This is the tenth year of the program, which was created 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.
The contest highlighted the best new start-ups and early-stage businesses in Greece. The three winners received a prize of up to €50,000 in interest-free funding, as well as mentorship, business support services, and more to accelerate and scale their business.
Winners of Envolve Award Greece
Bespot is 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.
Grandmama is 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 employing specific qualitative KPIs.
Kineo is 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.
This year’s 10 finalists represented critical future-focused sectors in Greece, including health and pharmaceutical services, education, sustainable transportation, fintech, retail tech and delivery tech.
“Innovation is born of adversity”
In the keynote speech, Chairman and CEO of Libra Group George Logothetis, the mastermind behind the Envolve Award, said that the Award strengthened Greek entrepreneurship by bringing hope where it once did not exist.
“We tried to be providers of hope and not just mere providers of money,” he said and revealed that the award was born of anger.
“Anger at the way Greeks were treated worldwide … anger at the gap between dreams and reality, especially for young people. We were angry and decided to be part of the solution rather than mourn about the problem.”
The Libra Group established a number of programs to help Greece get out of the economic crisis. “It was philanthropy in its purest form – give without waiting to get something back.
We tried to do what we considered our duty. To lead from the front,” Logothetis said.
He noted that a new era of Greek creativity has begun. “I am proud that this program has helped so many after so many years of difficulty and pain.
“I believe that if an individual, a family, a country goes through a crisis and comes out of the crisis, wound healing can be an advantage. Genius can emerge from great difficulties.
“Innovation is born of adversity. A crisis can fill the reservoirs of determination. The Greek crisis may have armed you, the businessmen of today and tomorrow, in ways you have not even imagined. We have to believe in ourselves to succeed,” Logothetis added.
Alexandros Nousias, Country Director of Envolve Entrepreneurship in Greece said that “This year’s finalists are strong teams with market knowledge, innovative approach and tenacity, ready to develop inside and outside of the Greek market.”
He also congratulated the teams’ entrepreneurs for their willingness to share their visions and business ambitions with Envolve and emphasized that in the eye of Envolve Entrepreneurship, “they are all winners.”
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