Metavallon | Ideas to Ventures
Venturing is progress - it brings new solutions, it generates value, it boosts employment. But above all it is creation, both for those who venture and for the people and the society around them. metavallon metavallon | μεταβάλλον w: metavallon.org | f: /metavallon | t: @metavallon | li: Metavallon - Ideas to Ventures
Organization and Program Description Metavallon, which means “bringing change” in Ancient Greek, is a non-profit organization aiming to establish a supportive structure for early stage entrepreneurship and foster a vibrant, collaborative environment, a much-needed element on the path to development and growth within an economy of scarcity. Based in Greece, we are developing a network of local entrepreneurship and innovation hubs positioned close to top universities across Greece, to attract and connect aspiring entrepreneurs, spark ideas, develop skills, spread innovations, and accelerate high-impact ventures. Our main program, the Startup Series, is designed to launch annually and addresses select university students and graduates interested in furthering their ideas and starting their own ventures.
The Start-Up Series This is a 3-year-long program that comprises three key stages, as described below.
I. The Gymnasium: Idea development. The Gymnasium is a preparatory stage, which features a series of free educational workshops on business and social entrepreneurship as well as skills development sessions. Participants are guided to develop and structure their initial idea in terms of a business and to assess its feasibility, while evaluating their keenness towards entrepreneurship. Towards phase end they deliver presentations and their Feasibility Analyses, based on which they are selected and sponsored to participate in the Academy.
II. The Academy: Acceleration. This stage guides participants to transform their concept into a full business plan and accelerates the launch of their ventures. It features advanced educational and training workshops in business fundamentals, skills building sessions, a physical working space, trips to major startup centers (Silicon Valley, New York), mentorship through a global network of experts, and access to seed funding. Depending on overall performance, implementation progress, and funding success, we select our Fellows who proceed to the incubation program.
III. The Institute: Incubation. This final phase of the Startup Series program provides our Fellow’s new ventures with physical working space, business services, and continuous access to our international network of experts as well as to workshops on operations and management organized by Metavallon for startups. The Institute supports the new ventures during the most critical period of a startup’s life, the first 2 years , while its space and activities foster the muchneeded culture of innovation and collaboration.
Objectives, Mission and Vision The Startup Series raises awareness on innovative and social solutions among university students and graduates, cultivates high-impact, quality, investment-ready opportunities not currently available, and provides the resources necessary to enhance the potential for success of these new ventures. We plan to develop, launch and incubate 55 new businesses in 5 years. By mobilizing the global Greek community and empowering young educated people, we aim to: - Address critical challenges faced by early stage entrepreneurs: entrepreneurial education and training, entrepreneurial models and mentorship, networking, start-up financing - Create successful ventures that become models of innovation, high-impact quality entrepreneurship, and social enterprises, for Greece and globally - Enhance the pool of employment opportunities for talented university graduates - Engage a community of entrepreneurs, business professionals, academics and thought leaders from the Greek Diaspora and Greek citizens residing abroad
- Raise awareness on the power of business and social entrepreneurship - Revitalize the static markets through innovation, new market solutions, and growth of new industries - Stimulate the stagnant Greek economy by attracting investors and facilitating flow of capital Mission: Develop and transform the ideas of aspiring entrepreneurs into thriving new ventures. Vision: A culture of innovation and high-impact quality entrepreneurship, a business environment of vibrant talent and growth, a society of venturing spirit and civil awareness. Theory of Change: If we provide training, mentorship, physical resources and access to seed capital to university graduates working on financially sustainable, high-impact business models, then we will enhance their potential to create powerful ventures that successfully address their markets, add economic and social value, and drive change.
1 According to Dun & Bradstreet and INC. magazine reports, 33% of all new businesses fail within the first 6 months and 50% of new businesses fail within their first 2 years of operation.
Now: Academy 2012 | Accelerating the first cohort of venturing Fellows
The second phase of the Startup Series, the Academy, comprises the core of new venture generation. Fellows were selected from the Gymnasium programs in Patras and in Athens to participate in the first Academy, to turn the business ideas they have developed into dynamic ventures. The program in its entity will take place from the beginning of June 2012 to October 2012. It will include a series of educational and training workshops, mentorship and networking, an instructional trip, and a fund raising stage.
The Approach Building on the foundations set by the Gymnasium, this acceleration phase has three key aspects. Business Planning through Education The Academy begins with a series of advanced educational and training workshops, which guide our Fellows to develop business plans and prepare for raising capital and launching their businesses. For this, Metavallon is bringing a state-of-the-art educational program, FastTrac (www.fasttrac.org), which has been developed by the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation as part of their efforts and commitment to advancing entrepreneurship in the United States.
FastTrac provides tested and proven materials and rich online resources that, among others, help participants - develop a working knowledge of business fundamentals - begin building an infrastructure for their business operations - understand risks and how to access resources - build an actionable business plan In addition, participants gain lifelong access to a worldwide network of peers for information, insights and inspiration. Developing a business plan is essential for new venture launch, not only for the value of its product in raising capital and taking action, but also for the experience itself. As Dr. Gramme Edwards very accurately put forward, “It’s not the plan that’s important, it’s the planning”, it is about learning to prepare and be prepared. The FastTrac program is aligned to Metavallon’s emphasis on education and its importance in setting long-term foundations for growth, both societal and personal. We therefore believe strongly in the value of bringing this program to Greece and sponsoring our Fellows to prepare through it.
Mentors, Experts and Networking During the Academy, Fellows are paired with Mentors that support them in the planning process and in key networking efforts throughout this phase, and hopefully beyond. We are also developing a network of Experts to provide specialized knowledge and insights on issues such as marketing, finance and legal. Our Mentors and Experts are entrepreneurs, business professionals and academics both from Greece and internationally. The aim is to combine education and our Fellows’ individual effort with the experience of successful and qualified people that share our values and vision. Mentorship and targeted networking has proven to catalyze venturing endeavors; still, as a culture, it is in a nascent stage in Greece. We thus plan to incorporate and cultivate this element in our program, and at the same time promote the much-needed culture of support and collaboration.
Experiencing Entrepreneurial Ecosystems Following the development of the first business plan, the Academy features an instructive trip to international entrepreneurial and business centers. Our target destinations are New York and San Francisco (Silicon Valley), where the Fellows visit and explore startup companies, participate in events, and familiarize themselves with investors through an initial round of new venture pitching. The benefits of such a trip are numerous and invaluable. First of all, it connects our aspiring entrepreneurs with the workings, culture and network of such model ecosystems. Experience is unmatched and our talented Fellows will absorb, engage, expand, and be inspired by the energy and the potential they will recognize. Secondly, both the network they develop and their contact with such international hubs advances their understanding of international markets and their global outlook. Although the crisis in Greece has driven domestic businesses to increase exports, our connections and insights in foreign markets are limited and competition is global. Such a trip is thus essential in promoting extraversion and the viability of the new ventures. Last but not least, it builds a bridge that connects and strengthens ties with the international community, particularly with the United States, which is the heart of entrepreneurship.
Collaboration and Support Major Supporters and Partners Metavallon has designed a robust program to develop an infrastructure that helps aspiring entrepreneurs transform their ideas to new ventures. Our goal is to propel entrepreneurship in Greece beyond the awareness stage that it is currently in and to building foundations for lasting change. In this path, partnerships are central and particularly for the Academy they are vital.
Fellows/ Ventures
Manolis Nikiforakis
Stefanos Apostolopoulos
Manolis has BEng, MSc and 10 years of experience in project management, analysis, R&D, deployment and testing of demanding largescale research or commercial projects. During this time, he gained skills in technical as well as managerial roles being a leader of remote and local development teams. Furthermore, he has gained experience in a variety of Internet technologies, commercial/open-source frameworks, and software development for a number of programming languages. In one of his recent projects (OptiTrans) he undertook the development of a demanding mobile app gaining valuable experience to a number of issues related to mobile app development and it’s life cycle. Previously, he had been involved in various software and hardware projects including hardware R&D for embedded systems, microcontrollers, sensors, and wireless networks.
Stefanos has a Dipl. Ing. in Electrical and Computer Engineering. He specializes in scientific visualization, simulation, signal processing and electronics, and he is fluent in a variety of programming languages, operating systems and hardware platforms. He has 6 years of experience leading open-source projects and working on commercial and R&D projects.
Venture: WeatherXM
Venture: WeatherXM
WeatherXM
Accurate weather prediction is an open scientific question, with significant impact on social and economic activity. According to the American Meteorological Society, weather forecast insurances cause an annual aggregate dollar variation of 0.5 trillion dollars in US economic activity (estimate on 2008 gross domestic product). In fact, different meteorological models provide different predictions for the same location, leadtime and weather event. WeatherXM attacks this problem from two angles: first, we will aggregate and evaluate existing weather forecasts, in order to construct a forecast ranking for each location, weather event and lead-time; second, we will develop a grid of portable, cost-efficient weather stations (â€œÎźWBoxâ€?) and employ crowd-sourcing techniques to increase the density of weather observations, especially in areas with little coverage and unique micro-climates. This approach enables the identification of the most accurate location-specific forecast for our users. Our mission is to advance the reliability in weather forecasting through innovative tools and services that employ big data mobilization, infrastructure development, and community engagement. Our vision is to accelerate the progress of weather forecasting and promote the prosperity our weather-sensitive economy and life.
Gloria Konstantoudaki
Trozato
Gloria is a Biologist, a yoga instructor and a healthy food enthusiast. During her studies she gained valuable knowledge about food and how it is affecting our overall health and wellbeing. She realized that we should be more conscious of what we choose to eat and hence her inherent culinary curiosity got her transforming traditional recipes into more healthy creations that everyone can enjoy. Currently, Gloria is working on Trozato, a healthy food and beverage chain of takeout stores with the vision to help more and more people achieve a healthier and more conscious way of living.
Trozato is a healthy food-break brand that aspires to become the nutritious fast food alternative. Trozato is targeting health-conscious busy people working in city centers. Trozato is going to attract these people by offering healthy, reviving and affordable choices. The seasonal weekly-changing menu will comprise a variety of wholesome fresh salads, comforting soups, and Mediterranean savory and sweet treats. Customers will pre-order online using our website or mobile application and will receive a lunch bag that along with the item ordered will also contain other healthy goodies. Trozato’s sustainable and socially responsible policies and practices will include sourcing through independent farmers, delivering lunch bags using bicycles, sponsoring and organizing free healthy-living courses.
Venture: Trozato
Anne Garcin
Anna Tsaldari
Anne is French, living in Greece for the past 20 years, and a mother of two. Until June 2012, she served as Communication Manager in the French bank BNP Paribas, where she has had the chance to lead many corporate philanthropy projects linked to culture and social issues. Previously, she worked as a freelance journalist in Paris, doing mainly book reviews and reportages. Her first professional experience involved modeling in Paris. After 13 years of modeling, she wrote a book about it called: “Profession mannequin: voyage dans les coulisses de la mode�. Anne has studied Ethnology at the university of Paris La Sorbonne.
ANNA TSALDARI is a fashion brand, which sells accessories and garments made of silk, locally produced in Greece. Combining heritage, patrimony and modern designs, we offer high quality shawls, belts, bags and garments to demanding clients, men and women. Our silk comes from a village in northern Greece with a 300 years history in silk production, which is today declining because of competitive Asian silk. As we believe in quality, meaningful and beautiful European products, we wish to develop a social business, which will originate profits while generating income for the people of the region, and keeping their know-how alive. We sell our products through E-shops in Europe.
Venture: Anna Tsaldari
Constantine Leymonis
Andreas Litis
Constantine has recently graduated from Athens University of Economics and Business, the Department of Informatics. With purely technical background, he has worked for the web and mobile industries, but also on research projects as a researcher and developer. He is familiar with many programming languages, for software, web, mobile applications, shell script and other technologies and utterly passionate for all things web and emerging technologies. His other passion -traveling- resulted in pursuing GreeceInsiders.com. That was also when Constantine discovered his entrepreneurial side and started experimenting and evolving an idea to a stable and viable business and getting mixed up for the first time with business development, marketing, financials and product development.
Andreas was born in Munich, Germany and raised in Athens, Greece. His parents are Greeks from Istanbul and he has a Swedish citizenship. Because of his multi-culti background, he loves meeting and connecting with people from all over the world and learning about their cultures, differences and similarities. He is a Computer Science student and works as a freelancer on web design/development projects. He is passionate about all things web, design and startups. In his free time, he loves to wander around Athens and explore new places, which was also the main reason for starting mysecretathens.gr, a side project, which has been running since 2010. Currently, Andreas and his co-founder, Constantine, are working on GreeceInsiders.com and their vision is to change the way travelers experience new destinations with the help of a local.
Venture: Greece Insiders
Venture: Greece Insiders
Greece Insiders
We believe that the best way to explore any destination is trough the eyes of the locals. Starting with Greece, we are offering an online community platform where travelers can easily book authentic experiences, offered by trusted, hand-selected locals. By connecting locals with travelers, we offer them the opportunity to go far beyond a classic travel guide book and have a deeper cultural immersion and more enriching experiences. On the other hand locals monetize their skills and passion to show the hidden beauties of their city. An experience can be any local activity/tour/workshop such as a ceramics workshop, a home-dining experience with locals or a Street Art photo safari. Imagine exploring Greece with a new friend as your local guide!
Stratos Theodorou
Yiannis Gkoufas
Stratos is a software engineer and usability specialist. He is responsible for skyrocketing Reethm’s user experience! He has worked in various business and research-oriented freelance projects as android developer, mobile user interface designer and usability consultant. He is notorious for his attention to detail and would give his soul to make software more usable – without compromising his coding poetry! Stratos has an academic background in Human Computer Interaction & Ergonomics (MSc) and Electrical & Computer Engineering (MEng).
Yiannis is a web developer and an algorithms expert. He has been working as a freelancer on various types of projects, while successfully finishing his MSc in Computer Sciences in Athens University of Economics and Business. During his career he was responsible for developing all parts of demanding web applications: the backend processing, the communication layer and the front-end. He is particularly interested in integrating information from popular third-party platforms like Facebook and Twitter. During his thesis dissertation, he developed novel algorithms and techniques in the research field of Information Retrieval. He is currently working on his own projects, aiming to combine the skills acquired from his professional and academic experiences.
Venture: Reethm
Venture: Reethm
Reethm
Reethm is a web platform, which boosts your nightlife experience by connecting your online activity with real life, through the power of music. There is vast information produced online regarding the music people listen to and talk about and currently there is a growing number of solutions that aim to create more such content. Reethm aims to harness and merge the existing online and offline activities of music enthusiasts in order to enhance their real-life music experiences and social interactions. We aim to enhance the interaction between all the members of the music venue’s living ecosystem: the venue-goer, the DJ and the venue owner.
Connect
Please do not hesitate to contact us for more information on Metavallon and the Academy. Alexandra Choli, Executive Director | alexandra@metavallon.org Roza Monou, Marketing & Communications Director | roza@metavallon.org