Start-up entrepreneurship at the heart of the European Startup Universe Closing Conference

With more than 2,000 participants, the European Startup Universe Closing Conference, an international conference on the European start-up innovation ecosystem, was held from May 4th to 6th, 2022, by the Youth Entrepreneurship Club ‘Startup Greece’.

The focus of the conference was the presentation of the results of the European Startup Universe (ESU) initiative, as well as the networking actions among the start-ups that participated in the programme. The conference featured presentations on the impact of and response to the initiative, while start-ups and experts shared their experiences. On May 4 and 5, sessions were held for the academic, research and business community of Crete, in Rethymnon and Chania.

The main online event of the European Startup Universe Closing Conference took place online on 6 May 2022. The event was kicked off with speeches by EU Innovation, Research, Culture, Education and Youth Commissioner Mariya Gabriel, and MEP and Vice-President of the European Parliament Eva Kailis, as the European Startup Universe initiative is under the auspices of these bodies. The National Documentation Centre (EKT) was a sponsor of the conference.

The Chairman of the EKT Board, Aris Peroulakis, also addressed the conference, referring not only to the importance of the initiative, but also to EKT’s actions and services for the dissemination of knowledge, the promotion of innovation and the strengthening of start-up entrepreneurship. It should be noted that EKT has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Startup Greece to support start-up entrepreneurship. Watch the relevant video in Greek with the speech of Mr. Aris Peroulakis:

The event was attended by organisations and associated bodies from 11 countries participating in the programme. In addition to the representatives of the participating organisations of the ESU Programme, which are from Greece, Cyprus, Romania, Spain, Croatia, Slovenia, Luxembourg and Hungary, representatives of organisations from Turkey, Italy and Portugal also took part.

The conference included a series of events, such as vision talks, networking meetings, presentation of the overall results of the ESU and presentations of the founders of the start-ups that took part in the ESU.

Watch the full video of the European Startup Universe - Closing Conference.

European Startup Universe - Closing Conference from European Startup Universe on Vimeo.

European Startup Universe (ESU)

The European Startup Universe (ESU) is an initiative that was created in December 2021, with the aim of bringing together European high-tech start-ups that are in the early stages, with global companies but also with experts and investors, to create a support network and provide opportunities for start-ups both to finance and to expand their operations in new markets.

At the core of the initiative are the training programmes designed and implemented nationally, through the use of the Founderhood platform, in March and April 2022.

Although the programmes were initially aimed at early-stage EU start-ups, during the registration period and aware of the crisis in Ukraine, the organisers decided to open registrations to Ukrainian start-ups as well, in an effort to strengthen the start-up ecosystem of Ukraine.

Through the programmes, the participating start-ups had the chance to take part in thematic workshops, to consult European experts from renowned major companies, to be updated and to network. As a result, currently 100 start-ups that have submitted the required progress reports, can meet with Angel Investors to claim funding totalling 15 million euros.

EKT and Startup Greece co-operation to support start-up entrepreneurship

EKT has signed a Memorandum of Co-operation with the Youth Entrepreneurship Club ‘Startup Greece’ in order to support Greek start-ups, knowledge exchange and participation in networking activities.

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. Respectively, EKT develops integrated services for the strengthening of innovation and entrepreneurship, supporting the further utilisation of research, extroversion, resilience and the green and digital transition of Greek companies.

The two organisations agreed to work together to design joint actions to support domestic entrepreneurship in the context 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 making use of the specialised knowledge and networking capabilities of EKT.