8th Envolve Award Greece finalists announced

Envolve Entrepreneurship has announced the 10 finalists of the 8th Envolve Award Greece, who are in line to receive interest-free funding, mentorship and business support services. The finalists’ businesses are based in Athens, Thessaloniki and Heraklion and operate in the industries of FinTech, Retail Tech, Education, Technology, Tourism, F&B and e-commerce.

The Envolve Award Greece winners announcement will take place on Wednesday 23 June at 7 p.m,., also hosting members of the Greek government and the innovation ecosystem.

In particular, the following speakers will participate, either live or digitally: Minister of Digital Governance, Kyriakos Pierrakakis representing the Presidency of the Government – Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, the Deputy Minister of Development and Investments, Christos Dimas and Deputy Minister of Education, Zetta Makri.

Speakers from the innovation ecosystem include Myladie Stoumbou, Regional Director for Partner Business Development at Microsoft; Peter Economides, Brand Strategy Consultant; Fotis Karydas, Journalist and Communications Consultant; Marina Hatsopoulos,  Board Chair at Levitronix Technologies, and Christos Spatharakis, Co-Founder & CEO at Ferryhopper. For a second consecutive year, the event will be presented by Sakis Tanimanidis at ATRAKTOS, and will be live streamed on Chorus Call Hellas’ webcast platform in both Greek and English.

Registration at the following link is required to watch the livestream: https://87399.choruscall.eu/links/envolve_en_disclaimer.html

The Panel of Judges and Envolve’s team in Greece have carefully evaluated hundreds of Greek owned and operated businesses and business ideas, from individuals and teams operating both locally and globally. This year, despite all of Envolve’s entrepreneurship support activities being conducted digitally, expectations for the 8th award cycle were greatly surpassed, with numerous strong business plans submitted, particularly in the Tourism, Technology and Healthcare sectors.

In addition to Envolve Award Greece, the public can vote for their favorite finalists via the #GetEnvolved Award, based on pitch videos on Envolve’s Facebook and Instagram channels (www.facebook.com/envolveGR and www.instagram.com/envolveGR). The three #GetEnvolved Award Winners will receive €3,000, €2,000 and €1,000 respectively, regardless of the main Envolve Award Greece results. The first prize of €3,000 is sponsored by Brookstreet Equity Partners LLP to celebrate entrepreneurship in the name of late George V. Bolos, a co-founding partner, General Manager of the Olympic Games 2004, respected CEO and serial entrepreneur. The award will be presented by his daughter Miss Natalia Bolou, who is flying from Paris for the event.

Jimmy Athanasopoulos, Chairman of Envolve Entrepreneurship, commented: “Although it has been a challenging period, Envolve continues its mission by supporting entrepreneurs in Greece and empowering them to pursue their dreams. This year’s finalist show that great ideas, innovation, teamwork and growth can flourish despite any setback. We are inspired by the hundreds of entrepreneurs we met during the application assessment, who saw the opportunity to start a new business and develop their business model.”

Alexandros Nousias, Country Director of Envolve Entrepreneurship in Greece, commented: “We congratulate the ten finalists and the hundreds of aspiring entrepreneurs for their perseverance.  Our team intensified its presence introducing two educational programs for students, authorized by the Ministry of Education, as well as two additional projects in sustainable entrepreneurship and innovative technologies. Our main goal is to push the boundaries of entrepreneurship in Greece and let it flourish despite the challenges of the pandemic. The finalists are remarkable teams of individuals with knowledge of the market, innovative thinking, and drive.”

Envolve’s mission rests on three main pillars: education, resources and awards. The non-profit organization provides education for start-up and early-stage businesses, leveraging partnerships that increase the availability of entrepreneurship resources. The award programme, which was founded in Greece by the Libra Group on behalf of The Hellenic Initiative, enjoys the backing of many organizations that have stepped forward in support of the Envolve Awards both in Greece and the USA. Since 2012, Envolve has declared 31 award winners in Greece, operating in 19 sectors. These winners have contributed to the Greek economy with the creation of more than 1,800 new jobs and have a combined valuation exceeding €330 million. The network of supporters in Greece includes: Alexander Innovation Zone, Amazon, Antidote, Atraktos, Atradius, Epixeiro.gr, I.A.D.R., IED, Intracom Telecom, indima.gr, Ioannis Vassardanis & Partners Law Form, Jalouise PTY LTD, Lykourezos Law Offices, Microsoft, People for Business, Prisma Consulting, Reed Smith, SAP Hellas, Startup Elevator, Vestbee, V+O Communication and White Room.

This year’s event is kindly sponsored by ATRAKTOS, Chorus Call Hellas, Brookstreet Equity Partners LLP, Red Bull, Action 24, Epixeiro, Aria Hotels, Ferryhopper, TYCO, MINU and Marocaine.

The 8th Envolve Award Greece finalists are:

Bindbops, Carge, Hotellisense, Inteligg P.C., Μomcycle, obko, Project Parenting, Tourmie, Valuelenz, 12GODS. For more information about the 10 finalists you can visit: http://bit.ly/8EAGF