The 2024 CB Innovation Awards take centre stage at STATION F for CB Journée du Commerce (Retail Day)

On 28 June 2024, for the eighth consecutive year, LAB by CB — CB’s trend incubator — hosted the CB Innovation Awards, recognising the most promising French start-ups of 2024 under the theme of “sustainable consumption and purchasing power”. This special edition was held at STATION F during the CB Journée du Commerce (Retail Day).

Eight finalists were selected from more than 500 applications:

This award ceremony, hosted by Loup Audouy, will be featured in a special issue of *L’Hémicycle*.

The four winners of the 2024 edition are:

1/ Gold Jury Prize

This award was presented to: ZIQY

ZIQY offers a comprehensive suite of tools to launch and scale circular economy offerings! We make renting, subscriptions, refurbishment, and second-hand sales simple and accessible. Our turnkey solution is already in use at more than 1,500 retail locations across Europe. Easily manage product rentals with short-term and subscription-based offerings, along with B2C and B2B financing. Track the lifecycle of your products, manage their refurbishment, and resell them at the optimal time to make the circular economy a profitable business model

2/ Silver Jury Prize

This award was presented to: COMERSO

As a mission-driven company with B Corp certification, Comerso has become an essential B2B anti-waste platform for businesses. Present throughout France and Spain, we fight waste and promote solidarity. Regardless of the type of unsold stock (food, non-food, small or large volumes, etc.), we offer and implement optimal solutions for unsold and unsellable items (promotions, donations to non-profit organisations, waste recycling, second-hand resale, etc.). Comerso: the anti-waste accelerator for businesses.

3/ Bronze Jury Prize

This award was presented to: SMARTBACK

Managing customer returns and the take-back of used products is costly, time-consuming, and a source of waste for brands. SmartBack offers a B2B tech and logistics solution to ensure the best possible second life for every piece of furniture locally. SmartBack works with more than 25 e-commerce retailers, operates a refurbishment facility in the Greater Paris area, and has 750 partner second-hand stores and non-profit organisations across France. SmartBack is therefore the partner of choice for brands, streamlining returns management, reducing costs, and promoting the local second-hand market.

4/ Audience Favourite

The Audience Favourite Award was announced live during the ceremony at STATION F, following a day of intense voting in which participants were able to choose from among 17 finalist start-ups. This initiative allowed the audience to support the start-up that most impressed them with its potential for innovation and its commitment to sustainability.

This award was presented to:

HandSome is the first payment account designed for people with visual impairments and seniors. Its mission is to enable people with disabilities to manage their day-to-day banking from their smartphones using a connected payment card.

To learn more: click here

This edition of the CB Innovation Awards highlighted ambitious projects that are reinventing the future of consumption and business in response to today’s environmental and social challenges.
LAB by CB will use its expertise and know-how in the field of payments to support the four winners as they grow their businesses.