First award program for entrepreneurship launched by Invest Cyprus, in collaboration with Cyprus Seeds, highlights the strong potential for innovation in Cyprus
(Nicosia, 22 December 2020) Cyprus Seeds and Invest Cyprus announced the winners of a new Award program to celebrate entrepreneurship leading the way in technology and innovation in Cyprus.
In collaboration with Cyprus Seeds, a non-profit initiative supporting the commercialization of innovative academic research in Cypriot universities and research institutions, Invest Cyprus, the national investment promotion agency, initiated the Award “Invest in the Commercialization of Entrepreneurship” with the aim to support the national strategy to boost Cyprus’s research, technology and innovation ecosystem introduced by the relevant ministry.
Kyriakos Kokkinos, Deputy Minister for Research, Innovation and Digital Policy of the Republic of Cyprus, welcomed the award as a bold and positive step towards putting Cyprus on the map as an innovation, startup hub and knowledge centre. “Cyprus is undoubtedly a country with highly recognized human capital and capabilities in research and innovation, ranked 2nd in the region -after Israel, Global Innovation Index 2020 – and we have a clear game-plan for supporting and enhancing the creation and development of innovative startups towards their commercialization roadmap,” he said, “This is an exciting opportunity for the local business ecosystem to start, grow and internationalize innovative entrepreneurship as a new lever for economic sustainability and competiveness.”
Five Cyprus Seeds teams who participated in the first Cycle of its Program, participated in a virtual evaluation interview conducted by Vassilis Papakonstantinou (Vice Chairman of the Board of Directors, MITEF Greece), Antigoni Molodanof (Executive Director, MITEF Greece) and Maria Hadjiyerou (Business Intelligence and Strategy, Invest Cyprus) along with Maria Georgiadou, (Managing Director of Cyprus Seeds) and George Saveriades (member of the Board of Cyprus Seeds).
The Teams to receive the “Invest Cyprus: Invest in the Commercialization of Entrepreneurship” Award are: (1) AIRMOS: Artificially Intelligent Real-Time Drone Monitoring Tactics to Safeguard Sensitive Facilities, and (2) DIMEC: Direct In-vivo Monitoring of the Endometrial Cavity.
Winning teams shall attend a five-month accelerator program for start-ups, organised by the prestigious MIT Enterprise Forum Greece (MITEF) in Athens. MITEF Greece is an affiliate of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) which helps enable technology entrepreneurs to rapidly transform ideas into world-changing companies.
Michael Michael, Chairman of Invest Cyprus, was impressed with the quality of the Cyprus Seeds teams. He said: “We are delighted to be working with Cyprus Seeds to support a new generation of aspiring entrepreneurs and to highlight the strong potential of innovation that exists in Cyprus. Particularly over the past year, the value of technology and the need for greater innovation has been recognized globally. It’s reassuring to see Cyprus at the forefront of some of this exciting new technology and the capacity of our entrepreneurs to compete globally.”
Cyprus Seeds initiative provides grants and one-to-one mentoring combined with entrepreneurial training and networking outside Cyprus, aiming to help research projects mature to a stage where they can attract venture capital and funding from private investors.
Notes to Editors:
For further information, please contact Arilena Constantinou at Invest Cyprus at [email protected] or Cyprus Seeds through Maria Georgiadou, Managing Director, Cyprus Seeds on +357 22 364 522, [email protected]
About Invest Cyprus
Invest Cyprus (Cyprus Investment Promotion Agency) is the investment authority of the Government of Cyprus dedicated to attracting and facilitating foreign direct investment into the country. Its mandate is to raise awareness of Cyprus as a destination for FDI across the globe, providing certainty around all aspects of operating a business in Cyprus and supporting potential investors in developing their business case for investment into the country. Investcyprus.org.cy
About Cyprus Seeds
Cyprus Seeds is a new, non-profit initiative to support the commercialization of innovative academic research in Cypriot universities and research institutions. Cyprus Seeds provides grants and one-to-one mentoring combined with entrepreneurial training and networking outside Cyprus in order to help research projects, mature to a stage that can attract venture capital and funding from private investors. Cyprus Seeds is largely funded through the generosity of foundations, corporations and individuals from Cyprus and abroad. Its anchor donors are The Hellenic Initiative (https://www.thehellenicinitiative.org/) and the Leventis Foundation (http://www.leventisfoundation.org/).
Website: www.cyprusseeds.com