Join the “Intelligent Business Accelerator”
You have or develop a business idea?
Get in the growth cycle program of the “Smart Accelerator” and take part in an exciting experience, with a chance to meet with investors (VC’s), and claim one of the three prizes, worth 4.000 to10.000 euro**.
Two learning cycles from experienced instructors will grant you access to a modern toolbox, offer guidance and unveil the secrets of an effectiove pitch to potential investors. Either you build on or have an idea, you will learn ways to redesign the application and operations, so you offer an attractive end product for the real market and investors.
Experienced mentors with international experience will help you to prepare for the last stage, where you will have the chance to claim funding, presenting your plan to global investors from the global capital ecosystem (Venture Capitals). Additionally you will have the chance to compete in the NEΧT STAGE COMPETITION to claim one of the three prizes worth from 4.000 to 10.000 euro to boost your idea forward.
The program is co-ordinated by organizations with experience, research and impact in the startup exosystem. More specific the project is co-ordinated by Alexander Innovation Zone, the research center SEERC of CITY College, the Technopolis ICT Business Park, the University of Information and Science and Technology (UIST), NCDIEL and YES Foundation.
Choose your session and
Book your seat*
For your convenicence the Training is provided twice.
You can choose to attend in morning (20/4) or at the evening (22/4) training session.
20/4
9:30-14:30
Applications close 19/4
22/4
15:30-21:00
Applications close 21/4
* Participation is free with registration.
** You can choose between morning or evening session.
*Awards will be provided in the form of supplies and services or a combination of the two, depending on what each winning startup needs. In addition, partners in our network will reward selected finalist teams with extra prizes to help them take their project to the next level.
Milosis Dimitris has a 22 years of experience in managing or coordinating national and EU projects and he is a member of the Special Technical-Scientific Staff and a PhD Candidate at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, School of Political Science
His research and scientific interests are related to national and regional development policies and strategies, valorisation of academic research and start-up creation projects and initiatives in collaboration many institutions.
He is currently the coordinator of the ICBA project
Elina Ketikidi graduated from CITY International University with a master’s degree in Digital Marketing and Social Media. In 2017, she became a full-time PhD student within the doctoral program offered by the University of Sheffield and the South East European Research Center (SEERC). She was a Digital Account Executive at the multinational advertising company MullenLowe Athens. She has previously worked as a Social Media freelancer and Communication Coordinator and as Social Media Marketing Consultant at The Fashion Revolution Foundation. Currently, Elina Ketikidi is the Communications and Digital Manager at South East European Research Center (SEERC).
Elina Ketikidi has taught Online Consumer Behavior and Digital Marketing at postgraduate level. Also, she has been accepted to present her article at an International Marketing Conference entitled “Investigating Consumer Behavior in the Fashion Market: A Qualitative Study of Consumers and Digital Experts in Greece”.
Mr. Anastasios Ntabizas is the Business Development Manager of SEERC. He holds a Master’s degree in Marketing, Advertising and PR from the University of Sheffield and a BSc degree in Computing & Management Science from Loughborough University, UK.
In the past he has worked for NGOs and public sector organisations such as NOESIS -Thessaloniki Science Center & Technology Museum, INTERSOS and SEPVE – Association of Information Technology Companies of Northern Greece where he participated in many EU funded projects, trained and supported a large number of individuals and organizations. Though his professional career, Mr. Anastasios Ntabizas has organized a significant number of expert meetings, conferences and brokerage events in Greece and various EU countries.
He has more than 12 years’ experience as a consultant and manager.
Dr. Dragan Shutevski is a professor at the higher educational institution Euro College, teaching quality management, operational of Mana, and business modeling. Also, he is teaching an innovation management module course for master’s degree students at Skopje Metropolitan College, running London Metropolitan University courses.
He is the author and co-author of 20 papers, ten books, and more project reports and national and regional strategies. He has more than 15 years of professional experience in policy development, innovation strategies, entrepreneurship support projects, and consultancy practice. He has participated in over 20 projects funded and supported by OIC, World Bank, ETF, ADA, UNDP, UNESCAP, GIZ, IPA funds, and domestic funds.
Tashko Rizov PhD, works as associate professor at the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering – Skopje at the University Ss. Cyril and Methodius in Skopje where is engaged in teaching and research in the areas of mechanical engineering, engineering design and constructions, with focus on engineering graphics, augmented and virtual reality.
His work experience started at the Economic Chamber. In 2007 he created the start-up ICL Group as part of the Business Start-Up Centre. Rizov is evaluator for the Innovation and Technology Transfer Fund of North Macedonia, the Innovation Fund of Serbia and te Science Fund of Serbia. More than 15 years is counseling micro, small and medium enterprises on their organizational development.
George is the Director of the Entrepreneurship Hub at the American College of Thessaloniki. He is specialized in business development issues, having more than 25 years of professional working experience as a business consultant in the fields of SMEs / Start-ups / Business funding / Entrepreneurship Development / Regional Development, in Greece and South-East Europe.
He has been working as a freelance business consultant as well as been occupied in high management positions by several consulting companies and business development organizations. George has studied electrical Engineering in Democritus University of Thrace, and holds an MSc Degree from University College London.
Nikolaos Tsoniotis holds an MEng in Electronic Engineering & Electronic Communication Eng. from the University of Hull, UK and started his engineering career working as a Telecommunications R&D Engineer for over a decade.
He has worked as a researcher in academia investigating emerging technologies and how they apply to Education, Transport, Energy and other sectors. He is a serial entrepreneur with ICT and Energy sector efforts, startup coach/mentor in major events such as Startup Weekend and NASA Space Apps Challenge and is a resident coach at OK!Thess pre-incubator in Thessaloniki, Greece.
He is currently a co-founder and managing partner of Ideas Forward PC. His expertise includes Product Strategy and Innovation & Product Management
He has been involved in technology research, software system design and new product development since 2005. This has been through various roles – as R&D software engineer, PhD researcher, technology and product innovation consultant, company founder, advisor to growing businesses and angel investor.
He has worked on a wide range of software engineering research and product development projects involving cloud service architectures, semantic technologies, data analytics and the Internet of Things. He has also worked with many early-stage technology startups on product discovery and investment readiness.
He is currently managing partner of Ideas Forward, technical consultant for the European Commission Joint Research Centre (Sustainable Transport Unit) as well as program manager and startup coach at OK!Thess.
Gogo Rafajlovski is an operational Director at SEEUTechPark and IP Consultant who helps entrepreneurs and innovative startups reach-out their maximum potential.
With an ongoing 15-year successful career in managing StartUp Centers, Incubators, Accelerators & TechParks he has build-up portfolio of experienced business mentor, passionate about technology & brands.
His background includes: Operations Management, Startup Investments, Intellectual Property & Valuations.
Paraskevi Tarani, is an Architect – Urban Planner and holds an MSc in European Policies and Governance. She is a PhD candidate at the Department of Urban Development and Planning, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki.
Her research interests include the fields of Regional innovation Systems, Strategies for Knowledge and Creative Cities, Human Ecosystem of Knowledge, Sustainable Development and Governance. She has been involved in the implementation of numerous research projects focused mainly on Urban and Regional Innovation, Regional Innovation Systems (RIS) and Smart Secialization (RIS3), Creative and Smart City solutions, and has extended experience in project management and coordination.
Her portfolio features collaboration with various research institutes and organisations such as Urban and Regional Innovation Research (URENIO), Center for Research & Technology, Hellas (CERTH), Major Development Agency Thessaloniki (MDAT) and other.
She held the position of adjunct lecturer at the University of Thessaly – Department of Architecture (2004-2009) as well as at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki – Department of Urban Development and Planning (2005-2015) where she was teaching European policies for spatial planning and development.
She is the co-founder of Creativity Platform, a nonprofit, collective scheme, seeking to exchange ideas, actions, tools, and applications to support the creative industries ecosystem in the city of Thessaloniki as well as in the general Greek area.
Mr. Kostas Karpouchtsis holds a B.A in Educational and Social Policy with specialization in Human Resources Training & Development from University of Macedonia, and a Master in Business Administration from Athens University of Economics and Business.
He has a total of fourteen years of experience in areas such as:
- Technical-Financial studies and Operational Planning Studies.
- Planning, organization and management of modernization and development projects co-financed by national and European Commission programmes and agencies on behalf of some of the largest companies based in Northern Greece
- Investment Project evaluation and socio-economic impact assessment on behalf of public authorities
- Strategy and Business Planning
If you are curious to what training is all about find below details on the 2st row of the training program
The project and the Next Stage Competition
Steps and roadmap to succeed in competition
In this session you will learn about the program, the goals and objectives and the process. You will understand the step-to-step process from capacity building to meeting of potential investors and succeeding in the upcoming competition.
IPR protection
of new start-up ideas
In this session you will have the chance to explore IPR protection of new start-up ideas in depth.
Entrepreneurial strategy
of start-ups
Learn the fundamental elements that lead to efficient strategy for a start-up. You will explore the elements of strategy and learn how to build a rodamap for your venture based on global best practices.
Market Identification for Startups
Find your market
The key to scaling is to efficently find your target market and serve their needs. That prevents spending unnecessary amounts of resources to engage people that are not potentialy your clients. You will learn how to identify and target the market and the role of this process in the whole strategy.
Funding, finance, investment readiness
A roadmap to get from idea to funding
Most wonderful ideas are wrecked through the process. The main reason is that they can’t pass through the thresshold of funding. From conception to execution funding has been critically acclaimed as the most important factor to lead you to the marketplace. In this session you will learn basic sources, factors and tacticks to escape from the bootstrap loophole, and get to the next level.
Marketing of a New Technology
And new methods of Marketing your venture
Through this training module you will gain knowledge on current consumer trends, global marketing trends in 2021, new technology, role of marketing, applications of technology in marketing, technology driven marketing and facts about visual content.
Q &A session.
A questions & Answers session
Get your questions answered. Instructors will respond to your questions and Nikolaos Tsoniotis with Dimitrios Kourtesis will be at your service to discuss the details of the program and about the NEXT STAGE competition.