AEGEAN Startups at the University of Berkeley!

For the first time, Greek students and professors participate in the Berkeley Entrepreneurship Bootcamp

The participation of a team of Greek students and professors in the University of Berkeley’s entrepreneurship accelerator was successfully completed in January 2019. The Berkeley Method of Entrepreneurship Bootcamp is an entrepreneurship training program where selected students and researchers from around the world present and develop their ideas with the help of professors, mentors, and investors from Silicon Valley and the wider San Francisco Bay Area.

The first award-winning teams from Aegean Startups (students from the University of the Aegean and the National Technical University of Athens), as well as researchers from the University of the Aegean, participated in the Berkeley Bootcamp, among about 120 participants selected from 15 countries. The Greek students and researchers participated in three ideas/teams, which were among the best proposals presented:

• MyNequin, software for creating 3D models for online clothing shopping (Leader: UC Berkeley, Team: Greece, US, India)\
• Social Food, an app that allows leftover portions in restaurants to be given to socially supported families (Leader: University of the Aegean, Team: US, South Korea, Japan)
• VR Community, a digital community around virtual reality (Leader: Sunway University, Malaysia, Team: US, Greece, Malaysia)

Yiannis Charalambidis, Associate Professor at the University of the Aegean and head of Aegean Startups, stated: “The participation of the Greek team in the University of Berkeley’s entrepreneurship accelerator is part of a continuous effort to collaborate with the renowned American university. For the first time, Greek students showcased their ideas and potential in an international, competitive environment, and we all learned important lessons about working methods, strategies, and secrets to success for new businesses that emerge from universities and research. We thank the supporters of this initiative, which we want to continue.”

Giorgos Kamourakis, Associate Professor and Head of the Department of Information and Communication Systems Engineering at the University of the Aegean, based in Samos, said: “We are particularly happy that students and professors from our department and university are participating and succeeding in the international environment of one of the world’s top universities. Extroversion, international collaborations, and global excellence are some of the principles we strive to follow in practice, despite any difficulties.”

The participation of the Greek team at UC Berkeley was financially supported by the University of the Aegean’s Property Exploitation and Management Company, the Department of Information and Communication Systems Engineering, the Information Systems Laboratory of the University of the Aegean, and the Central Union of Municipalities of Greece (KEDE).

More information can be found on the website www.aegean-startups.gr.