Cyprus Entrepreneurship Competition – CyEC 2021
The Cyprus Entrepreneurship Competition CyEC 2021, (https://cyec.org.cy) is launched for a second consecutive year by the Centre of Entrepreneurship of the University of Cyprus with the support of the Ministry of Energy Commerce and Industry. For CyEC2021 all submissions were evaluated by the CyEC Panel of Judges on their merits in developing successful businesses in the marketplace and these are the selected teams to enter the Acceleration program:
ATOKES, BIZVIEW, BOLSTERUP, INTELLAR, RENEWABLE Z, SGNDT SYMETRICS GEOPHYSICAL, SPORTSLINK and S3 - SECURE SMART SYSTEMS
INITIAL STAGE RESULTS
The CyEc2021 received 19 applications. The applications were in a bite size business plan format explaining the business idea and market opportunity. The 8 teams selected to enter the acceleration program have demonstrated sophistication of their idea, evident technological and innovation component, team commitment and teams’ capabilities to develop further their business ideas. Upon completion of the acceleration program, all teams are requested to submit an enhanced business plan and pitch their business idea to the panel of judges in a closed session on December 13th and to the public at the Awards Ceremony on the 15th of December 2021.
GENERAL THOUGHTS
Upon reviewing this years’ applications, the jury has agreed that the teams and ideas demonstrated greater sophistication, quality and maturity, when compared to previous years. The submitted projects have instilled positivity in improving the Cyprus entrepreneurial ecosystem and its stakeholders.
The general positive development and satisfactory outcomes are aligned with the goals and vision of the CyEC, which aspires to nurture an entrepreneurial culture among - scientists, startup founders, and hi-tech entrepreneurs, and challenge them to transform their ideas into real business opportunities and to the leading companies of tomorrow. The CyEC Organizing committee and the CyEC partners network aim at the development, quality improvement and promotion of the Cyprus Entrepreneurial ecosystem.
The sponsors and supporters of the competition are: Navigator Consulting, CYBAN – Cyprus Business Angels Network, The Cyprus Institute, PwC Cyprus, KAYAK, IDEA Innovation Centre, CYENS Centre of Excellence, Cyprus Seeds and Giraffes in the Kitchen.
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Summer Semester 2021
During the Summer Semester 2021, the Centre for Entrepreneurship offered two free electives courses:
C4E 103 “Product Design and Tools” was offered for the third consecutive year, attracting the interest of 25 students at all levels and from different departments of the University of Cyprus. Through, this intensive short-term course students were introduced to the concepts of Design thinking, digital sketching and vector design, prototyping and model making, 3D Printing & Scanning and Digital Sculpting.
The Free Elective course C4E 104: ‘Urban Entrepreneurship: Opportunities in times of uncertainty’ offered for the first time, aspired to develop creative solutions and address social, urban, strategic, and organizational problems, through the development of prototypes that could lead to business proposals.
The Design Thinking course took place in early July and in a hybrid form with lectures, urban walks and workshops, seminars and a pitching competition. Part of the workshop activities were also open to the public.
The final event took place at the Nicosia Municipality Rooftop terrace where the 20 enrolled students pitched their project ideas to the ‘Urban Council’ and to the public. Watch the video that captured all the activities and the feeling of the course! Here https://bit.ly/3tRuPe1
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The 3rd Student Innovators 2021 -SINN2021 took place online on April 14th and was broadcasted live from C4E channels (Facebook and YouTube). SINN is organized every year by the Centre for Entrepreneurship (C4E) and the Department of Business and Public Administration University of Cyprus, is a part of a broader effort of the University of Cyprus to empower student entrepreneurs to become influential change makers with the appropriate skills and mindset.
Student teams are invited to present creative ideas and solutions for challenging problems with impact to the economy and/or society in a 5-minute “pitch”.
This year the first prize was given to «Mediphast Pharmacy On Wheels». The team presented an innovative idea of a portable pharmacy which provided delivery services at home, 24hrs.
The second prize was awarded to the team «SoundBreaker» which developed a noise management cyber-physical system to be used in libraries and other quiet spaces. «ELEUTHO Diagnostics» won the third place of the Competition. The team presented an idea on a medical diagnostic method to predict premature birth by using Artificial Intelligence.
More information about the winning teams can be seen at https://bit.ly/3tGqOZO
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A Hybrid Fall 2021 Semester
C4E101: Series of Lectures on Innovation and Entrepreneurship – Spring Semester 2021
During Spring Semester, 42 students were enrolled for the C4E 101 and 3 for the C4E 102: Group Project in Entrepreneurship. C4E organized and supported 15 lectures, seminars, and
workshops. Due to the Covid 19 circumstances most of the events have been held online. Our first invited speaker was Professor Marios Dikaiakos, former Director of the Center for Entrepreneurship. He gave the lecture Innovation Ecosystems for the first time as a C4E 101 one. His lecture was followed by Dr Ariana’s Polyviou one on Platforms & Strategy in the Age of Networked Markets. Other lectures during Spring semester were held by Philip Ammerman who gave two lectures one on Developing Great Ideas for Startups, and another one on Digital Utopia | Digital Dystopia Imaging Future Tech, Marilena Shakalli Maroudia, PwC Lecture: ‘Introduction to Negotiation Skills https://www.c4e.org.cy/events/event-list/item/362-pwc-lecture-introduction-to-negotiation-skills, Dr Anastasia Constantinou, on Introduction to Business Planning, and Gabriel Golic, on Marketing for non-Marketers among others.
Get more updates on the program of the Series of Lectures on Innovation and Entrepreneurship here https://bit.ly/2WYYD9o
C4E 102: Group Project in Entrepreneurship: REC
For the first time, the free elective course C4E 102 was offered as a YUFE course, through the YUFE Alliance in which University of Cyprus is a partner. A team of students, Ruben Gil Laguna, Elena De Novellis, and Christina Ntokou, from three different Universities (i.e., University of Carlos III Madrid and University of Rome Tor Vergata and University of Cyprus ) worked together to complete their group project on Entrepreneurship, called “REC”. The vision of the team was to be “be changing the way of traveling through innovation and persistence” by developing a piece of luggage that is convertible, expandable, sustainable and easy to storage. Students completed and successfully presented their project. For the design their piece of luggage the team was supported by Associate Professor Panayiotis Kyratsis, and Assistant Professor, Nicholas Efkolides and Athanasios Manavis, Industrial Designer, and Adjunct Lecturer, all from the University of Western Macedonia, mentors of the Centre.
A Presenting the National Report on Entrepreneurship 2019/2020 & GEM Global Report 2020/2021
The National Report on Entrepreneurship 2019/2020 was presented in March 2021 and represents one the commitments of the participation of Cyprus in the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor Study. Lead sponsor of this activity is the Ministry of Energy, Commerce and Industry and the dissemination is funded by PwC Cyprus.
The GEM Global Report 2020/2021 was also launched in May 2021. The Global Report includes data collected around the world during covid-19 first lockdown. During this period evidence shows that "more people who knew someone who stopped a business than knew someone who started one” (GEM 2021, Press Release). In this report Philip Ammerman, Founder of Numenor Capital Partners, Navigator Consulting Group, and others features as an Entrepreneur representing Cyprus.
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During Spring Semester 2021, Panayiotis Kyriakou, Undergraduate student of the Computer Science Department of the University of Cyprus completed his Bachelor Thesis at the PwC Makerspace, Centre for Entrepreneurship, University of Cyprus. He developed an Integrated Application in Python, involving Robotic Arm & AI Embedded Camera Coordination (Dobot Magician & JeVois). The two JeVois cameras run ML models recognizing shapes and are placed on the right, inside boxes 3D-printed in-house. Check the video here.
Get into the PwC Makerspace! https://youtu.be/_4j6S5vLXTg and check the available equipment http://bit.ly/3mVjYKL
Upcoming Lectures and Events
C4E101: Series of Lectures on Innovation and Entrepreneurship – Fall Semester 2021
The Fall Semester 2021 C4E101 Series of lectures embarked with the lecture “The Space Industry: present, future and opportunities for graduates” with George A Danos, President of the Cyprus Space Exploration Organisation (CSEO) and President of the Parallel Parliament for Entrepreneurship of the Republic of Cyprus. The lecture explored the prospects of the Space Industry, the next big goals of humanity in the space frontier and the possibilities in Cyprus role and the role of our own domestic space research organisation in the grand scheme of things in space exploration. Upcoming lectures include:
- - Intro to 3D Printing and Intro to 3D Design with Odysseas Economides on October 27 and November 4
- - Getting to Market: How gaining traction affects getting funding, your product-market fit, and everything else with Philip Ammerman on November 3rd
- - Finding the right marketing approach – Framework and tools with Gabriel T. on November 10th
- - Prototyping for entrepreneurial success with November 17 with Konstantinos Vitoratos, Marketing Team Lead of Proto.io
For more information about our future events, lectures and workshops visit https://bit.ly/2WYYD9o