Bold Woman Award France 2026

RULES OF THE "BOLD WOMAN AWARD"

The Bold Woman Award is a free contest with no purchase necessary, organized by MHCS, a société anonyme with a share capital of €433,193,789, headquartered at 9 avenue de Champagne, 51200 Épernay, registered under number 509 553 479 RCS Reims, acting through its additional establishment Veuve Clicquot Ponsardin located at 12 rue du Temple, 51100 Reims (hereinafter referred to as "Veuve Clicquot" or the "Organizer").

DURATION OF THE AWARD

The Bold Woman Award (the "Award") comprises two (2) categories: the Bold Woman Award and the Bold Future Award. Applications open on May 25, 2026 at 00:00:00 Paris time and will close no later than September 10, 2026 at 00:00:00 Paris time.

ELIGIBILITY CONDITIONS

The Award is open to any female individual aged at least eighteen (18) years at the date of application who meets both of the following conditions: at the time of entry, participants must (i) be the legal representative of a commercial company registered in France and (ii) hold effective control of said company within the meaning of Article L233-3 of the French Commercial Code. Employees of the Organizer are not permitted to participate in or win the Award.

Participation in the Award implies full acceptance of these rules and the Organizer's decisions, which are final and apply in their entirety.

If the Award cannot proceed as planned for any reason, the Organizer reserves the right to postpone, defer, modify, or cancel the Award (in whole or in part).

The Organizer is the sole authority to determine whether a submission is valid. Any submission that does not comply with the conditions set out in these rules will not be considered.

The Organizer and/or juries shall not be required to disclose any information regarding submissions and/or their decisions and selections beyond what is expressly provided for in these rules.

The Organizer cannot be held liable if data relating to a participant's registration fails to reach it for any reason whatsoever, or arrives illegible or impossible to process.

ENTRY PROCEDURE

To enter the Award, each participant must follow the steps described below.

The participant connects exclusively to the Award's dedicated website at https://www.boldopendatabase.com/fr/bold-woman-award, selects one of the two Award categories (Bold Woman Award or Bold Future Award), clicks "Register" and completes the following mandatory fields:

Last name, first name, valid email address, phone number, and date of birth,
Company name, principal business activity, date of incorporation (or takeover where applicable), SIREN number, number of employees, turnover for the most recently completed fiscal year in 2026, and a series of questions (maximum 4,000 characters) relating to the company and the circumstances of its creation (or takeover where applicable).

Participation is open from May 18, 2026 at 00:00:00 Paris time until September 10, 2026 at 00:00:00 Paris time. Any submission outside this period will not be accepted or considered. The Organizer's servers shall be the authoritative record.

Participation is limited to one (1) entry per person and per commercial company across both Award categories.

Any valid submission is final upon the closing date. Accordingly, after that date, participants may not withdraw, retract, or cancel their submission.

SELECTION OF WINNERS

Designation of Finalists:

From all valid submissions, a jury of two (2) members (comprising the President and the International Marketing and Communications Director of the Organizer) will select up to four (4) finalists per Award category. Selection will be based on the following criteria:

Bold Woman Award:

DEMONSTRATING ENTREPRENEURIAL BOLDNESS The candidate must be a woman who founded or has been the legal representative for more than five years of a company headquartered in France. She must have made a significant contribution to her company's success by instilling her entrepreneurial spirit within it.

REINVENTING TRADITIONS WITH SUCCESS The candidate must have made a tangible contribution to transforming and evolving conventional processes in her field, enabling growth for at least two years.

TAKING AN ETHICAL APPROACH TO BUSINESS The candidate must champion ethical change within her company and its immediate ecosystem — for example by improving environmental impact, fostering a positive work environment, or committing to inclusive social change.

Bold Future Award:

DEMONSTRATING ENTREPRENEURIAL BOLDNESS The candidate must be a woman who founded or is the legal representative of a company less than five years old, headquartered in France. She must have made a significant contribution to her company's success by instilling her entrepreneurial spirit within it, and must have generated significant growth in the previous year.

REINVENTING TRADITIONS WITH SUCCESS The candidate must have brought meaningful innovation by reinventing the codes of her market or shifting the norms of her sector, while encouraging changes in industry practices.

The jury will designate as finalists those participants whose applications best meet the above criteria (hereinafter the "Finalists").

Finalists will be notified by email no later than September 23, 2026.

Finalists must keep strictly confidential the fact that they are finalists until the public announcement of results. The Organizer reserves the right to ask Finalists to sign a confidentiality agreement in this regard.

Finalists will be invited to attend the official Award ceremony to be held on November 19, 2026 in Paris (the "Ceremony"). The venue address will be communicated to Finalists at least ten (10) days in advance.

Finalists will bear their own travel costs to attend the Ceremony.

However, should the Award and/or Ceremony be unable to proceed as planned for any reason, the Organizer reserves the right to postpone, defer, modify, or cancel the Award and/or Ceremony (in whole or in part) without any compensation being paid to participants, Finalists, or winners.

Designation of Winners:

A jury selected by the Organizer will determine one (1) winner of the Bold Woman Award and one (1) winner of the Bold Future Award (hereinafter the "Winners"). Winners will be notified verbally by the Organizer on the day of the Ceremony. The Organizer reserves the right to ask Winners to sign a confidentiality agreement. No other message or notification of any kind will be sent to other participants.

PRIZES

Each of the two (2) Winners will receive a trophy as the sole prize on the day of the Ceremony.

The estimated value of the trophies is approximately €3,130 including tax.

Trophies are non-transferable and non-exchangeable by a Winner and cannot be redeemed for cash. Trophies and any of their components may be replaced at the Organizer's discretion.

Participation in the Award constitutes acceptance of these rules and the Organizer's decisions, which are final and apply in their entirety.

GENERAL RULES

No prize substitution or transfer is permitted, except at the Organizer's discretion, who reserves the right to replace the trophy with a prize of equal or greater value, or its cash equivalent, in case of unavailability. By entering the Award, participants agree to comply with these rules and the Organizer's decisions.

The Organizer is not responsible for any technical, hardware, or software malfunction, loss or unavailability of network connections, or failure, malfunction, inadequacy, inaccuracy, truncated transmission, or delay in electronic communications caused by the participant, by any equipment used in connection with the Award, or by human error that may occur in the processing of Award entries. The Organizer assumes no liability for damage to any computer system resulting from participation in the Award, access to information, or downloading of information in connection with the Award. The Organizer is not responsible for: (i) late, lost, delayed, damaged, insufficiently prepaid, incomplete, illegible, misdirected, or undeliverable submissions, responses, or other correspondence, whether by email, post, or otherwise; (ii) theft, destruction, unauthorized access, or alteration of submission documents.

The Organizer reserves the right to disqualify any person who sabotages or attempts to sabotage the entry or verification process or the operation of the Award, who violates these rules, who acts unethically, or who seeks to disrupt the conduct of the Award. Any deliberate attempt to undermine the legitimate operation of the Award may constitute a violation of the law and, in such a case, the Organizer reserves the right to seek damages in accordance with applicable law. Failure by the Organizer to enforce any condition of these rules shall not be deemed a waiver of that condition. If the Award cannot proceed as planned for any reason, including but not limited to computer viruses, bugs, sabotage, unauthorized intervention, fraud, technical failures, or any other cause beyond the Organizer's control that corrupts or affects the administration, security, fairness, integrity, or proper conduct of the Award, the Organizer reserves the right to postpone, defer, or cancel the Award at any time.

These rules may be amended at any time by the Organizer by way of an addendum, in compliance with the stated conditions.

A copy of these rules will be provided free of charge to any participant upon request (limited to one request per participant) addressed to the Organizer before the Award closing date (as evidenced by the postmark). These rules are also available on the Award's dedicated website (https://www.boldopendatabase.com/fr/bold-woman-award).

Postage costs incurred in requesting a copy of these rules will be reimbursed upon written request, on the basis of the current standard "letter" postal rate. Any reimbursement request must be received in writing no later than one month after the Award closing date, as evidenced by the postmark. Reimbursement will be made by bank transfer, issued within 60 days of receipt of the request, subject to verification of its validity. All reimbursement requests must be accompanied by the participant's full name and address, the name of the Award, and bank account details (RIB, RIP, or RICE).

LIABILITY

It is noted that Veuve Clicquot Champagne is an alcoholic beverage.

By participating in the Award, participants declare and warrant that they have read these rules, are fully informed of their content, and accept them in their entirety.

Accordingly, participants, including Finalists and Winners, acknowledge and accept that the Organizer, its parent company, subsidiaries, affiliated companies, advertising and promotional agencies, and all of their respective shareholders, officers, corporate officers, directors, employees, successors, representatives, and agents cannot be held liable in any respect whatsoever.

Participants, including Finalists and Winners, therefore waive any claim against the aforementioned entities and persons for any damage of any nature — physical, material, or immaterial, including death — that may occur, directly or indirectly, as a result of participation in the Award, acceptance, possession, use, or utilization, whether appropriate or not, of the Prize where applicable, or any related activity or event.

This clause applies subject to mandatory provisions of French public policy.

The invitation of Finalists to the Ceremony does not entail any obligation to publish content (including on social media) relating to the Veuve Clicquot brand. Should they wish to publish such content, Finalists are solely responsible for compliance with all applicable regulations (including, where applicable: disclosure of the brand relationship, and the Évin Law).

RIGHT OF IMAGE

By participating in the Award, Finalists and Winners grant the Organizer and its service providers, free of charge, the right to capture, record, reproduce, and use their image, first name, and last name, as well as all information communicated to the Organizer in connection with their participation in the Award, for all types of communication (both internal and public) for advertising, promotional, and commercial purposes related to the Award, for a period of ten (10) years and across all media.

DATA PROTECTION AND PRIVACY

1. Data processed, legal bases, and purposes of processing

In connection with participation in the Award, the Organizer, acting as data controller, will collect and process personal data concerning you (hereinafter your "Data") as defined by and in accordance with all laws and regulations applicable to the processing of your personal data, including but not limited to the General Data Protection Regulation (EU) 2016/679 ("GDPR").

Such Data includes primarily: your last name, first name, email address, postal address, date of birth, and phone number, your photograph, image, voice, and your connection logs.

Your Data is collected in order to:

Manage participation in the Award and, where applicable, manage the award of trophies (on the basis of the performance of a contract via your acceptance of these rules);
Promote the Award and the Organizer (on the basis of the Organizer's legitimate interests);
Send you communications about the Organizer's news and events (on the basis of your consent).

Data that is mandatory for participation in the Award is indicated with an asterisk on the entry form. If you do not complete these mandatory fields, you will be unable to participate in the Award. Other information is optional and helps us learn more about you and your professional activity.

2. Recipients of Data

Your Data is processed by the Organizer. Data is accessible only to persons duly authorized to manage Award participation. It will not be transferred or made accessible to any third party, except (i) to the Organizer's potential subcontractors for the exclusive purpose of organizing and managing the Award, and (ii) in the event of any restructuring of Veuve Clicquot, including any total or partial asset transfer, merger, acquisition, demerger, or any other reorganization.

The Organizer may also disclose your Data to third parties where required by law, regulation, or judicial order, or where such disclosure is necessary to protect and defend its rights.

3. Your rights

In accordance with applicable regulations, you have the right to access and rectify your Data, as well as the right to request its erasure, to object to its processing, and to obtain its restriction or portability where applicable. You also have the right to provide us with instructions regarding the fate of your Data after your death.

These rights may be exercised directly with the Organizer by email at contactdpo@moethennessy.com. Proof of identity may be requested.

However, exercising these rights may result in the withdrawal of your participation in the Award and, if you are a Winner, in your inability to receive or collect the Prize.

4. Data retention period

Your Data, collected and processed by the Organizer, will be retained only for the duration of the Award and for the time necessary to award trophies to Winners. It will then be destroyed, subject, where applicable, to the provisions relating to the assignment of your image rights.

Connection logs collected, subject to your consent, through cookies and other trackers on our website will be retained in accordance with applicable regulations for a period not exceeding twenty-five (25) months.

5. Data Protection Officer (DPO) contact details and right to lodge a complaint

For any questions relating to the collection and processing of your Data by the Organizer, you may contact the Organizer's Data Protection Officer (DPO) by post at: 38 rue de Sèvres – 75007 Paris, or by email at: contactdpo@moethennessy.com.

You also have the right to lodge a complaint with the Commission Nationale de l'Informatique et des Libertés (CNIL), 3 Place de Fontenoy – TSA 80715 – 75334 Paris Cedex 07, regarding the manner in which the Organizer collects and processes your Data.

GOVERNING LAW, JURISDICTION, AND VENUE

The Award is governed by French law and any dispute will be resolved exclusively before the competent courts of Paris.