WINNERS OF ΕNVOLVE AWARD GREECE 2022 ANNOUNCED
Envolve celebrated 10 years empowering entrepreneurs in Greece and announced its Envolve Award Greece 2022 winners, bespot., Grandmama, and Kineo.
Athens, 9 June 2022 – On Wednesday June 8th, in its first in person celebration since the covid-19 pandemic, Envolve Entrepreneurship (https://greece.old.envolveglobal.org), a social program of the Libra Group supporting entrepreneurs, announced the winners of its annual competition, Envolve Award Greece 2022. This year’s winners are bespot., Grandmama, and Kineo, who represent diverse sectors, namely s sustainable transportation, health, and retail tech. Each team will receive up to €50,000 in interest-free funding, business support services, mentorship and more to accelerate and scale their businesses. This year represents the 10th year of Envolve, which has named 37 winners since the program was launched in 2012.
Envolve Entrepreneurship unveiled the winners at an open-to-the-public ceremony moderated by Sakis Tanimanidis, including industry leaders, representatives of the startup community and Greek Government officials, such as Mrs. Niki Kerameus, Minister of Education and Religious Affairs, Mr. Christos Dimas, Deputy Minister of Development and Investments, Mrs. Barbara Geladakis, Founder at Rodi Fertility, Mr. Nikos Moschos, Founder and Business Director at PD Neurotechnology, Mr. Kostas Saridakis, Founder at Collaborate Healthcare, Mr. Evangelos Pappas, Founder and CSO at RTsafe, Mr. Dimitris Mallas, Journalist, Mr. Apostolos Foteinakis, CFO at blueground, Mrs. Marica Labrou, Founder and CEO at CEL, Mrs. Matina Harkoftaki, Journalist. At the same time, the award ceremony was attended by the Chairman and CEO of Libra Group, Mr. George Logothetis, as well as the Country Director of Envolve Entrepreneurship, Mr. Alexandros Nousias.
The awards ceremony can be seen, on demand, here.
Chairman and CEO of the Libra Group, George M. Logothetis, delivered an inspiring keynote speech honoring the winners and expressing pride in the entrepreneurs who are powering the future of Greece. He noted that the program was created to build an ecosystem of hope, stating “I am incredibly proud of the contribution this award program gave to so many. Not just the winners, but its creation of hope, the infrastructure to enable dreams to be born, the excitement engendered.”
A panel of judges selected the winners from a diverse group of 10 finalists. The announcement ceremony took place at the Athens College Theater, and was streamed live.
Winners of Envolve Award Greece 2022 include:
- bespot., a company that is unlocking the value of geolocation data and contributes to the digital transformation of the retail experience. Utilizing artificial intelligence and IoT technology, the application offers high accuracy mobility-tracking activity for over 4,000 indoor and outdoor retail venues. It offers personalized content and captures trends to improve the customer experience.
Website: www.bespot.com
Applicants: Leon Gavalas, Anastasia Griva, Konstantinos Dimitros, Vasilis Stavrou.
- Grandmama, an online platform that connects seniors and their relatives with trusted caregivers, for home healthcare all over Greece. Grandmama curates the onboarding process for the caregivers, including background check, reference check, interview, and eligibility to work in Greece. Users also give feedback about caregivers’ services, with a rating system using specific qualitative KPIs.
Website: www.grandmama.gr
Applicants: Vicky Klimi, Maria Miliou, Giorgos Livas, Vasia Kontou.
- Kineo, a company that offers micromobility subscription services. With a fixed monthly fee, riders can select the e-bike or e-scooter of their choice according to their daily needs, as well as technical support, insurance, road assistance, and parking.
Website: www.kineo.gr
Applicants: Adam Markakis, Giorgos Siorfanes, Ioanna Vlassopoulou, Natalia Kristali, Andreas Dimitri, Mary Markaki, Katerina Krypotou, Katerina Liza, José Tomás Mendez.
Alexandros Nousias, Country Director of Envolve Entrepreneurship in Greece, commented, “We are overwhelmed with joy and pride for reaching this 10-year milestone and having the opportunity to declare this year’s winners along with our friends and partners. We would like to congratulate the Envolve Award 2022 winners. We sincerely hope that the award will help in the rapid development and scale of your businesses and that our support will make you feel strong and secure in any of your future endeavors. We also welcome to our family our finalists, who are also winners of this long entrepreneurship journey. We acknowledge your efforts and passion, and we stand by your side. Furthermore, I would also like to express my gratitude to our loyal partners and supporters who are continuing to help us accomplish our mission, and this year’s event sponsors who helped make this event happen. To conclude, none of this would have been possible without a strong team, that relentlessly and passionately is behind every Envolve endeavor. Our team.”
For a yet another year, the public was given the opportunity to vote for their favorite business idea and declared the three winners of the “#GetEnvolved Award.” The winners of these cash prizes, which are additional to the Envolve Award Greece funding, are:
1st #GetEnvolved Award winner: PetExplorer, receiving a check for €3,000.
2nd #GetEnvolved Award winner: Morphoses, receiving a check for €2,000.
3rd #GetEnvolved Award winner: bespot., receiving a check for €1,000.
Envolve also hosted a special discussion with the winning team of its 2022 school contest, the Student Panhellenic Competition in Entrepreneurship, “Citree.” The winning team, taking a break from their school exam period, spoke with the Minister of Educations and Religious Affairs, Mrs. Niki Kerameus, along with Sakis Tanimanidis and shared their vision about their venture, as well as their plans to expand their idea outside their school’s premises, displaying a true example of the future of entrepreneurship.
Envolve Entrepreneurship was founded in 2012 by the Libra Group on behalf of the Hellenic Initiative with the goal to create an ecosystem to advance technology and innovation and support future business leaders. 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. Since its establishment, Envolve has supported 37 award winners in Greece representing 19 sectors. These winners have contributed to the Greek economy with the creation of more than 2,000 new jobs and have a combined valuation exceeding €850 million.
The award program is supported by numerous organizations that have stepped forward in support of the Envolve Awards, both in Greece and the US. The network of supporters in Greece includes: Alexandria Innovation Zone, Amazon Web Services, Antidote, Atraktos, Atradius, Epixeiro.gr, I.A.D.R., indima.gr, the Institute of Entrepreneurship Development, Intracom Telecom, Ioannis Vassardanis & Partners Law Firm, Jalouise PTY LTD, LANCOM, Lykourezos Law Offices, Microsoft, People for Business, 1Business World, Performance Coaching, Prisma Consulting, Reed Smith, SAP Hellas, Together In Tech, V+O Communication, Veltio, Verimpact, vestbee and White Room.
This year’s event was kindly sponsored by Chorus Call Hellas, Red Bull, Eventora, Athens Negotiation Tournament, 12Gods, Fortune Greece, Capital.gr, The TOC, Epixeiro.gr,
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About Envolve Entrepreneurship:
Envolve is an entrepreneurship support organization, founded by the Libra Group in 2012. It provides education, resources, and award programs for startup businesses globally. The organization encompasses the former Hellenic Entrepreneurship Award (HEA) and the American Entrepreneurship Award (AEA) – programs which have declared 67 winners since 2012, supporting job creation and economic growth in Greece and the US. Striving for a global society where all business owners can prosper and grow, Envolve is committed to developing and cultivating entrepreneurial ecosystems by ensuring business support services are more readily available to entrepreneurs.
To learn more about Envolve, please visit https://greece.envolvelglobal.org
About Libra Group:
The Libra Group is a privately-owned international business group whose subsidiaries own and operate assets in more than 50 countries. The Group is predominantly active in six sectors, including several vital to the global economy. These sectors include renewable energy, aviation, hospitality, real estate, and shipping as well as selected diversified investments. The Group has also created 10 social responsibility programs that have a positive impact on the lives of many people around the world.
Visit libra.com for more information.
About The Hellenic Initiative:
Mission: Investing in the future of Greece through direct philanthropy and economic revitalization. We empower people to provide crisis relief, encourage entrepreneur and create jobs. We are The Hellenic Initiative (THI) – a global movement of the Greek Diaspora.
To learn more about THI, visit: http://www.TheHellenicInitiative.org/ & http://onegreece.org
Like us on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/thehellenicinitiative
Follow us on Twitter: @THI_OneGreece
