For 2021-2022, 45 startups will be hosted and supported at egg – enter•grow•go, following the successful conclusion of the entry process for the 9th cycle of the Programme. The 45 startups were selected after submitting their business plans to enter the 9th cycle of the egg Start Up Platform of egg – enter•grow•go, an initiative jointly designed and implemented since 2013 by Eurobank and Corallia. The startups will be hosted and supported for 12 months, aiming at their business growth.
The quality and quantity of entrants stood out in this year’s process, with increased number of entries, solid competition, mature plans and satisfactory dispersion based on sector and age. The results also proved right the strategic planning of the 9th cycle of the egg Start Up Platform, which encouraged entries by multi-member business teams in cutting-edge sectors marked by a high level of innovation. The Programme mainly aspires to assist participants in attracting proper financing, and to carry out extroversion actions, which are the main aim of every new business.
The General Manager of the Eurobank Group Marketing & Corporate Communications Division and Chairman of the egg Steering Committee, Mr Michael Vlastarakis, stated, “The Greek innovation ecosystem is steadily getting stronger in the last years, while science and knowledge seem to be firmly converging with entrepreneurship. At Eurobank, we are proud of the fact that our strategic position to support new, innovative initiatives is proven right, as a large number of business teams applied to participate in the egg Start Up Platform this year. We welcome the 132 new entrepreneurs who are participating in the 45 startups of the new cycle, and we promise to keep upgrading the added value offered by egg – enter•grow•go to all its initiatives, now and in the future.”
The co-founder and Chief Development & Operations Officer of the Corallia Unit of the Athena Research Centre and member of the egg Steering Committee, Dr Nikolaos Vogiatzis, noted, “Amid unprecedented challenges for the global economy due to the ongoing tests businesses – and especially startups – are put to due to the pandemic, the egg Programme proves that it remains the most significant support system for startup entrepreneurship in our country. On the part of Corallia, it is a great pleasure and honour to be supporting such a significant initiative, which has proven its added value in the systematic improvement of multiple innovation indicators for Greek entrepreneurship. We are certain that the impressive results we got this year, during the Enter phase of egg, are a prelude to a just as impressive Grow phase in the coming months, when we will stand by the new entrepreneurs with all our weapons, so they may achieve their ambitious targets.”
Specifically, during the process of submitting the business ideas for entry in the 9th cycle of egg:
- Out of a total of 242 submitted applications, 201 entrants, i.e. 83%, qualified to the final assessment phase. It is the highest number of entries ever in the history of all egg cycles to be qualified to the final assessment phase over the total number of completed applications.
- Out of the 201 entrants 45 business teams were qualified for inclusion in the 9th cycle of the egg Start Up Platform, which is almost 50% higher than previous cycles, while what is remarkable in this cycle is the high level of maturity of the business plans submitted.
- Out of the qualified business plans this year, 56% had already set up a company, which is a positive sign in terms of the maturity of the Greek startup ecosystem and a sign of quality, which is also the strategic aim of egg. In addition, 38% of all qualified business plans were made up of 3 and 4 members, while 16% were made up of more mature combinations of 5 and 6 members.
- The dispersion as to the age and sector was also quite positive in terms of quality:
- There was increased interests from more mature teams, as 51% of all business team members were over 35 years of age.
- Most interest was expressed in the area of Innovative Tourism Applications (16%), Innovative Medical Applications & the wider Health Sciences sector (16%), Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) with a focus on the Internet of Things (12%), e-Commerce (13%), and Emerging Financial Technologies (FinTech) & Applications (9%).