The ten teams participating in the COSMOTE StartUp Program presented to potential investors the integrated business ideas they developed during the three-month course of the program that supports Greek entrepreneurship. During the all-day event that took place at the OTE Academy, the teams made the most important step towards turning their idea into business, presenting their business plan to the market.
During the “Investors Day”, the 10 participating teams had the opportunity to get in touch with Greek investment firms, individual investors, as well as investment ventures from abroad. Specifically, the investment community was represented by: T-Venture, hub:raum, Eleven Capital, LaunchHub, Bethnal Green Ventures, PJ Tech Catalyst Fund, OpenFund, Odyssey Venture Partners, IQbility, Attica Ventures, Seed Innovative and Dimitris Vranopoulos.
“We feel proud because at a difficult time for Greece we have recognised the need to support the economy and create new opportunities, by launching the ambitious COSMOTE StartUp program that supports young entrepreneurship. We provided young people with the chance to feel optimistic about their future, come a step closer to realizing their dream, and turn their idea into business”, stated Mr Spyros Louros, COSMOTE Marketing Communications & e-Business Director, and added: “We tried to make these three months a constructive experience for all the participants. And above all we proved that Greece has ideas, talent and people with a vision. And that is why it has a future”.
The 10 COSMOTE StartUp teams are Checkinbeauty, Susurrus, Mageca, Medical Evolution, Mytutor@home, Quispot, retailor*, TizU, Tutorizon and Αkseems. After having attended an integrated course and being mentored by established coaches; after having listened to inspiring speeches by important businesspeople from both Greece and abroad and having interacted with already successful Greek startups, the teams managed to turn their ideas into a substantial investment plan and receive the necessary know-how for their future business ventures.
COSMOTE StartUp was created by COSMOTE in the context of the “Our world is you” action, in collaboration with EEDE (Hellenic Management Association), the entrepreneurship hub Found.ation and OTEAcademy. Its aim is to support Greek entrepreneurship.
“Our world is you”: more information
With the program “Our world is you”, COSMOTE provides everyone with the unique opportunity to realise their idea for a better world. The first step was taken in September 2011, when the company invited people to submit their ideas. More than 7,500 responded, expressing their own wishes. The first idea that stood out was the wish of Maria Tsiouni for a world full of children’s smiles, and so COSMOTE funded essential costs for the running of the Chatzikyriakeio Foundation for Children. The second action implemented the idea of Iliana Karavioti for the support of families in need; thus, the “Family Support Program” was developed in collaboration with KYADA (Hospitality and Solidarity Centre of the Athens Municipality). The wish of Sonia Charalambidou from Prespes and Dimitra Koufidou from Samothrace to improve the everyday life of the border regions were the grounds upon which the third action was established. Consequently, COSMOTE undertook the task of restoring and fully renovating two municipal buildings in Prespes, the Patoulideio Sports Center and the Laimos Municipal Library. The Samothrace Cultural Centre was completely renovated as well. With its fourth action, the COSMOTE StartUp, the company fulfills the wish of Iraklis Papadopoulos who visited the “Our world is you” Facebook page and asked COSMOTE to support creative people and innovative entrepreneurial ideas.