The Cyprus Entrepreneurship Competition CyEC 2021, (https://cyec.org.cy) is launched for a second consecutive year by the Centre of Entrepreneurship of the University of Cyprus with the support of the Ministry of Energy Commerce and Industry.

The Competition is organized with the contribution of distinguished organizations and professionals from the Cypriot and global business and research ecosystem that aspire to support entrepreneurship initiatives in today’s innovation-driven economy.

CyEC is a business design competition that aims to connect creative people with ideal opportunities and help teams build out their ideas with the support of experts and entrepreneurs through a multidisciplinary network of Mentors and Partners. The competition aims to identify and transform bold ideas into viable startup ventures with the potential to compete on a global scale, that either drive substantial market value or create social change though different business models.

Call of applications is now OPEN

Idea Submission Deadline is the 20th of September 2021.

Following an initial selection process, the selected teams will enter a business acceleration program designed to emerge business ideas and develop competitive business plans so that teams will be prepared for their market entry. At the end of this program in early December 2021, teams will submit a well-developed Business plan to the CyEC Panel of Judges. The emphasis this year is on the mentoring process and framework. The CyEC Mentor’s network consists of prominent professionals with the mission to provide targeted advice and solutions and exclusively support the development of each business plan. Upon completion of the acceleration program (end of November 2021), assigned mentors will complete a short report / evaluation which will constitute part of the final evaluation.

For now, prizes include monetary awards of 20000 EUR offered mainly by the Ministry of Energy, Commerce and Industry with further contribution from Navigator Consulting Group. Additionally, prizes include hosting in CYENS - Research Centre on Interactive Media, Smart Systems and Emerging Technologies facilities, for 6-12 months and hosting in Navigator Consulting Group for up to 6 months in Limassol, including mentoring and business development support. Participating teams will have the opportunity to be selected to join directly the 7th cycle of IDEA Incubator - Accelerator. More awards will be announced on the Competition’s website.

The sponsors and supporters of the competition are: Navigator Consulting, CYBAN – Cyprus Business Angels Network, The Cyprus Institute, PwC Cyprus, KAYAK, IDEA Innovation Centre, CYENS Centre of Excellence, Cyprus Seeds and Giraffes in the Kitchen.

Organisers: 

• Centre for Entrepreneurship

• Ministry of Commerce and Industry

More information here