• by Larissa Faw , January 18, 2016

Publicis Groupe is introducing the Publicis 90 competition to provide support for 90 aspiring companies focused on digital innovation. The goal is to provide entrepreneurs with the support they need to bring their projects to life, or to take it to the next level.

The initiative is one of the efforts being undertaken by Publicis Groupe to celebrate its 90^th anniversary.

People submit their projects to www.publicis90.com through February 28. Pretty much anyone other than Maurice Levy and Publicis Directors are eligible, and all submissions will remain anonymous. Still, these companies must be emerging concepts and not full-fledged businesses.

To that end, the projects must have annual revenues under 10 million euros ($10.9 million) and have been incorporated for under five years. 

Selected projects will be segmented by region -- the Americas, Asia-Pacific, Europe-Middle East and Africa –- with first round voting open to all Publicis employees. A regional jury will then draw up a short-list from the pre-selected projects, before the final selection is made by a "prestigious global jury” that will pick the 90 most promising projects or startups. 

Ultimately, these selected projects will receive between 10,000 euros ($10,892) and 500,000 euros ($544,586). The selected projects will be also mentored by Publicis Groupe experts in marketing, communications, management and technology for one year.

As for selected projects submitted by Publicis Groupe employees, they will have the benefit of a special internal incubation scheme, according to the company. 

Publicis will also honor these chosen companies during Viva Technology Paris, a digital conference hosted by Publicis Groupe and Groupe Les Echos from June 30 to July 2, 2016 at the Paris Expo Exhibition Centre at Porte de Versailles. 

"Publicis90 is very much in line with the philosophy of Publicis Groupe and its founder, Marcel Bleustein-Blanchet," stated Publicis CEO Maurice Levy. "The idea is to help young entrepreneurs achieve their goals. Not just through investment but also by putting Groupe 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."