“Kolokasi Delicacies” travels to Europe!
Our young people have the mindset and the skills to excel and build thriving communities. Following the excellent results of the previous two years of the JA StartUp Programme, this year we saw business ideas that exceeded all expectations. The Finals and the Award Ceremony took place on Friday, June 3rd, 2022, at Tassos Papadopoulos Amphitheater at the Cyprus University of Technology in Limassol.
The competition was the culmination of the efforts of more than 200 University students, aged 18-30. During the event, the 8 finalists out of the 45 student companies that were created in 2022, had the opportunity to present their innovative business ideas and they were evaluated by the Jury Committee. The programme gives students the opportunity to experience running their own company, giving them an insight into how their talents could be used to set up in business for themselves. The programme was implemented in 3 universities in Cyprus, with the support of 7 academics and 18 mentors.
The jury consisted of the Chairman of the Board of Directors of Junior Achievement Cyprus Mr. Andreas Papadopoulos, the Co-founder of 3 biotechnology companies Mrs. Marianna Prokopi Dimitriades, the Deputy CEO of ASBIS, Mr. Costas Tziamalis, the Co-founder and CEO of Malloc, Ms. Maria Terzis, the Member of the Board of the Junior Achievement of Cyprus Mr. Constantinos Loizides, and the General Director of the Research and Innovation Foundation, Mr. Theodoros Loukaidis.
‘Kolokasi Delicacies’ was awarded the StartUp of the Year 2022. The team aims at offering tasty and nutritious food choices based on Kolokasi that is grown in Cyprus. Their target group is mostly vegetarians, vegans, and diabetics, who have limited options. The product line consists of chips, nuggets and bites and will expand with a multi-purpose Kolokasi flour. The University of Cyprus team was supported by their professor Dr. Daina Nikolaou and their mentor Mr. Marios Kolokasidis.
The ‘Utopia’ team conquered the 2nd place. Utopia produces DiaBerry, an innovative fermented blueberry juice that has probiotic strains. It aims to prevent diabetes, through conserving a proper and balanced diet, as it provides antioxidants and antimicrobials properties to the consumer. The team comes from the Cyprus University of Technology, and it was supported by the professors Dr. Dimitris Tsaltas and Dr. Photis Papademas and their mentor Mrs. Maria Gianni.
‘HYPERION Microgrid Technologies’ was awarded the 3rd place. The team proposes the design and development of an advanced microgrid surveillance platform via Android programming and the provision of a flexible, reliable, and cost-effective solution in the context of microgrids’ monitoring and control. The team comes from the University of Cyprus and was supported by the Professor Dr. Daina Nikolaou and their mentor Dr. Nikolas Nikolaou.
Kolokasi Delicacies will represent Cyprus at the European Competition of JA Europe, GEN-E which will be held on July 12 – 15 and will be hosted by JA Estonia, in Tallin. The Cypriot team will be represented by Chara Neophytou, Andreas Polykarpou, Vassilis Kyrlitsias, Panagiotis Koutsou, Konstantinos Komodromou.
The event was greeted by the Mayor of Limassol, Mr. Nicos Nicolaides and the Rector of the Cyprus University of Technology, Professor Panagiotis Zaphiris.
The programme is supported by ASBIS and the Research and Innovation Foundation. The event was held under the auspices of the Cyprus University of Technology.
During the event, the winning teams of the European Programme GenGapsDigi were awarded. The programme is coordinated by Dr. Alexandros Charalambidis of the Department of Chemical Engineering of the Cyprus University of Technology.
JA Cyprus (www.jacyprus.org) is a member of Junior Achievement Worldwide, the world’s largest non-profit organization specializing in youth entrepreneurship education aimed at empowering them with entrepreneurial, financial education and employability skills.
For more information you can contact Kyriakos Masonou at 99194313 and email kyriacos.masonou@jacyprus.org.
