WeWard has a simple mission: get people moving more, every day. The app rewards users for walking, with points that convert into cash, gifts or charity donations.

Benchimol founded the company in France in 2019. It now has more than 30 million users across 29 countries, and a team of around 100 split between Paris and New York.

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Making the move to New York

After growing across Europe, Benchimol decided in 2023 to move to New York himself and lead the company's expansion into the US.

"Developing a company in the US is not easy," he says. "It takes time. It requires money and motivation."

What made it work was the product. WeWard kept developing the app and adapting it to American users. Today the US is its number one market in the world. In 2025, tennis champion Venus Williams joined as an investor and ambassador.

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Why the Allstars matters to founders

For Benchimol, the Allstars is one of Europe's best events for tech start-ups because of who is in the room.

"You're going to meet founders of tech startups, some of the best in Europe, but also the best investors and people that understand the market," he says. "It's a day where you can challenge your business, find new ideas, meet new people, and potentially unlock impressive growth thanks to advice and potentially money too."

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Advice for founders

Benchimol has been an entrepreneur for ten years, and he is honest about what it takes. "The journey is not easy. There are always good and bad moments, and you have to be sure that you are here for the long run. It's kind of a marathon."

His advice is simple. "The people that succeed are the people that never quit."

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Sports tech at GP Bullhound

Sports tech was one of the standout categories of the 2026 Allstars, and it is one of GP Bullhound's most active specialist sub-sectors. The team works with founders building new ways for people to train, play, watch and stay active. WeWard shows where the space is heading: turning everyday activity into an engagement platform with global reach, and a European company making the US its biggest market.

About the GP Bullhound Allstars Awards

Now in its 24th year, the GP Bullhound Allstars Awards recognise the founders, entrepreneurs, operators and investors building Europe's technology companies. The 2026 awards ran across 15 categories, from Deep Tech and Sports Tech to Exit of the Year and Young Entrepreneur of the Year, and brought the ecosystem together in London on 15 October.

GP Bullhound hosts the Allstars for the same reason it advises founders every day: it is bullish on European tech and the people building what comes next. The awards give that work a stage, and put the people behind it in a room with the investors, operators and peers who can help it go further.

Stay connected

• Find out more about WeWard at wewardapp.com
• Explore GP Bullhound's sector expertise at gpbullhound.com
• Stay updated on all things Allstars on our LinkedIn page

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