Co-operation between EKT and Startup Greece in support of young entrepreneurship

A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the National Documentation Centre (EKT) and the Association of Youth Entrepreneurship 'Startup Greece' was signed on Friday, April 1, 2022 at EKT's new facilities in Paleo Faliro. The Director of EKT, Dr. Evi Sachini and the Head of Startup Greece, Thanos Paraschos, agreed to explore partnerships to support start-up entrepreneurship, knowledge sharing and participation in networking activities.

'It is a fact that the start-up sector is a sector of the Greek economy with suitable territory, but with a lack of knowledge and guidance.Through our co-operation with EKT, we look forward to providing knowledge, guidance and networking, through joint actions and a common vision,' said Thanos Paraschos after the signing of the memorandum of co-operation. 'The co-operation with the Startup Greece team, the continuous exchange of knowledge, as well as the joint planning of targeted information and consulting actions, in terms of integrated services, are sure to contribute to the emergence of new business opportunities and the strengthening of the domestic youth ecosystem', said Dr. Evi Sachini.

With international activity and a European presence, the non-profit, non-governmental organisation Startup Greece promotes entrepreneurship and innovation, specifically supporting and enhancing the operation of start-ups. Similarly, EKT develops integrated services for the strengthening of innovation and entrepreneurship, supporting the further use of research, extroversion, resilience and the green and digital transition of Greek companies.

The two organisations agreed to work together to design joint actions in support of domestic entrepreneurship, in terms of providing integrated services with an emphasis on innovation, digital transformation, extroversion and networking. The main goal is to encourage and develop technology transfer, ie the use of research and technological results of Startup Greece start-ups, as well as to support innovative business ventures using EKT's specialised knowledge and networking capabilities.

In particular, EKT's Innovation and Networking Unit will ensure that Startup Greece executives are regularly informed about funding opportunities and opportunities for business, research and technology collaborations. In turn, Startup Greece will regularly provide its executives and partner companies with information about the relevant opportunities and the possibility of EKT support.

EKT and Startup Greece will undertake joint information and advisory actions on the following topics of concern for start-ups:

• access to national and European funding (EKT is the National Contact Point for Horizon Europe and co-ordinator of the EIT Health node in Greece),
• access to new markets and development of relevant skills (EKT is co-ordinator of the Enterprise Europe Network - Hellas, the Greek node of the European network of the same name), and
• combined use of tools (financial and non-financial) for the implementation of business ideas (EKT participates in the StartUp Europe 4 Growth Initiative).

The signing was also attended by the Chairman of the Board of the EKT Argyris Peroulakis, the head of the Innovation and Networking Unit of EKT, Dr. Nikos Karabekios and the Innovation Advisor of EKT Varvara Vasilakis.

💥 #StartupGreece και #EKTgr μαζί για την εξωστρέφεια και την υποστήριξη της νεανικής επιχειρηματικότητας! Μετά τις υπογραφές ετοιμάζουμε συμπράξεις και δράσεις δικτύωσης που θα αναδείξουν επιχειρηματικές ευκαιρίες.@StartupGreece_ @ESachini @ParaschosThanos @aris_peroulakis pic.twitter.com/FbgrQu4oKI

— ΕΚΤ (@EKTgr) April 1, 2022

Startup Greece

Startup Greece (YEC) is a non-profit organisation that informs, trains and supports individuals to turn their ideas into enterprises with social and economic impact.

The vision of the organisation is the creation of local innovation and entrepreneurship incubators, which will be part of the inspiration and support of individuals, aiming at social and economic development from Greece for the whole world. To date, the organisation has carried out more than 100 information and educational activities with the participation of 1,000,000+ people, in 10 cities in Greece, with the network of volunteers exceeding 200. The organisation has offered internships to over 40 young people Worldwide.

Supported startups have raised more than € 10 million in funding, creating more than 100 new jobs. Recently one of the supported companies was sold for $70 million.

The organisation is certified as an incubator in the register of the Ministry of Development and Investment.

National Documentation Centre (EKT) 

The National Documentation Centre (EKT) is a Non-Profit Legal Entity under Private Law and is supervised by the Ministry of Digital Government. EKT is a Scientific Infrastructure for National Use and a National Authority of the Hellenic Statistical System.

With modern technological infrastructure, high level of know-how and specialised scientific personnel, EKT:

• develops integrated services for linking research with production, exploiting the results of research activity, extroversion and networking, developing the innovation potential of enterprises and research centres, and enhancing the digital transformation,
• produces the official statistics of the country for European Research, Development and Innovation statistics,
• conducts research, collects data and produces national statistics in the fields of science & technology and the digital economy,
• develops Data Governance systems related to the research system, innovation and digital economy in order to strengthen the practice and evaluation of public policies and to support decisions,
• is the national agency for the organisation and dissemination of scientific and technological information, collects, documents and makes available for further use, as public data, authoritative digital content of science and culture,
• provides services for a number of Greek organisations (libraries, archives, museums) for the organisation and distribution of standardised and reputable information.