#HDB4ElevateGreece: Strong Interest from Startups for the ESG Innovation Challenge – Hellenic Development Bank
The submission period for the ESG Innovation Challenge organized by the Hellenic Development Bank (HDB) in exclusive collaboration with the “Elevate Greece” startup registry has concluded.
This is an innovative competition aimed at creating and implementing new methods for evaluating businesses, particularly small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), not only based on financial criteria related to their economic status but also with criteria such as:
- a) Environmental, social, and corporate governance (ESG) factors, and
b) Criteria related to the level of innovation and the evaluation of a project or business (Innovation criteria).
The competition, which started on September 11, with the announcement by the Deputy Minister for Research and Innovation, Mr. Christos Dimas, and the Chairwoman and CEO of HDB, Ms. Athena Chatzipetrou, during the 85th Thessaloniki International Fair, received a strong response from startups. The proposals submitted will be evaluated by a judging panel consisting of:
- Mr. Michalis Andreadis, Chief Director of Operations & Market Development at Hellenic Exchanges S.A.
- Distinguished members of the academic community, including Mr. Haris Doukas, Associate Professor of Energy & Environmental Policy at NTUA; Mr. Angelos Tsakanikas, Associate Professor of Innovation & Entrepreneurship at NTUA; and Mr. Antonis Livieratos, Assistant Professor of Business Administration & Organizations at NKUA and scientific advisor to the “Archimedes” startup accelerator.
- Mr. Stergios Sougioutzoglou, General Director of HDB
- Mr. Panagiotis Papageorgiou, Director of Business Innovation at HDB
- Mr. Konstantinos Kalogerakis, Director of FinTech Innovation at HDB
The results of the ESG Innovation Challenge will be announced immediately after the final evaluation session, which will take place on November 4, in the form of a pitching event. The winners will have the opportunity to receive funding for a PoC (Proof of Concept) contract of up to €40,000 in total for both thematic areas (€20,000 per area), with the possibility of entering into a commercial cooperation agreement with HDB.
