NICOSIA – Cyprus Seeds and Invest Cyprus on December 29 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. He said: “Cyprus is undoubtedly a country with highly recognized human capital and capabilities in research and innovation – ranked 2nd in the region after Israel by the Global Innovation Index 2020 –  and we have a clear game-plan for supporting  and enhancing the development of innovative startups towards their commercialization,” 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 competitiveness.”

In the first cycle of the program, five Cyprus Seeds teams participated in a virtual evaluation interview conducted by Vice Chairman of the Board of Directors, MITEF Greece Vassilis Papakonstantinou, Executive Director, MITEF Greece Antigoni Molodanof, and Maria Hadjiyerou (Business Intelligence and Strategy, Invest Cyprus) along with Managing Director of Cyprus Seeds Maria Georgiadou and member of the Board of Cyprus Seeds George Saveriades.

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 will attend a five-month accelerator program for start-ups, organized 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 P. 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.”

The 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. 

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. More information is available online: 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/).

More information is available online: www.cyprusseeds.com.