Startup Europe Week Crete 2019 – Outcomes
Startup Europe Week Crete 2019 was completed on Saturday, 16th of March in Chania, with the participation of the attendees surpassing all expectations and reaching the 500 participants. The response this year was enormous as the conference attracted 1,200 people totally to the 4 regions of Crete. For one more year, SEW Crete was the most successful among the 300 events taking place at the same time across Europe as part of Startup Europe Week.
The Pan-European Entrepreneurship Conference, Startup Europe Week Crete, was organized for the 4th consecutive year in Crete by the Youth Entrepreneurship Club, with the co-organization locally of Regional Unit of Chania and Regional Unit of Rethymnon. It was under the auspices of the French Embassy in Athens, the Region of Crete, Mazinnov, the Municipality of Chania, the Municipality of Rethymno, the Municipality of Heraklion and the Municipality of Agios Nikolaos. This year, made a tour in Agios Nikolaos (March 8th), Heraklion (March 9th), Rethymnon (March 15th), and completed its journey to Chania on March 16, spreading the passion for innovation and entrepreneurship across Crete.
The conference started with the presentation of the Youth Entrepreneurship Club by its co-founder Thanos Paraschos, and Co-Organizer of Startup Europe Week, who presented the framework of the Organization’s actions and its next moves. At the same time, he invited those who have an idea or a business and need guidance or support to contact the Organisation. Finally, he announced that teams that have a creative, research or business project can be hosted at the YEC Hub Chania in the Technical Chamber of Western Crete. The teams will be selected after evaluation, so whoever is interested in can apply here.
This year’s topic of the conference was “Innovation & Entrepreneurship, Crete – Europe – World”.
In Chania, a pitch event took place where 15 startups based in Crete and 3 research projects from the Technical University of Crete were presented. To note that in 2016 only 4 startups had been presented. These data show that talented groups and startup ecosystems in general can grow everywhere, with organized structures such as the Youth Entrepreneurship Club, and not only in large urban centers. During the conference, the audience took part with enthusiasm in thematic awareness workshops and mentoring sessions, matchmaking events organized by the Founderhood, where more than 20 experts coached the teams and exchanged know-how.
“It is very encouraging and promising to see that in such a short period of time more than 10 businesses have already been established on the island of Crete. Youth Entrepreneurship Club, which supports new teams and innovative projects in order to be developed has greatly contributed to this achievement . Our goal through the conference is to meet even more people with a passion to innovate and we will support them in every possible way,” said Olympia Kokka, Executive Director of the Youth Entrepreneurship Club.
As Paul Efmorfidis, Founder of Coco-mat, pointed out, “All of you can create a company like Coco-mat, as long as you have passion.”
When we asked Mrs Eva Kaili, MEP, what she would say to a young who wants to leave abroad, she answered, “I won’t tell him to stay. I will tell him to go see what it is going out there, the challenges and returning back he will offer more to Greece.”
After the main panels, three workshops took place; “Mindfulness in Business Life” with facilitator Nadia Paraschou, where about 400 participants were introduced to the world of consciousness, “Financial Tools for SMEs” by Mr. Yiannis Troulis and “Legal issues for Startups” by lawyer Thanasis Leontaris.
Among the speeches these ones that gained the interest were:
- Petros Kokkalis, City Councilor for Growth & Entrepreneurship at Piraeus Municipality (Rethymno)
- Eva Kaili, MEP at Hellenic S&D Delegation (Heraklion)
- Paul Efmorfidis, Founder of Coco-mat (Chania)
- Eurof Uppington, Founder and CEO of Amfora (Lasithi)
More specifically, Startup Europe Week 2019 included talks, panels, workshops, competitions, a startup pitching event and closed presentations to angel investors. More than 1200 participants, 25 speakers, 80 volunteers, 21 mentors took part and over 25 hours of talks and workshops held in the event. It is important to emphasize that the whole event was based on the action of the volunteers of Youth Entrepreneurship Club.
It is worth noting that the action is supported by over 50 local and pan-Hellenic agencies. The result justified all those who believed in the Organization, whose actions are not over yet. Youth Entrepreneurship Club continues its dynamic action for the spread of entrepreneurship for the 5th year in a row. You can be informed by our channels and we will be glad to become part of this effort.
See what happened at Startup Europe Week 2019 in the video here ⇒
Stay tuned in the Youth Entrepreneurship Club as even more actions are coming soon!
If you want to support the organization, please email us at info@youthentrepreneurship.club
Sponsors:
Megaplast, Enterprise Greece, SYNKA Conferience, Moosend
Cocomat, Lyra Beer, Olympos, Chalkiadakis, Ktima Toplou, Astra Jewels, AutoCandia
Supporters:
Chania Chamber of Commerce,Lasithi Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Europe Direct Crete, Technical Chamber of Greece – Western Crete, SEGE, TEI of Crete, University of Crete, Technical University of Crete, Chania Hotels Association, Orthodox Academy of Crete
Local Sponsors:
Chania Bank, Ratio Legal Services, Ntourountous, Balantinos,
Galaxy Hotel, Avli Hotel, Karatarakis Group, Porto Veneziano, Arcus Suites, Kriti Hotel,
Byraki, M&D, TGS Hellas, Galeni
Communication Sponsors:
Rise TV, Kriti TV, NEA TV Kritis
Flashnews.gr, Haniotika Nea, Zarpa Chania, neakriti.gr
Diktyo FM, Super Fm 89.6, Radio 98.4, Eros 105 FM