Hellenic Entrepreneurship Award 2013 Winners Announced

Four Greek businesses named as the first recipients of the Hellenic Entrepreneurship Award – Winners share over €500,000 in business start-up funding

The Hellenic Entrepreneurship Award recently announced the four winners for 2013 that will receive business start-up funding as well as mentoring and business support services.

Funded and administered by the Libra Group on behalf of The Hellenic Initiative (THI), the Hellenic Entrepreneurship Award helps Greek entrepreneurs to overcome economic barriers and pursue innovative business plans.

The 2013 winners are:

• Stella Mare – A seafood business focused on sardines and anchovies from the Greek seas. Stella Mare fillets and organically processes the fish, preserving the finished product in a unique blend of organic olive oil, vinegar, herbs and spices. The business will receive award funding of €190,000.
Applicants: Giorgos Terizakis, Aggeliki Tsimpli

• Corfu Living History Museum – Recreating the environment of an historic mansion on Corfu, the Living History Museum depicts the everyday life of 19th century nobility. It will include animated figures and the essences and sounds of the age to create an authentic and involving experience. The business will receive award funding of €145,000.
Applicants: Ekaterini Rantou, Theodora Efthimiou

• Great Catering – A catering concept for corporate or private entertaining. Great Catering does not utilize standard menus but offers a wholly bespoke service with a special emphasis on presentation, based on the host’s individual preferences. The business will receive award funding of €130,000.
Applicant: Margarita Vitali Sarantopoulou

• RabT – A smartphone and tablet application that generates a curated video sequence for every user based on a dynamic algorithm that analyzes users’ profile and feedback on every video watched. The business will receive award funding of €110,000.
Applicants: Yiannis Broustas, George Lentzas, Leonidas Garyfallos

Jimmy Athanasopoulos, Director of the Hellenic Entrepreneurship Award with Corfu Living History Museum team, Great Catering team, RabT team and Stella Mare team.

The winners were chosen on the basis of their business plans that demonstrated innovation, job creation, financial discipline, sustainability and social responsibility.

In addition to the business funding, each winner will receive business support including legal, accounting, communications and IT consultancy services.

Furthermore, all four will be assigned a mentor – a highly experienced business professional from one of the Libra Group’s global businesses.

The Libra Group, which has committed €5,000,000 to the award, initially pledged €500,000 in funding for the 2013 winning companies, but following a highly competitive selection process it was felt that the strong business plans presented by the four winners merited increasing this year’s total to €575,000. The additional funding will be provided by Jalouise Pty Ltd, another supporter of The Hellenic Initiative.

838 people registered on the Hellenic Entrepreneurship Award website resulting in 295 business plans submitted within the application deadline.

More information about the award can be found here.