7th Envolve Award Greece Finalists Announced
Athens, June 17, 2020 – Envolve Entrepreneurship has announced the 10 finalists of the 7th Envolve Award Greece who are in line to receive interest-free funding, mentorship and business support services. The finalists are also competing to receive additional cash prizes from public social media voting.
The finalists are a diverse group of inspiring teams, spanning Agritech, Digital Services, Fashion, Sharing Economy, Healthtech, Pharmaceuticals, Financial Services, and Hospitality & Tourism. They were selected from the many hundreds of high-quality applications after careful consideration by the Panel of Judges. The three industries that attracted the highest number of applications are Digital Services, Tourism and Food & Beverages. Increased participation was also evident in the Health Care and Education sectors. The competition received applications from all over Greece, with a strong involvement from businesses based in the areas of Attica, Macedonia and Peloponnese.
In addition to Envolve Award Greece, the finalists are eligible for the #GetEnvolved Award in which the public vote for their favourite finalists based on pitch videos via Envolve’s Facebook and Instagram channels. The three #GetEnvolved Award Winners will receive €3,000, €2,000 and €1,000 respectively, regardless of the main Envolve Award Greece results.
The Winners of the 7th Envolve Award Greece and the #GetEnvolved Award will be declared during July 2020.
Jimmy Athanasopoulos, Chairman of Envolve Entrepreneurship, commented: “This year’s finalists announcement is taking place during an unparalleled pandemic, but this does not diminish our commitment to support entrepreneurship in Greece. Greek start-ups have not only shown resilience through a crisis but have also grasped the opportunity to flourish. We stand by our Envolve family of winners and finalists and continue our hard work supporting start-ups. This year’s competition shows that there is a wealth of talent and excellence in business ideas with versatile and dynamic growth prospects in our country, which represents a silver lining during these difficult times.”
During the pandemic Envolve’s team has been following the guidelines of the Greek Ministry of Health, through teleworking while postponing all events and monthly meetups. The team has been focusing its efforts on extending its support to the start-up community, by curating a Survival Kit aimed at anyone facing business challenges. The Survival Kit includes resources and information to mitigate risk, increase productivity, network and enrich the business ecosystem. Envolve in Greece also rolled out new free tools, as well as supported and participated in live webinars for start-up survival and virtual pitching tips.
Alexandros Nousias, Country Director of Envolve Entrepreneurship in Greece, commented: “We continue to roll-out more resources for entrepreneurs, helping them to adapt to the current global crisis. We are proud to see that Envolve alumni are stepping forward to offer their help to start-ups. We are in constant communication with many key stakeholders from the Greek and European start-up community, in order to offer tangible support to new and early stage businesses across Greece. The Greek start-up ecosystem is strong, showing unity and action.”
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.
The award programme, which was founded in Greece by the Libra Group on behalf of The Hellenic Initiative, enjoys the backing of many organizations that have stepped forward in support of the Envolve Awards both in Greece and the USA. Since 2012, Envolve has declared 27 award winners in Greece, operating in 17 sectors. These winners have contributed to the Greek economy with the creation of more than 1,800 new jobs and have a combined valuation exceeding €300 million. Supporters in Greece include Amazon, Antidote, Atraktos, Epixeiro.gr, I.A.D.R., Intracom Telecom, Ioannis Vassardanis & Partners Law Form, Jalouise PTY LTD, Lykourezos Law Offices, Microsoft, Moore, People for Business, Prisma Consulting, Reed Smith, SAP Hellas, V+O Communication and White Room.
For more information about the 10 finalists you can visit here.
To learn more about the Envolve Award Greece, see here.