promote the activities of OVHcloud, OVHcloud Startup Program Contest  and the OVHcloud Ecosystem Experience.

In this context, the Winner authorizes in advance the publication of the startup/scaleup’s name, with the names and surnames of the team that makes up the startup/scaleup in any medium.

 

Article 9: Personal data

OVHcloud collects, directly or indirectly, personal data about the Participant which is subjected to automatic processing in order to (a) manage the relationship between OVHcloud and the Participant (notably manage the participation of the Participant to the Event, communications of information about the Event and OVHcloud, as well as any other purpose having a legitimate interest to OVHcloud) and (b) comply with the regulation applicable to OVHcloud (notably recording of activities). These processing activities are carried out in OVHcloud policy notably the conditions provided in the “Part 2 - Personal Data processed by OVHcloud as a Controller” of the OVHcloud “Data Processing Agreement” and in accordance with the applicable regulation, including the Regulation (EU) 2016/679 of the European Parliament and of the Council on the protection of natural persons with regard to the processing of personal data and on the free movement of such data, and repealing Directive 95/46/EC (“GDPR”).

In accordance with the GDPR, the Participant will be provided the right of access, rectification, deletion, limitation, portability and opposition of its personal data. These rights can be exercised by using the form provided for this purpose on the OVHcloud website or by post to: OVH SAS, Data Protection Officer, 2 rue Kellermann, 59100 Roubaix France. Each request must be accompanied by a proof of identity. The request will be responded within thirty (30) days of receipt. The Participant has also the possibility to place legal claims before the competent protection authority.

 

Article 10: Applicable law - Jurisdiction

These Rules are governed by and construed in accordance with French law. 

In the event of difficulties relating to the performance of the Rules, the parties agree to submit to an amicable conciliation procedure prior to any legal proceedings. One party shall notify the other party in writing of its intention to implement such procedure, specifying the difficulties encountered, and the parties shall negotiate in good faith to resolve the difficulties. If within thirty (30) days of such notification the parties have not reached an amicable agreement, each party shall regain its full freedom of action. 

Any dispute arising in connection with the Rules shall be subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of the courts of Paris.