Learning Innovation Hubs
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Portuguese Learning Innovation Hub
The Portuguese LIH is coordinated by the University Beira Interior (UBI) in Portugal. It provides a comprehensive training program, curated learning resources and mentorship, allowing you to scale your products/services and accelerate your growth quickly and effectively while maintaining all intellectual property rights and staying 100% independent.
For more information about the Portuguese LIH, contact Helena Alves (halves@ubi.pt).
More information about each mentor in the Portuguese LIH can be found below:
Vítor Figueiredo
PhD in Management | University of Beira Interior Guest Assistant Professor of the Department of Management and Economics of the University of Beira Interior, and Guest Assistant Professor at the UCP - Portuguese Catholic University, Beiras Regional Centre, he has been teaching subjects related to marketing and management. His research includes the study of cooperation, Social Economy, Tourism, consumer satisfaction, marketing process, social marketing, namely in tourism and in the third sector (cooperative and social).
Ricardo Rodrigues
Ricardo Gouveia Rodrigues is Assistant Professor at the University of Beira Interior, Portugal. He holds a PhD in Business. He is currently a researcher and the principal investigator of NECE-UBI – Research Centre for Business
Sciences. His main research interests are Entrepreneurial Marketing, Entrepreneurship Education, and Social Marketing. He has published several articles in international journals and chapters in international books. He has coordinated an international project on the impact of Entrepreneurship Education. He is an editor and reviewer in several international journals.
Pedro Inácio
Pedro Ricardo Morais Inácio is an associate professor of the Department of Computer Science at the University of Beira Interior (UBI), which he joined in 2010. Lectures subjects related with information assurance and security, programming of mobile devices and computer based simulation, to graduate and undergraduate courses, namely to the B.Sc., M.Sc. and Ph.D. programmes in Computer Science and Engineering. He is currently the Pro-Rector for the Digital University and the Data Protection Officer of UBI. He is an instructor of the UBI Cisco Academy.
Luis Vaz
M.Sc. student at UBI (Entrepreneurship and Business Creation) B.Sc. in Multimedia Design, and currently working as a Superior Technician at University of Beira Interior. Luis fulfils various roles in professional outings, internships, social media management and Alumni engagement.
Helena Alves
Helena Alves is a Full Professor of marketing at the Business and Economics Department and researcher at NECE, University of Beira Interior, Portugal. Her areas of expertise include Customer Satisfaction, Services marketing, Tourism marketing and public and nonprofit marketing having authored and co-authored several articles and book chapters on these themes. For some years she was coordinator of the marketing degree and later of the master degree. Coordinates several
projects, namely the Enter-EdTech project (at national level) - Entering the EdTech Entrepreneurship World and ARTISAN (at national level)- AspiRing enTrepreneurIaI families to perpetuate cultural buSiness Across geNerations”. She was Responsible for the coordination and implementation of the Export Advance program (training and mentoring program for companies in the export area), in partnership with AICEP-
Portugal. In 2011 served as service marketing consultant at the
Saniguarda company within the scope of the Training of entrepreneurs in advanced level management taught by the University of Beira Interior. Currently, she the Vice-Rector for Teaching, Academic Affairs and Employability.
Edgar Nave
Edgar Nave holds a master's degree in Marketing (University of Beira Interior), and postgraduate in International Commerce (IMF Business Scholl). Currently, he is a PhD candidate in Management, with several publications in academic journals in International Entrepreneurship field. At a professional level, he has experience in managing academic entrepreneurship and innovation projects, namely INESPO III, SPRING,
ENTRANCE, UI.CAN, INOVC+, INESPO+. He also has eight years of professional experience in marketing, namely in the shopping centers, consultancy and energy drinks sector. In 2015, he founded his own company in the craft and international beer sector.
Carla Pereira
PHD in Management. Assistant Professor at the University of Beira Interior, where she teaches "Introduction to Management" and "Relationship Marketing" at undergraduate level. Currently she is the Course Director of the Marketing degree and the Head of the Management and Economics Department. Member of the NECE team in the projects TWINE - Co-creating sustainable Tourism & WINe Experiences in rural areas and Enter_Edtech - Entering the EdTech Entrepreneurship World both in Marketing. She has publications in the area of Strategy and Marketing.
Arminda Paço
Arminda Paço (PhD in Management) is an Associate Professor at the University of Beira Interior, Portugal. She is currently the Dean of the Faculty of Social and Human Sciences and researcher of NECE – Research Unit of Business Sciences. Her areas of interest are sustainability and environmental marketing. She has published several articles in international journals and has edited books in the field of sustainability.
Additionally, she has participated in national research projects and in international projects (ICT Entrepreneur, SCIENT, ARTISAN, SPRING, ENTRANCE, RE_START, START Circular).
José Vasconcelos
José Vasconcelos is a partner, co-founder and administrator of bten - Business & Technology Experts Network. Expert in people development, he has developed and managed training units in European-wide projects structuring the entrepreneurial associative movement in Portugal. As representative member of the Farming sector he participated in the european dialogue and had been member of various european projects and councils. Had several leadership roles in structures associated with rural development and training. Was founder and administrator of the Vasverde, Lda as a StartUp (now a leader company on turfgrass management and breeding) as well as other entrepreneurial iniciatives. With the turn of the century led an Institute for Entrepreneurship Development (IFEA/ISEG) under the scientific coordination of the Technical University of Lisbon and devoted more and more time to consulting on new business. Dedicated himself full time to this activity in Augusto Mateus e Associados from 2007 onwards. He has led and participated in multiple studies and projects on innovation, investment, business and territorial development as, at same time was member of the board of the AM&A.
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Hellenic Learning Innovation Hub
The Hellenic LIH is coordinated by the University of Peiraeus Research Centre (UPRC) in Greece. It provides a comprehensive training program, curated learning resources and mentorship, allowing you to scale your products/services and accelerate your growth quickly and effectively while maintaining all intellectual property rights and staying 100% independent.
For more information about the Hellenic LIH please visit the Hellenic Learning Innovation Hub website and/or contact Symeon Retalis (hellenicLIH@gmail.com).
More information about each mentor in the Hellenic LIH can be found below:
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Dr Anastasios Koutoumanos
Dr Anastasios (Tasos) Koutoumanos holds a PhD in Software Engineering & Advanced Learning Technologies from the National Technical University of Athens (Greece). He is the Chief Technologist of Eummena (www.eummena.org), an international EdTech enterprise with offices across 5 countries in Europe and Middle East. Leading Eummena's technical force, Anastasios shapes EdTech solutions for a wide range of formal and informal education, standing to the values for human-centered design, value co-creation with unlocking the human potential, and with a strong commitment towards the promotion of Open Source Software and Open EdTech.
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Dr. Spyros Arsenis
Dr. Spyros Arsenis is Head of the Business Innovation Development Unit of National Bank of Greece, Director of the ΝΒG Business Seeds program, and initial coordinator of the act4Greece crowdfunding platform. He is a member of the advisory boards of Uni.fund, Metavallon, Big Pi, OK!Thess, and the Archimedes Center of the University of Athens. He also serves on the board of the Hellenic Society of Environment Cultural Heritage, the American-Hellenic Chamber of Commerce’s Education, Innovation and Entrepreneurship Committee, and the Start Ups Committee of the German-Hellenic Chamber. He is an Electrical Engineer with 25 years’ professional multi-sector, multi-discipline experience in Greece and abroad in international telecom projects, business banking and innovation, and is also the author of seven books on ICT and the Internet.
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Vassilis Papakonstantinou
Vassilis Papakonstantinou is a technology entrepreneur with over 20 years of hands-on experience across a range of industry sectors. He is the co-founder of Mobiltron, Inc, a technology startup developing implicit authentication technology using behavioral biometrics and building industry-specific solutions for identity resolution and user-generated data attribution. He is the co-founder and Chairman of the MIT Enterprise Forum Greece, the Greek chapter of an MIT inspired global network, that enables technology entrepreneurs to rapidly transform ideas into world-changing companies. He consults the Boards of several organizations on issues related to technology and science. He holds degrees in Mechanical Engineering from the National Technical University of Athens (NTUA) and Ocean Systems Management from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).
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Dr. Ioannis Stagias
Dr. Ioannis Stagias is a research assistant at the university of Piraeus and secondary school teacher with long lasting experience in teaching entrepreneurship. His PhD thesis and his R&D interests lie on entrepreneurship education using interactive educational technologies. He has participated to several teacher training seminars about the use of interactive technologies in Primary, Secondary and Higher Education as well as several R&D projects funded by national grants and EC. Finally, he is author of several publications including a book in Greek “Young Entrepreneurs and Analysts” which deals on how a startup can assess the business value of its product/service.
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Babis Papadopoulos
Babis Papadopoulos is an Economic Diplomat and an active business developer for tech startups, currently stationed at the Greek Embassy in Tirana, Albania. He brings several years of experience in a wide range of fields and activities: from organizing trade promotion campaigns to supporting companies in their export activities, from hands-on implementation of various projects to negotiating deals, from drafting speeches, keynotes and official documents to PR, and more. He has focused increasingly on providing business development services, coaching and soft-landing support to technology-driven startups in international markets, with special emphasis on the US and the German and European markets. Babis' forte is his ability to combine strategy and oversight on one hand, with vertical implementation on the other: he can bring an idea from conception and the initial action plan, to full-scale execution in the field. People who have worked with Babis consider him a nexus: he builds useful and long-lasting relationships, and is able to leverage those to create high-added-value networks.
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Katerina Kanteraki
Katerina is the new Partner Development Advisor for Startups and Independent Software Vendors for Microsoft Greece, Cyprus and Malta. Practically she leads the transition of IP enabled tech companies into the Cloud and helps Startups from idea to exit grow through the Microsoft for Startups Founders Hub Platform. Katerina has previously supported as Manager the launch of a €25M venture capital, Genesis Ventures and previously as Operations & Network Manager the launch and deployment of a €32M venture capital, Metavallon VC; both backed by the European Investment Fund. On a voluntary basis, Katerina has helped startups accelerate their growth in various roles at Reload Greece, Impact Hub, Ashoka and Endeavor. Katerina holds a joint BA in Economics from Panteion University and an MSc in Management and Strategy from EMLyon Business School and Ludwig-Maximilian-University.
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Stavey Linardatou
After completing my studies in Mathematics and Financial Economics, I focused on conducting a research on technology-enhanced embodied learning as a PhD candidate at the University of Piraeus. Following Avgoulea-Linardatou school’s legacy by choosing to become an educator, I came to realize that a major reform was needed in the way our students experienced learning inside and outside the classroom. My goal was to arouse our students’ interest, to engage them in the construction of knowledge and to empower them by developing 21st century skills. As a result, I decided to set up a professional development strategy which would focus on integrating different and innovative pedagogical projects into the formal curriculum, using a constantly updated infrastructure of new technologies. Due to this effort, we managed to reach the highest number of educators who have been certified as Microsoft Innovative Expert Educators in Greece, Malta & Cyprus. At the same time, my eagerness to shape an open-minded culture across our teaching staff, coupled with my willingness to share with the international educational community the advancements we have made as an institution, led me to an amazing journey, which started by participating as a speaker in the global Education Exchange Event by Microsoft as well as in the “Digital education for a strong recovery: A forward look “ conference by OECD in 2021.
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Thanos Papangelis
Thanos Papangelis co-founded and bootstrapped Epignosis into a global player in the edu-tech space. Epignosis offers cloud software solutions that help organizations train their people more efficiently. As of today, Epignosis has over 11000 clients globally, with the vast majority located in North America. Thanos has an engineering background and a PHD in computer science.
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Nikos Goudas
Nikos Goudas is an IFRS and tax specialist in business environments and training Institutions with more than Fifteen years of background in Accounting, Finance, Software Consulting and Lecturing.
Mr Goudas is an experienced accounting and tax professional with high expertise in ERP systems and global accounting software like XERO and extensive exposure in Greek, UK and European business environments. He is Founder and CEO of Azentian Limited (UK), Founder and Director of Protectus Accounting E.E, and Director of Education of KELE (Professional Accounting Seminars).
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Lefteris Ntouanoglou
Lefteris Ntouanoglou is Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer at Schoox. Schoox reflects his passion for learning and knowledge, giving him the opportunity to combine the best of two worlds, education and business.
Cypriot Learning Innovation Hub
CY-LIH is located in the CYENS Center of Excellence at the heart of Nicosia-Cyprus. CY-LIH is a support facility that helps undergraduate & postgraduate students, educators and academics, university alumni members, and start- ups or entrepreneurs to advance their business ideas or products and services within the EdTech community and market. The CY-LIH provides a vehicle that will bring together digital innovation and economic development in the EdTech business, eliminating the disconnect between educational insight and the innovation process.
Available Services
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Access to significant equipment/technology including conventional motion capture laboratory, psychophysics lab and interaction design, VR lab, robotics Lab
The mentoring phase in the Cypriot LIH includes four (4) Saturdays (10 am to 2 pm). It is taking place @CYENS (CSEO room).
The mentors will work with our local teams who will be developing their ideas in EdTech.
Meet our established mentors further below!
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Saturday 26/11/2022: Education Market/Product Market Fit & Evaluation
Saturday 03/12/2022: Sales Process
Saturday 10/12/2022: Financial Planning & Revenue Models in EdTech
Saturday 17/12/2022: Commercialisation, Marketing and Pitching
The closing event (pitching event) is taking place on Thursday 26 January 2022, 5pm-8:00pm at the Bank of Cyprus Cultural Foundation (Faneromenis 80, Nicosia). At the event, our team will showcase their education technology start-up ideas in front of an established group of professionals and invited audience.
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For more information about the Cypriot LIH, contact Andri Ioannou (andri.i.ioannou@cut.ac.cy).
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More information about each mentor in the Cypriot LIH can be found below:
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Michael Tyrimos
Michael is the Founder and Managing Director of the technology consulting firm Capacitor Partners. He holds extensive experience in product management from his previous positions in Silicon Valley, California and Europe. He is an active investor in companies like Ergodotisi.com, Kodika.io, and other ventures. Michael is a graduate of King’s College London, Oxford University and Cambridge University. He is a recipient of the O1 Visa for Extraordinary Abilities by the United States Government; 40 under 40 Disruptor Award in the field of Technology/Research by CCCI; Associateship of King’s College London; and the Fellowship of the Royal Society of Arts, Trades and Commerce.
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Nikolas Kairinos
Nikolas is an award-winning innovator with four decades of experience in AI. He started his career as a programmer at age 11. His vast experience since then, of the impact of computing, both socio-economically and entrepreneurially, leads him to believe that the field of Artificial Intelligence now requires a fresh impetus via a fundamentally new approach. In addition to a strong passion for artificial intelligence, Nik loves building innovative tech start-ups. For over 30 years, he has participated as an entrepreneur, investor and advisor in building numerous software start-ups around the world. He and his team function as an accelerator for deep-tech start-ups with artificial intelligence at their core.
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Moyses Moyseos
Moyses is the Operations Manager of Gravity Ventures Incubator, of CyRIC EUBIC. He graduated with a degree in Production and Management Engineering at Democritus University of Thrace Polytechnic School and MSc in Engineering with Innovation and Entrepreneurship from the University College London. Through the activities and project portfolio of Cy.R.I.C Business Innovation Centre; Moyses provides management and business support to start-ups and innovative SMEs. He holds experience both in European and international level of startup support and mentoring in various sectors during their incubation and post-incubation phase.
Maria Lavithi Howard
Maria graduated with a BA in English Literature, focusing on Creative Writing. Maria supports that we can move the world forward with emotionally healthier people who thrive. She has over 15 years of experience in business development, storytelling, and an uncompromising desire to see people succeed. She is the Founder of MyBook Heroes start-up, which launched and achieved traction; however, after numerous discussions with investors and mentors, a decision was made to shut it down and focus on MGD HEROES MADE, which comes with state-of-the-art innovative technology and revenue models for fast scalability and international appear.
Victoria Kostic-Nola
Intrapreneur turned entrepreneur, early-stage ventures angel investor & adviser. Set up a boutique advisory VIZ VENTURES, collaborating with exceptional founders and advising international scaleups, plus General Manager of a diversified Holding Co. 20 years of experience in International Business across Strategy, Finance, Business Development, Sales & Marketing, Global Talent Management, in a range of industries from investment banking to international trading. Scholar throughout education, Victoria holds BSc (Hons) Economics with major in Finance and Banking and an MSc in Shipping, Trade and Finance with Distinction from Bayes Business School (former Cass Business School) in London. Command of 6 languages and a network of top talent worldwide. Advancing European ventures including enriched offering in and from Cyprus, as well as more diversity and inclusion are topics close to heart.
Natasa Christou
Dr. Natasa is a business strategist focusing on innovation advisory, sustainability consulting and community building. Her professional background brings a unique blend of strengths such as design thinking, entrepreneurship and tech and those are the tools she is using to develop solutions that have an impact in the world. Throughout her career she has worked across government, research, and industry and that inspires her to provide a transformative approach towards the projects she takes on board.
Anthoula Fotsiou Psoma
Ms Anthoula Fotsiou Psoma received her Bachelor’s degree in Mathematics and Statistics from the University of Cyprus and her MSc in Statistics from the London School of Economics. She graduated ABD from the Doctoral Program in Finance at the Smeal School of Business at Pennsylvania State University, University Park. During her time in the United States, Ms Fotsiou Psoma gained valuable experience in academic research and an in-depth understanding of a number of topics, including the fundamentals of marketing and management, project management and business planning.
Olga Shvarova
Olga is an expert in commercialisation, technology transfer and translation, IP analysis, strategic marketing, and corporate and sustainability finance. She holds a D.Phil in Material Science from the University of Oxford and has over fifteen years of experience in a number of senior posts in med-tech, M&A, corporate finance and private equity firms in the UK. Olga is also a Technology Transfer Expert with the Joint Research Centre of the European Commission and an Advisor in Technology Transfer to Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC).
Andreas Damalis
Andreas is serial entrepreneur with a passion for start-ups and leveraging technology to optimise business processes and service delivery. Andreas is the founder and CEO of MOTI Professional Development Services, a Cypriot company that has developed and commercialises an innovative online learning platform named Sophia.
Celia Hadjichristodoulou
She is an expert consultant in European and nationally funded programmes for the past 10 years, assisting local and European organizations to utilise more than 5 mln EUR from such funds. Before creating her own company, she was a Research Associate of the European Funding Programmes Unit of the European University Cyprus (EUC) for 4 years. During this period, Celia has been involved in more than 30 European and nationally-funded projects and she has managed to build strong networks across EU. Celia has helped EUC researchers raise and manage over 3 mln EUR million in grants between 2005-2009. She is the National Expert of Cyprus on the EU study “SME Performance Review Report” for 2012-2014. Also she was a final runner-up in the annual national awards “Cyprus Women Business Awards” and “InBusiness Young Entrepreneur Award” in 2013.
Dr Panayiotis Philimis
Dr Panayiotis Philimis is the founder and CEO of CyRIC, the Business Innovation Center (EU-BIC) of Cyprus, certified by the European BIC Network and belongs to an esteemed global network of high-level professionals which deliver top notch services with high quality standards to the entrepreneurial ecosystem in Cyprus and the region. CyRIC has been instrumental in supporting the local ecosystem by providing research, innovation, technology transfer, investment and funding services to several startups, innovative SMEs, inventors, entrepreneurs and researchers. Currently CyRIC’s R&D Center develops disruptive technology products such as biotech diagnostic devices, IoT solutions, wearables, UAV/UGVs and AI Solutions.
Burak Berk Doluay
Burak holds a Bachelor degree on International Business Management and a Masters in Digital Entrepreneurship. Burak is co-founder of CyprusInno, an inter-communal social venture that uses entrepreneurship as a peace-building mechanism, as well as The Base by CyprusInno which is the world’s first social impact generator located in a Buffer Zone. He is a fellow of the U.S. Department of State's programme SUSI on Social Entrepreneurship and the 2018 YTILI Fellow of the German Marshall Fund of the United States from Cyprus. In September 2018, he was selected as one of the UN Young Leaders for the SDGs by the Office of the UN Secretary General's Envoy on Youth.
Nefeli Malekou
Nefeli is the illustrator and CDO of Worldwide Buddies, an educational startup that creates picture books and toys that celebrate diversity. She holds a BSc in Architecture from the University of Bath, and had work placements in architectural offices Groosman in Rotterdam and DOMA in Cyprus. At Worldwide Buddies, she is responsible for supply chain logistics, low funnel online and website initiatives, as well as email marketing efforts, working with a subscriber list of 12,000+.
Evi Triantafyllides
Evi is the author and CEO of Worldwide Buddies, an educational startup that creates picture books and toys that celebrate diversity. She holds a BA in Geography from the LSE, an MA in Anthropology from Goldsmiths, and an MA in Creative Writing & Education from NYU. Prior to Worldwide Buddies, she was the first employee and Marketing Director of NY-based startup PAAY, where she built out the sales & marketing team. At Worldwide Buddies, she has managed international licensing deals with publishing houses, as well as sales to bookshops and to bigger clients such as Nordstrom and WHSmith.
Slovenian Learning Innovation Hubs
The Slovenian LIH is coordinated by the Information Systems and Services Ltd (PIA) in Slovenia. It provides a comprehensive training program, curated learning resources and mentorship, allowing you to scale your products/services and accelerate your growth quickly and effectively while maintaining all intellectual property rights and staying 100% independent.
For more information about the Slovenian LIH, contact Igor Razbornik (igor.razbornik@pia.si).
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More information about each mentor in the Slovenian LIH below.
Igor Razbornik
Igor Razbornik has Msc in European project Management from University Pixel, Florence. He owns two companies that develop and sell educational content and software. He has over 30 years of experience in education, and he sold his first learning package in 1989. He is also a mentor to the owners of 14 organisations across Europe because of his extensive experience in the learning space.
Over the years, he has run very successful projects at the governmental level, such as restructuring vocational education in Montenegro and implementing digital skills education in all Slovenian schools. Both projects have a profound impact on the educational systems in the country.
In all these years, Igor has witnessed how people have grown, stretched their comfort zone, and started to live much better lives after a successful educational course. He believes that learning is society's future.
German Learning Innovation Hub
The German LIH is coordinated by the Heidelberg University of Education (HUE) in Germany. It provides a comprehensive training program, curated learning resources and mentorship, allowing you to scale your products/services and accelerate your growth quickly and effectively while maintaining all intellectual property rights and staying 100% independent.
For more information about the German LIH, contact Stefan Pietrusky (pietrusky@ph-heidelberg.de).
More information about each mentor in the German LIH can be found below:
Quirin Malcherzyk
Quirin is the Co-Founder & Business-Analyst of Flexudy UG. Flexudy focuses on democratisation of education. It also works on microtraining supported by AI. The company operates in North-America and Europe. It has a Global AI Award for Best Use in Education (2019).
Annie Doerfle
Anna is the Co-Founder Scobees. Scobees is transforming school life by allowing students to digitally organize and design their learning activities rather than adhering to rigid structures with a one-size-fits-all school.
We provide a digital tool for schoolchildren to actively shape their own learning path in a learning dialogue through the cloud-based learning system. We reduce administrative effort for the active implementation of modern learning formats in schools for digital skills and potential development!
Julia Steger
Julia is working in education since university. At EDUvation she is a part of the biggest edtech startup community in Germany and supporting the national edtech landscape with events, startup-areas, meetups, consulting and investments. She is currently responsible for the implementation of a Europe-wide edtech startup summit in North Rhine-Westphalia, which will take place for the first time in October 2022. As the founder and manager of an education testbed she is also working on connecting edtechs and schools and thus forms the basis for better cooperation and more intensive exchange between the two parties in the present and the future. She also represents EDUvation as a founding member of the European EdTech Alliance in order to speak for the German edtech startup scene on an international and pan-European level
Dr. Thomas Bartoscheck
Part-time scientist and part-time social entrepreneur researching and developing projects, technologies and products for digital education, spatial learning and citizen science. I am interested in new ways of learning with educational technologies for environmental education and the STEM subjects, like the senseBox. I care about letting the world know about the power of citizen science and geoinformatics.
Do you dream of developing your own EdTech start-up?
ENTER EdTech invites you to participate in the "Learning Innovation Hubs". Develop the skills, introduce your idea to a broad network of mentors and pitch your start-up to an established group of professionals at the closing event.
A hub where young founders of EdTech start-ups or people who have an innovative EdTech business idea can develop skills through the training programme, introduce their idea to a broad network of mentors and pitch their start-up to an established group of professionals at the closing event.
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In total, the ENTER programme will develop 6 Learning Innovation Hubs, in the following partner countries:
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Greece
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Cyprus
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Portugal
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Germany
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Slovenia
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Finland
We are looking for:
• Start-ups at any development stage
• Groups or individuals with a start-up idea
• Groups or individuals who aim to create a start-up
• Graduate & Postgraduate students
Phase 1: Training Programme (online)
18.10.2022 “The Education Market”
25.10.2022 “Product Market Fit & Evaluation of EdTech products/services”
02.11.2022 “Sales Process”
08.11.2022 “Financial Planning & Revenue Models in EdTech”
15.11.2022 “Commercialisation, Marketing and Pitching”
Phase 2: Mentoring
Four in-person mentoring sessions with an established local network of mentors
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Phase 3: Closing Event
One day pitching event where education technology start-up ideas will be showcased in front of an established group of professionals and invited audience.
Date to be announced.
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For registration please contact your LIH.
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Product Market Fit & Evaluation
Prof. Marco Kalz
Professor of Technology-Enhanced Learning at Heidelberg University of Education. Consulting international organisations during the process of digital transformation of learning and work.
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Prof. Symeon Retalis
Professor at the University of Piraeus, Greece (Technology-Enhanced Lifelong Learning) and Chief Scientific Officer at Kinems Inc.(http://www.kinems.com), an embodied game-based learning platform for neurodivergent children.
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Colin Magee
LearnLaunch, USA Expert on Product-Market Fit for EdTech, PV Consulting, https://www.productvectors.com/
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Education Market
Sales Process
Jean Hammond
LearnLaunch, General Partner at LearnLaunch - EdTech start-up accelerator Accelerator, Boston, Massachusetts, United States
Antti Korhonen
CEO, xEdu, accelerator that works with startups creating transformative learning solutions in the education sector, Helsinki, Finland
Vitor Figueiredo
Professor of Management, University of Beira Interior, Portugal and provider of
Business Consulting and Services
Igor Razbornik
Founder of PIA Information systems services, information systems development and business digitization solutions company in Slovenia
Financial Planning & Revenue Models in EdTech
Commercialisation, Marketing and Pitching
Stephanie Papalla
Architect at Architecture Design Practice running her own business, Researcher at CYENS Center of Excellence (EdTech, Design & Technology), BA, MA Manchester School of Architecture (MSA)
Michael Boloudakis
Entrepreneur, MSc & PhD e-Learning, President & Chief Executive Officer at Kinems Inc.(http://www.kinems.com), an embodied game-based learning platform for neurodivergent children
Evi Stavrou
Social Media and Marketing Manager, GrantXpert Consulting, Cyprus, MA in New Technologies for Communication and Learning
Christina Achilleos
EU Funding Consultant, Head of Erasmus+ Unit at GrantXpert Consulting. BA in Business Administration, MA in Marketing, University of Leicester
Finnish Learning Innovation Hubs
The Finnish LIH is coordinated by xEdu Ltd in Finland. It provides a comprehensive training program, curated learning resources and mentorship, allowing you to scale your products/services and accelerate your growth quickly and effectively while maintaining all intellectual property rights and staying 100% independent.
For more information about the Finnish LIH, contact Antii Korhonen (antii.korhonen@xedu.co).
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More information about each mentor in the Finnish LIH below.
Leandro Finol
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I'm a hybrid between an entrepreneur and educator, having built both profitable companies and educational programs for low-income minorities.
On a personal note, I'm proud of publishing a book about my childhood memories. And as long as I'm healthy, I'll keep running.
Patrick Brothers
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Patrick Brothers is the Co-Founder & Co-CEO of HolonIQ, a global market intelligence platform for education. Patrick is a longstanding member of the World Economic Forum and B20 Education and Employment Task Force and is passionate about transforming the way the world learns.
Prior to co-founding HolonIQ, Patrick held a variety of senior appointments working in mission focused public-private sectors including Education, Infrastructure and Defence across Asia, Europe and North America. Patrick was previously the Chief Executive Officer of Navitas Ventures, Chief Development Officer at both Navitas and CIMIC responsible for major international public-private partnerships, a Director at Deloitte in corporate strategy and advisory working across the tech, media and telco sectors and served as an Officer in the Australian Army.
Patrick holds an MBA from the Australian Graduate School of Management, a Bachelors Degree in Computer Science and Mathematics from the University of New South Wales and is a graduate of the Royal Military College Duntroon.
Teemu Suila
A visionary and passionate transformation leader with a consistent track record of leading (international) businesses to success (both B2B and B2C). Inspired by being able to create impact on things that really matter!
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Heini Karppinen
As a visionary and analytical leader, I bring extensive experience in working with innovators and cutting-edge technologies, specifically in the areas of digital learning solutions and sustainable development. I am also proud to be a certified Environmental, Social & Governance (ESG) Specialist.
Throughout my career, I have taken on a range of dynamic roles, including co-founding and leading an industry association, leading a startup company, fostering the growth of the international EdTech community, creating and executing digital learning & development initiatives, and guiding business advisory groups.
I am driven by the pursuit of solving complex problems, designing internal operations, developing new business models, and continuously improving existing ones, especially when working within a talented team. I leverage my expertise in innovation research, consulting, market segmentation, consumer behaviour analysis, and trend forecasting to drive transformations and inform key decision-making.
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Alexandre Glaser
A graduate of ESCP Europe (Grande Ecole Program), Sciences Po Paris (Economics and Public Policy) and holder of a master’s degree in History of Philosophy from the Sorbonne, Alexandre Glaser joined Educapital in January 2020.
He gained experience in financial analysis and modeling in the Large Cap Investment Banking division (Global Financial Advisory) at Rothschild & Co (Paris), where he participated to the M&A, debt issuance and IPO (M&A, ECM, DCM) operations for which Rothschild was mandated.
Portfolio companies & Investments: Knowunity, codary, O'Clock, FourthRev, Chance, Simundia
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Jussi Kajala
I am experienced, enthusiastic technology visionary with a very strong record in leadership, financing and start-ups.
Combining excellent communication and sales skills, top university degree from University of Cambridge, and Ph. D. in material physics, I have the best problem solving ability on the market.
Carlos Effio
Carlos Effio is the founder and CEO of uDocz, a learning platform that provides class materials and custom help to college students in Latin America. Every month, uDocz serves more than 2 million students and 80,000 educators in their mission to help students succeed in college.
David Guerin
David is a Principal at Brighteye, a European Edtech VC that invests at Seed and Series A stages. Since joining the firm in 2018, he has been involved in 40+ investments across 10 countries and has worked at both offices in Paris and London. He recently moved back to France from the UK to develop the Parisian office. Prior to joining Brightreye, David spent 6 years in Mexico, where he led the marketing efforts of a social impact healthcare startup (Salauno), and as a management consultant at EY, working with clients across LATAM.
Will Cardwell
Currently, I wear a few hats. I am a partner in the venture capital funds Courage Ventures (Finland) and Open Circle Capital (Lithuania), and Professor of Practice at the Kenan-Flagler Business School at the University of North Carolina, and lecturer at Aalto University and Helsinki School of Business. I serve as a mentor in several accelerators.
Formerly, I was in charge of coordinating Aalto University's strategic university partnerships, as well as being involved in teams that work with corporate partnerships. In 2010, I co-founded and ran the Aalto Center for Entrepreneurship (ACE), Aalto's tech transfer and spinout arm. Aalto is Finland's leading combined business, engineering and design school with over 20 thousand students, and a pioneer in multidisciplinary education and research. It is the result of the 2010 merger of the Helsinki School of Economics, Helsinki University of Technology, and Helsinki University of Arts and Design.
Riku Alkio
The Founder and CEO of Seppo, a Finnish EdTech company. An author and experienced trainer with years of experience in pedagogical design thinking. A keynote speaker - presentations in many European countries (Finland, UK, Netherlands, Norway, Spain) as well as in the UEA, Brazil, and Colombia.
It’s about time to bring informal ways of learning to corporate training. That means using gamification and social learning methods as part of teaching and training. At the grassroots level digitalization means new ways of communication and open learning environments.
Elina Koivumaki
As an entrepreneur of Lexperience Ltd, which I founded in 2016, I provide legal solutions in everyday language as well as inspiring and thoroughly prepared performances. In addition, I bring to the boards of companies and associations wide-ranging views & open communication on even difficult issues.
I started in 2016 as an angel investor (in the portfolio e.g. Kyrö Distillery Company, Naava, GraphoGame, Huone Events Hotel, Bonfire Agency & Ovio CarBook) and now I work to support early-stage growth on the board of the Finnish Business Angels Network FiBAN.
Antti Korhonen
Prior to founding xEdu, Antti has held positions as CEO, as well as having several central positions in Nokia. His core specialties are business development, strategy, networking, and competence development. Antti holds an MQ in Quality Management from Helsinki University of Technology.
Sari Hurme-Mehtala
Sari Hurme-Mehtälä, CEO & Co-founder of Kide Science, has 15 years of business experience globally and locally in media, retail, design, ICT & Education. She has worked in big companies´ marketing and sales positions but felt that she wants to do something more meaningful, especially with children, after becoming a mother of two little scientists, born in 2015 & 2016.
In 2013 Kide Science founder Dr. Jenni Vartiainen began researching science education of 3-6-years-old children at the University of Helsinki in Finland. The empirical part of her study called for setting up a science club. Researcher Jenni Vartiainen, teacher Aino Kuronen and business person Sari Hurme-Mehtälä founded Kide Science in December 2017 due to the huge demand brought about by the popularity of this new innovative pedagogical model & engaging science lessons.
Now Kide Science is growing globally with teachers and caregivers in nurseries, daycares, kindergartens, preschools, homeschools, schools, learning centres and other partners.
Aape Pohjavirta
Aape Pohjavirta is the Founder and President of Funzi. Funzi gives the world’s billions of mobile users access to motivating and useful learning, an opportunity to develop skills to build a better tomorrow.
In his role at Funzi, Aape has become a recognised global industry leader with a vision on how science, technology, and innovation can contribute to the achievement of UN's Agenda for Sustainable Development.
Aape is also a passionate entrepreneurship coach and a frequent lecturer in universities, incubation and acceleration programs, and other institutions.
Vesa Perala
Vesa Perala is the Founder of Claned Group. He was a senior executive at Nokia, Jabra and Coloplast for almost 15 years before becoming an entrepreneur in 2008. As the CEO of Web of Trust, Vesa grew the company to over 100 million users and closed deals with e.g. Facebook, Google, Microsoft, Yandex and Mail.ru.
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Vesa Perala has founded companies in five countries, has three exits under his belt and has raised over 25M€ in venture capital for his start-ups so far.
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He is a very experienced international business developer who is passionate about business models, scaling up, monesation mechanisms and strategic partnerships.
Pasi Savola
I'm highly driven about business development, sales and entrepreneurship. My personal experience and education has involved being around people and being an expert in presenting ideas in complex (high tech) environment as well as simpler areas (math, solar solutions to consumers).
Mikko Jarvilehto
Mikko Järvilehto, management professional. Chief of Magic at MusicFairyTales.
Founder and CEO of the Impakt (Vaikuttavat Hankinnat Oy). He is a specialist in innovative public procurement and data analytics, challenge competitions, innovation management and commercialization. Järvilehto has organized over 200 competitions with various industries to drive both digitalization and societal change.
He is the inventor of the Futuretournaments Innovation Tournament and one of the winners of the Open Innovation Masterclass 2008, author of over 40 scientific and popular publications, trained facilitator of Innovation Games and co-founder of five growth companies.
Juha Merinen
I am an experienced executive and international sales strategist with over 25 years hands-on experience in competence development, advancement and management of business development and expansion operations in a range of sectors including ICT, Education and Software.
I am specialized in measurable sales intelligence, business transformations and competence development to ensure excellence in internationalization.
