The Veuve Clicquot Bold Woman Award opens for entries in South Africa

The first and longest-running international award of its kind, the inaugural Veuve Clicquot Bold Woman Award was held in 1972. This year marks its 51^st year of celebrating trailblazing women in business. For the second year, inspiring South African women who have made their mark as business leaders, innovators and entrepreneurs are invited to put themselves, or their peers, forward for Veuve Clicquot’s globally renowned Bold Woman Award.

With its powerful legacy, the Bold Woman Award has lit the way for further initiatives by the Maison. In 2019, it launched Bold by Veuve Clicquot, an international program to reinforce the Maison’s support of women entrepreneurs worldwide. Since then, it has published two editions of its international barometer on women’s entrepreneurship, conducted most recently in 24 countries, to gain a clear vision of its prevalence, identify the structural and mental barriers to be overcome, and spark public conversation.

This year sees the culmination of this progress with the introduction of Veuve Clicquot’s Bold Open Database, a revolutionary endeavour utilising technology as the catalyst for social and economic development. A global first, the database identifies and promotes female entrepreneurs, free of cultural, geographical and technological barriers. Its goal is characteristically audacious for the Maison: not only to gather -all within one database – the details of female entrepreneurs from all over the world, but to make them visible, amplify their influence, and promote interest in and support of their work.

By entering the Bold Woman Award, females in South Africa have the opportunity to share their business journey and join a powerful community of entrepreneurs who honour the legacy of Madame Clicquot – a woman ahead of her time, whose tenacity and creativity led to entrepreneurial success. In 1805, widowed at the age of 27 years old, she went on to revolutionise an entire industry. An exceptional achievement in a time when women couldn’t open their own bank account, let alone independently own or run businesses. 

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Madame Clicquot’s creations and innovations were manifold. Not only did she create an identity for champagne outside of France, she also bottled the first recorded vintage champagne in 1810. She then went on to innovate the riddling table system – a technique that clears sparkling wine of cloudy yeast after fermentation. In 1818, Madame Clicquot made the first known blended rosé champagne, known for its liveliness and bursts of fruit. 

It is Madame Clicquot’s bold, entrepreneurial and audacious spirit that continues to serve as inspiration for women, two centuries on, and it is now time for South African businesswomen to join the ever-expanding community of over 450 winners celebrated by the Bold Woman Award to date.

How to enter

To enter the Bold Woman Award, candidates must be founders or CEOs of a company for more than three years, demonstrated transformational and evolution in their field, supported growth for at least two years, while maintaining an ethical approach to business.

To qualify for the Bold Future Award, candidates must be the founders or CEOs of a company that has been in existence for less than three years. In that time, the candidate must have made a significant contribution to the success of their company by instilling a sense of entrepreneurship and have made a tangible contribution to transformation in an existing market, while bringing ethical change to the company.

To have more impact also means engaging men to challenge society’s limits, so that daring women are more visible and able to fully realise their projects. With this in mind, the Maison launched the Bold Champion Award in 2019, an honorary prize created to award a man who participates through his actions towards better representation and consideration of women in society.

Three finalists in each category will be selected by an esteemed jury and will be invited to attend The Bold Woman Award ceremony on 19 July where one laureate in each of the categories will be lauded by a grand jury. The Bold Woman Award winner will travel to Reims, France for an immersion in the history, tradition, and luxury of Maison Veuve Clicquot.

Entries now open and close on 14 May. Business leaders and role models who are ready to be recognised for their remarkable success are invited to enter the Veuve Clicquot Bold Woman Award by completing a simple form via www.veuveclicquot.com.

Applicants must be an official resident of South Africa and the business must be based in or operating in South Africa. The finalists will be selected by an independent panel of judges.

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Issued by Avenue

Feature image: Supplied