Applications close for Hellenic Entrepreneurship Award 2016

March 15, 2016

The Hellenic Entrepreneurship Award (HEA) has closed for entries to the 2016 competition. 1100 hopeful entrepreneurs registered via the award website in order to compete for a share of the €1,250,000 in prize funding as well as mentorship and a range of business support services.

As in past years there have been entries from a wide range of business sectors from agriculture to pharmaceuticals to shipbuilding. Business ideas based on digital, creative and information services have the strongest representation with 19% of all entries. These are closely followed by the tourism ((10%) and food and beverage (8%) sectors.

Commenting on this year’s entries, Jimmy Athanasopoulos, chairman of the Hellenic Entrepreneurship Award, stated: “We never cease to be amazed and gratified at the diversity and quality of new business ideas coming out of Greece. While social and economic hardship endures, these brave and determined Greek entrepreneurs have each decided to take a risk to start a new venture. These are the risks without which no economy can grow and no country can revive. We thank every contestant for their creativity and self-belief. Now begins the challenging task of assessing which businesses make the most financial sense and stand the greatest chance of succeeding, thereby providing employment and making a contribution to Greece’s economy.”

The Hellenic Entrepreneurship Award, now in its fourth year, is administered on behalf of The Hellenic Initiative by the Libra Group which has committed €10 million to the programme. Between one and five winners are declared each year. Since the inaugural award in 2013, 11 winners have been declared, all of which are trading successfully and have created many hundreds of jobs in Greece.

Finalists will be announced in May and winners will be announced in early June 2016.

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