Aiming at strengthening the Greek start-up ecosystem and bridging the gender gap in research and innovation, the John S. Latsis Public Benefit Foundation supported the “Mini Acceleration Programme”, a targeted two-month acceleration programme, implemented in the framework of the business accelerator “egg – enter•grow•go”. The Programme aims to address the phenomenon of low female representation in various business, academic and research fields, and to attract more women to STEM technologies, by providing multi-level support to research teams with at least 30% participation of female researchers. Two cycles of the “Mini Acceleration Programme” were implemented with the Foundation’s support. In that framework, the participating research teams had access to a personalized curriculum, including skills development workshops, mentoring sessions and networking opportunities within a dynamic entrepreneurial community in Greece and abroad. Through the Programme, participants had the chance to familiarise themselves with core concepts of entrepreneurship and strategies for the business development of their innovative ideas, gain valuable know-how and connect their research work with the real market. The Programme concluded with the organisation of a pitching event, which gave the participating teams the opportunity to present their idea to a wide audience of investors and professionals from different sectors.

• 24 research teams from 15 Greek Universities and Research Centers participated in the 1st cycle of the Programme, while 23 research teams from 10 Greek Universities and Research Centers completed the 2nd cycle of the Programme.
• Research teams from a variety of technology and productive sectors, such as Life Sciences, EduTech, FoodTech and EnergyTech, participated in the Programme, with a 64.37% percentage of female representation.

“A non-negotiable objective of Eurobank’s business accelerator “egg – enter•grow•go” is to support female representation in research and innovation. Through this specialized two-month mentoring programme for female researchers and students, we aim not only to strengthen the representation of women in science, but also to cultivate a thriving ecosystem that will support the development of innovative entrepreneurship in our country.”

Roula Bachtalia

Director & Member of the Steering Committee, egg – enter•grow•go