Awarded 2nd Prize in the HDB Innovation Challenge #HDB4ElevateGreece – Hellenic Development Bank
In the presence of the Deputy Minister of Research and Technology, Christos Dimas, the 2nd Innovation Challenge Award, organized in collaboration with Elevate Greece under the title HDB Innovation Challenge #HDB4ElevateGreece, was presented at the headquarters of the Hellenic Development Bank (HDB).
In a recorded message, the Minister of Development and Investments, Adonis Georgiadis, stated:
“Through the Hellenic Development Bank, we encourage healthy competition among companies, promote a mindset that emphasizes business ethics, and highlight the benefits for entrepreneurs who dare, take risks, and innovate. We are beginning to think in our country about how we can leverage our true potential, both as individuals and as a nation. The company being awarded today, in addition to the monetary prize, serves as an exemplary role model.”
Deputy Minister of Research and Technology, Christos Dimas, emphasized:
“I feel great joy and pride for today’s award of a company that is a member of Elevate Greece. The Hellenic Development Bank is one of the strongest allies in supporting Greece’s innovation ecosystem. The HDB Innovation Challenge, now in its second consecutive year, is very important for the strengthening of innovative startups and should become an established institution, as it provides new incentives for talented entrepreneurs.”
This year’s competition focused on the implementation of the project “Funding Wizard.”
The winning company was Quetri IT Solutions.
The Chairman of HDB, Georgios Zervos, the Chief Executive Officer, Athina Chatzipetrou, and the Executive Vice President, Pantelis Tzortzakis, congratulated the company representatives and announced PoC (Proof of Concept) funding of up to €20,000.
As explained by Mr. Pantelis Tzortzakis, the objective of the competition is the creation of a Proof of Concept (PoC) for an advanced platform that will automatically gather and provide information from electronically accessible sources worldwide, related to financing options that combine funding through programs managed by both public and private entities.
The platform will serve as an aggregator hosted on the HDB website, continuously updated to include grants, co-financing, guarantees, or combinations thereof, based on a profile completed by the interested user. The presentation of submitted ideas took place at the HDB headquarters on 24 November 2022.
Building on the successful collaboration between HDB and Elevate Greece, and following last year’s “ESG Innovation Challenge” organized to create automated platforms for evaluating companies based on ESG and Innovation criteria, the companies awarded today are already in discussions with public authorities and commercial banks. They have also presented their two projects to the Hellenic Bank Association.
The winning companies began work on their two projects, and after six months of close collaboration and guidance from the Hellenic Development Bank’s innovation team, the results have been remarkable.
The jury for this year’s Competition consisted of:
- Angelos Tsakanikas, Associate Professor of Innovation and Entrepreneurship, NTUA
- Dimitrios Verelis, Head of Development, Sustainable Banking, Piraeus Bank
- Dimitrios Karmiris, Director of Relations with Managing Authorities and Sales Support, EuroBank
- Panagiotis Leftheris, Head of Corporate and Investment Strategy Development and Support, National Bank of Greece
- Spyridon Rendetakos, Director of Small Business Banking, Alpha Bank
- Michalis Golias, IT Director, Hellenic Development Bank – HDB
- Panagiotis Papageorgiou, Director of Innovation, Hellenic Development Bank – HDB
Following the award ceremony for the winning company, the related letter of intent for collaboration was signed, marking the beginning of the relationship, which will be formalized later through the signing of a relevant contract.
