Hellenic Entrepreneurship Award 2017 Winners Announced

June 12, 2017

On Friday June 9, the fifth annual Hellenic Entrepreneurship Award (HEA) ceremony for start-up and early-stage Greek businesses, took place at the Antigone Hall of Cultural Centre “Hellenic Cosmos” in Athens. The 2017 winners span a computer programming teaching method, a ‘smart’ food packaging solution, a traditional Greek health drink, an online training and recruitment platform, and a quiz-based app that helps students revise for exams. A total of 19 winners sharing accumulated prize funding of €4,775,000 have been declared since the award programme was launched on behalf of The Hellenic Initiative (THI) in 2012.

This year’s winning teams will share prize funding of €1,250,000. They will also be allocated a dedicated mentor and receive a wide range of business support services from of the HEA’s network of partners, spanning legal, accounting, marketing, IT, HR and much more. In addition, HEA’s team will provide ongoing guidance to the winners as they implement their business plans.

For HEA 2017, 1,250 business ideas were submitted, breaking the 2016 record. The growing levels of participation suggest a highly active entrepreneurial scene in Greece despite the sustained economic downturn. Before the launch of the Award’s 2018 cycle, HEA will undertake research in order to map trends and ascertain how the country’s entrepreneurship scene has evolved in recent years.

Jimmy Athanasopoulos, Chairman of the Hellenic Entrepreneurship Award noted: “Once again, we have been amazed by the creative, dedicated entrepreneurs we have met, and by their ground-breaking ideas.  We congratulate not only the eventual winners but everyone who participated. We wish each of them every success as they create and grow their businesses. We also thank all of the award programme’s partners who share our belief in the underlying power of entrepreneurship in Greece and its potential to deliver economic growth.”

The Hellenic Entrepreneurship Award 2017 winners are:

1. Allcancode – Allcancode (https://next.allcancode.com) is an online educational platform, which cultivates technological and programming skills through interactive games. The platform enables users to both acquire core skills and create and publish their own games or apps. With Allcancode, anyone can learn how to access the latest technology, write code, and publish working applications without any prior computer coding experience. 
   Applicants: Kostas Karolemeas, Spiros Alvertis, Ersi Spathopoulou, Dimitris Karatzaferis, Vangelis Bagiartakis. 
   View winner, Allcancode via this link https://www.hellenicaward.com/en/winners/allcancode/
   
2. Fresh Strips – Fresh Strips (www.freshstrips.co) provides low-cost, ‘smart’ packaging solutions that inform consumers about the safety and quality of their food products. The product of extensive research and development, Fresh Strips is a plastic sticker attached to food packaging that provides information about the products’ exposure to heat. In the event of excessive heat exposure, Fresh Strips changes colour permanently, indicating the food is no longer suitable for consumption. Fresh Strips provides assurance to food producers, retailers and consumers regarding the safety of heat-sensitive goods. Fresh Strips is recognized and supported by several companies and organizations, including Merck, EY and HighTechXL. 
   Applicants: Marios Chryssolouris, Koen Nickmans, Fanny Tsironi, Marianna Giannoglou, Alexandros Matthiessen, Katie McMullan. 
   View winner, Fresh Strips via this link https://www.hellenicaward.com/en/winners/fresh-strips/
3. Kindred Honey Soda – Kindred Honey Soda is a craft beverage with Greek honey and lemon. It is based on a recipe with rich heritage as a homemade remedy among various ancient and modern civilizations. Kindred has recreated this unique honey-based formula as a refreshing drink for health-conscious people. The company describes it as a “perfect blend of modern lifestyle and traditional heritage in an all-day beverage.” 
   Applicants: Manos Smyrlakis, Nikolas Smyrlakis. 
   View winner, Kindred Honey Soda, via this link https://www.hellenicaward.com/en/winners/kindred-honey-soda/
4. Quizdom Education – With more than 2,000,000 downloads in Greece and a popular TV game show, Quizdom (www.quizdom.com) started off as a trivia game for mobile devices and is now transforming itself into an e-learning platform. In Quizdom Education, students can learn and prepare for tests and exams by playing tailored quizzes against friends and fellow students. The questions are based on past and current exam syllabuses. Combining technology and entertainment, Quizdom Education aims to make learning both fun and effective by using the success factors of the original Quizdom game. 
   Applicants: Christos Tsounis, Triantafyllos Xylouris, Konstantinos Ploumidakis, Valentina Marousopoulou, Pavlos Rizos, Aristeidis Moiras. 
   View winner, Quizdom Education via this link https://www.hellenicaward.com/en/winners/quizdom-education/ 
5. Tech Τalent – Tech Talent (http://www.socialinnov.gr) is an educational and recruitment platform, which enables recruiters looking for ICT professionals to identify and hire the right employees. Tech Talent offers free technical training programs for individuals, allowing them to develop their computer programming and other digital skills. Additionally, it provides an online platform where job seekers can register their competencies allowing recruiters to match suitable candidates to vacancies. 
   Applicants: Dimitris Kalavros-Gousiou, Filippos Zakopoulos, Ioannis Sclavos, Chris Andreikos, Konstantinos Politis. 
   View winner, Tech Talent, via this link https://www.hellenicaward.com/en/winners/tech-talent/

More information about the Hellenic Entrepreneurship Award can be found at: http://www.hellenicaward.com/en/.

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