Mentors

Vlassis currently serves as a Program Officer at The Hellenic Initiative. Prior to this, he was a Project Coordinator at the Onassis Foundation. He also was a Program Officer at the Folloe Foundation until 2022, responsible for the overall development and management of the Foundation’s programs and grants across its three focus areas: education, poverty reduction and infrastructure. Vlassis was also a Program Officer at the Bodossaki Foundation, designing programs and managing grants in education, entrepreneurship and the capacity-building of non-profit organizations. In addition to the Foundation’s own funds, he managed programs funded by public and private entities, such as the EEA Grants and the Trans-Adriatic Pipeline. He has worked at the Stavros Niarchos Foundation as a Programs Intern and holds an MSc in Economics and Cultural Management from Bocconi University and a BA in History and International Relations from the American College of Greece.

Christos Alexakos was born in Athens, Greece, in 1979. He the Dipl. Eng. degree in Computer Engineering and Informatics (2003), the MSc in Computer Science and Engineering (2006) and the Ph. D. (2015) from the Department of Computer Engineering and Informatics of the University of Patras, Greece. He is now researcher at the Pattern Recognition Laboratory of the Department of Computer Engineering and Informatics, University of Patras. He is also collaborating as a research engineer at the Industrial Systems Institute and Computer Technology Institute. Furthermore, he was adjunct lecturer, from 2005 to 2012, in the Department of Applied Informatics at Management and Economy, Technical Educational Institute of Messologhi.

Antonis is a Supply Chain professional for 28 years and has significant experience both in Greece and internationally (Germany, UK, Italy, France, Netherlands and Romania). In the past, he has worked as an executive in major commercial and 3pl companies such as SARANTIS, KOTSOVOLOS, PLIAS, DIAKINISIS. In DIAKINISIS he held the position of Deputy CEO Antonis is the CEO & Founder of SNRSOLUTIONS, consulting office specialized in Logistics As a consultant, Antonis has supported major Greek and Multinational companies, such as: SIEMENS, ORPHEE BEINOGLOU, IOAKIMIDIS, KIKIZAS, UPFIELD, JTI, BSH, LAMDA DEVELOPMENT etc Antonis is also conducting many training courses in Supply Chain & Operations topics to middle and high level executives. He is a Licensed Mechanical & Industrial Engineer (M.Eng, NTUA, Athens, Greece). He is the owner of LinkedIn group named “GREEK LOGISTICIANS’ NETWORK & SCW” counting 950 members.

I help #B2B & #SaaS founders scale fast! — Revenue growth with a scientific approach to marketing funnels, tech automation, and sales team processes. After founding several startups, 200+ employees & my last exit, I am now helping B2B startups achieve their sales potential. Sales is a science. Just like you engineer your product into existence, you need to build a sales & marketing machine to help people see how your product changes their lives for the better. I can help you build your sales machine & reach predictable revenue (i.e. predictable growth) in weeks, rather than months (or even years) of trial & error.

An experienced entrepreneur with 21 years of building from scratch and running businesses. Pioneer in introducing new technological solutions that are utilizing big data and data science, augmented reality, human-computer interaction and artificial intelligence to the end consumer. Tech-savvy about omnichannel, consumer technologies and digital transformation. A senior manager with 21 years in creating and growing innovative teams. An early adopter of the lean startup methodology that has been implemented successfully in various projects/startups. TEDx speaker, guest lecturer in 3 universities, international awards winner and voted as one of the 10 Greek entrepreneurs that you should look out for. The vision has always been the same. Bridge the gap between offline and online using cool technologies as the enabler.

Wessley M. Baker Aguilar has two surnames and blames his Spanish mother and Greek/English father. Born in Turkey but raised in Greece, you should never ask him where he’s from, as you’ll get a different answer every time. After working across various industries, from manufacturing to entertainment, Wessley finally realized his calling, Hospitality and Luxury Travel at Sea. Taking with him many years of experience in sales and business development, Wessley is now the Senior Charter Manager for Marvel Yachts Ltd. He is passionate about creating personalized yacht charter vacations and enjoys telling new clients why they can’t start their cruise in Athens, go to Mykonos, then Bodrum, make a “quick stop” in Kefalonia and return to Athens in seven days. In early 2016 and after a good charter season, Wessley got bored and a little depressed. As a result, he decided to start an online Digital Marketing course at the University of Illinois Urbana Campaign. He completed it successfully just as his first clients, for the new season, were about to board their plane to Greece. Wessley is highly skilled in cultivating strategic partnerships as well as client acquisitions with a high degree of retention. An out-of-the-box creative thinker, with his fair share of failures, Wessley is always eager to lend a helping hand.

Dr. Boretou is a Strategy & Transformation Advisor with more than 20 years of professional experience in creating value for the private and public sector through DESIGN THINKING, BUSINESS MODELS, ENTREPRENEURSHIP, και TRANSFORMATION (incl. Change Mgt). She has worked in leading roles for large multinational companies in the areas of ICT (Deutsche Telekom Group- OTE Group of Companies), CONSULTING (Ernst & Young, KPMG, Deloitte), the Athens 2004 OLYMPICS, the BANKING sector (Egnatia Bank), and the FOOD industry (PZ Cussons PLC-Minerva Edible Oils) managing significant projects. She has co-founded and assisted in the creation and development of several start-ups. She has also served as a lecturer for private colleges/ universities and for vocational training in the private and public sector. She is the owner of The S.T.O.I.C. HUB where she currently works as a freelance Strategy & Transformation Advisor. She has also launched Floorplan Advisor, where home owners and real estate agents can get practical, useable and low-priced floorplan remakes. Dr. Boretou is a Civil Engineer (NTUA) and holds an MBA and a DBA with a specialization in strategy.

I was born in 1980 in Colombia and for as long as I remember I have always been attached to entrepreneurship and new business opportunities. I created my first company at 24 while in my 4th year of university. However, before that experience, I had already work in sales, management, and customer service. Don’t get me wrong, I didn’t have fancy jobs, I was just learning the basics of sales and management from different jobs such as store salesman, barman, and waiter. Because of my work experience have been involved in different projects and activities related to business analysis, business consultancy, finance, and sales. My goal is to help people to convert a simple idea into a fully operational business.

Alexandra Choli is an ecosystem pioneer and early stage tech startup investor, currently active in the impact investing space through her latest venture, Epagon VC. She has 16 years of experience in the fields of operations, business development, and entrepreneurship, and is passionate about growing innovation-driven high-impact startups.

In 2011, she founded Metavallon, a model social enterprise that introduced the first startup incubator in Greece and spearheaded the formation of the startup ecosystem in the country. Four years later she launched Metavallon Ventures Limited, a micro-fund that introduced the first startup acceleration program in the country. In 2018, she co-founded and became a Partner at Metavallon VC, a €32mm venture capital firm investing in very early stage technology companies in Greece and Europe, with the European Investment Fund as an anchor investor in its inaugural fund. Prior to all ventures Metavallon, she worked in operations, management, and business development at several early-stage & small- to medium-sized businesses, both for-profit and non-profit, in Greece, UK, United States, Nicaragua and India.

In recognition of her pioneering work and entrepreneurial achievements the past decade, Alexandra has been featured in publications and university-taught case studies, was among Fortune’s 40 Under 40 in 2020, and was presented the ‘Entrepreneur of the Year’ Award by the British Council in 2018. She holds a Masters degree in Mechanical Engineering from University College London and a Master of Business Administration from New York University Stern School of Business, where she specialized in entrepreneurship, social innovation, and strategy.

Stephan Clambaneva is a product design & innovation leader with comprehensive global experience in areas of digital transformation, digital design and innovation management, and holistic closed looped systems thinking for end-to-end product development. He is well versed in providing cross-functional leadership and overseeing associated functions to include strategic planning and partnerships, experience design, product lifecycle management, large-scale project management, new business development, global marketing, team building, engineering, manufacturing operations and stakeholder engagement.

A thinker and a doer, Stephan has 20 years of experience working for tech giant IBM and global enterprise software leader Dassault Systemes leading product design and innovation projects for clients around the world. In addition, he is a strong communicator experienced in directing large teams and managing relationships with diverse clients, colleagues, and international stakeholders at all levels. He has also been accountable for securing and retaining high-level clients and Fortune 500 companies in numerous sectors, spearheading design and innovation services across multiple channels and executing global product development, research, and marketing strategies to facilitate sustainable business growth in highly competitive markets.

Further, Stephan is a multifaceted professional capable of leveraging extensive industry experience and executive management skills to drive the continued achievement of organizational objectives following the triple bottom line. He is known as a versatile contributor with experience in all product design and innovation management functions, has exceptional communication and leadership skills, and a continued commitment to implementing industry best practices fueled by an emphasis on sustainability. Besides being a global design and utility patent holder, Stephan has an active keynote and public speaking schedule around the world at conferences most recently at the 2021 Athens EcoFest, 2021 Boston Design Week, The IDSA Sustainability Deep Dive 20 and 21, Great Wave Athens Hub, the Sustainability Forum, Milan Salone, Denver Design Week, SxSW, NYCxDesign, DMI Design Leadership Conference, IDC, and the Innovation Summit, evangelizing on the strategic value of circular design principles, industrial design and innovation. He has published multiple papers on Creative Business Leadership, Augmented Reality, Mobility, Design Thinking, Innovation, Product Lifecycle Mgmt., ID, Eco-Design, Environmental Management Systems and Sustainability and more recently Design for Humanity. He has guest lectured at several universities and institutions on the topics of design leadership and sustainability most recently as part of the InnoMed -UP initiative for the National Technical University of Athens, SkillNet Ireland and the Savannah College of Art and Design.

Stephan has been an elected IDSA Leader since 2010 as a Member of the Board & Sections Director, Vice President for the Northeast District, Chair of IDSA for New York City. He was invited for a residency of the House of Beautiful Business. He was just nominated to join the Birthing of Giants Fellowship Program. He serves on the advisory board of numerous startups and on the executive committee for New York Design Week – NYCxDesign representing IDSA and is a permanent startup mentor of numerous global accelerators including the German Accelerator, GreekTech and the Orange Grove. He maintains residency in New York and Athens with his wife and son.

Strong entrepreneur and motivator, with high interest in technology and international business development.

Driven to create impact, love to find new paths to reach the targets set. Team-player. I transferred a small national operating low-tech family company into an international operating High-Tech company.

Currently I am founder of Aito (www.aito-touch.com) a High-Tech Scale-up Company, heading Sales & BD and active in supporting new Tech Start-ups.

Proven leader with 10 years of experience across finance, technology, sales and corporate strategy, but a maker at heart who’s not afraid to get hands dirty.

Currently building Epilocal, a bootstrapped social business focussed on empowering local communities through independent publishing.

Electrical and Electronics engineer with more than 20 years experience in telecommunications systems, digital signal processing and embedded systems.

Specialties: Signal processing algorithms and architectures implemented in VHDL, programmable DSP processors, C etc. System modelling in Matlab/Simulink, C.

CTO of Quantimetrica Ltd (UK) and co-founder of Add2Value (GR)

I am leading Telesto, a systems integrator that puts innovation to work, with presence in Greece and the UK.

We work on technology for the protection of crowds in stadia and large event infrastructure. Our solutions leverage AI, IoT and real-time analytics to derive context and situation awareness in complex environments in response to crises.

At the same time, I am a co-founder and technology lead in GivingStreets, a financial inclusion platform using mainstream technology to address the financial needs of vulnerable populations and the charitable space.

My vision is to constantly improve people’s lives by using technology, while making services accessible to all.

George Efstratiadis counts Accounting and MBA as his main educational areas, grown up in a family business environment, now running the 50 years family water services business, a company of 63 people present all over Greece.

The last 6 years, in an effort to diversify his business portfolio and as always interested in futuristic areas, he is actively participating in the Greek startup ecosystem as a mentor and an angel investor via LKM Peran his own consulting agency. George has invested and teamed up with Teastock to predict the short future trends of investing and trading products.

He has also offered his knowledge to startups and innovative SMEs as a volunteer mentor of Orange Grove in Patras. He believes in the combined and multi-business knowledge capabilities, especially where the main startup scope is a niche. George is generally against the ‘don’t give up’ doctrine – he is more in favour of ‘if you don’t earn money, you lose money’ way of doing consultancy and business.

International banking executive with more than 25 years of banking experience.

Forward looking with an entrepreneurial mind focusing on digital transformation, innovation, and culture. Adept in handling multi-cultural, multi-ethnic, and multi-generational environment working with people across all disciplines and at all levels throughout the organisation. Successful as Citibank Asia Regional Chief Operating Officer, Country Head for Global Transaction Services combined with strong experience in Corporate Governance, Operations & Technology, Risks and Controls, Regulatory liaison, Anti-Money Laundering and Compliance with Citi Internal Audit.

Previously, involved in the original set up, strategy and development to profitability and on-going management control of banks in the Emerging markets. Management Board member and advisor to external organisation.

Ignatios Fotiou received his Diploma of Mechanical and Aeronautical Engineering from the Department of Mechanical and Aeronautical Engineering of the University of Patras in 2005.

He is the man who invented SEATRAC, a patented device in the EU and USA which is the only worldwide solution for the autonomous access of people with mobility impairments to an aquatic environment. In 2012, he founded TOBEA Ltd, a spin-off company of University of Patras, which deals with innovative solutions and products for the improvement of the quality of life for people with disabilities, being a leading company in this field in Greece.

His business activity extends beyond TOBEA Ltd as well as in other sectors where he is always involved in innovation. At the same time, he is preparing his PhD thesis on composite materials in the Department of Mechanical and Aeronautical Engineering of the University of Patras, through which he has participated in a number of research projects.

Holding the position of “Digital Entrepreneurship and Technological Innovation” at the department of Applied informatics at the University of Macedonia in Thessaloniki, Greece, I am teaching in the area of innovation and entrepreneurship, e-business and development of new products and services.

I also currently teach at International Hellenic University and University of the Aegean related topics and also collaborate with a number of other Academic Institutes in the areas of innovation and entrepreneurship. My research has been published in international peer-reviewed journals and conferences and I have participated in research consortia for more than 15 International and National research projects, including research projects in Developing countries.

I teach because I am passionate about entrepreneurship, innovation and development of new ventures. I also have been a serial entrepreneur developing a number of Business ventures mainly related to provision of Digital, innovative services, others resulting in success and others in teaching me valuable lessons. My background is widespread and is combining studies and experience ranging from crafting and aligning a corporate strategy and responding to competition with innovative actions to handling and rearranging business operations and filling in accounting and financial information to analyzing pricing decisions. This diversity has allowed me to obtain a broader view in developing new business ventures ranging from evaluation of the business proposition to financial projections analysis. To this end I am happy to assist new entrepreneurs of any age that pursuit their dreams.

I am doing so through various Incubator programs such as Orange Grove, Ace-In, EkinisiLab and by personal coaching and innovation competitions such as e-nnovation and iBank. I have also been extensively engaged with business advisory, trying to assist established firms with limited organizational capabilities to evolve to viable, competitive players in their markets and organize their internal resources in a more efficient way. I have also been a member of the European Space Agency (ESA) Technology Transfer initiative team.

I believe that entrepreneurship is very important and can significantly advance economic prosperity and improvement of the national level of innovation through the utilization of ICT and smart ways to approach current customer pains worldwide.

Vasilis Georgitzikis is the CEO of LESS Engineering. Vasilis was previously the co-founder of Spanner CI, as well as the co-founder & CEO of codebender, an online development platform for Embedded Devices (Drones, Wearables, 3D Printers, IoT Devices), with an emphasis on Arduino developers. Finally, he also founded P-Space, the local Hackerspace in Patras, Greece. In a past life, he was a researcher on Wireless Sensor Networks on CTI “Diofantus”.

Since 2017, Vasilis has participated as a volunteer mentor at Orange Grove in Patras.

Serving as the CEO of HVA International, a Dutch agricultural project development company, Miltiadis has an extensive background in finance, cost engineering and project management. His expertise is currently focused on large scale agricultural projects for PEVC funds worldwide.

Miltiadis founded CostWise in 2008, a company that tailored custom-made cost models and conducted a wide array of due diligence assignments. He simultaneously served as consultant on a number of large scale infrastructural projects in Latin America, Africa and South-East Asia, while, from his position as COO of International Advisers, he led negotiations regarding trade credit insurance contracts. In the public sector, Miltiadis has served as special advisor to the President and CEO of the Transport For Athens Organization with 8,500 employees.

During his time on this post he led a significant restructuring and introduced several strategic initiatives. Miltiadis is a member of the Development Finance Forum (DFF) of the World Bank and has collaborated on the design of large projects in developing countries. In his spare time, Miltiadis is a media commentator on macroeconomic topics and has authored articles in the international press.

He also mentors startups and was one of the drivers initiating and establishing the incubator Orange Grove, a Dutch-Greek initiative. He is also an active promoter of the world’s first SDG House in Amsterdam which provides a unique forum for sustainable businesses seeking a global reach.

Miltiadis holds a bachelor’s degree from Hogeschool Utrecht and an MBA from Nottingham Trent University/AGSM. He is fluent in English, Dutch, and Greek and has a working knowledge of Spanish and French

Theodore is a futurist at heart who creates the vison which he executes through sound strategic development. With 20 years’ experience in successful entrepreneurial endeavours within the fashion, medical and educational sectors, he uses a philosophical approach to bring together various pieces to create a whole picture, shortening the road to success and lifting the morale of others around him.

Currently the sole director of the successful sustainable fashion house Thread Apparel in Australia/Greece which oversees the design and manufacturing of medium to high end fashion garments and uniforms to majors from around the world. Thread Apparel is a world leader in the sustainable and ethical fashion sector, focusing on future innovative eco and bio tech developments which they help bring to mass market.

Marc Hinfelaar (1962) is a PR-professional who brings 30 years of experience in healthcare en tourism related 360°-communications and issues management.

He graduated at a teacher training course in Biology&Chemistry in Utrecht, held various PR positions at Dutch governmental bodies and Pharmaceutical Industry, and owned a boutique agency in healthare communications. Since 2016 he is freelance consultant in Life & Health Communications and founder/owner of a small scale holiday resort in Agia Galini, Crete.

He is always eager to participate in education, training and coaching of young entrepreneurs. Main focus is on for start-ups in medical technology, healthcare -innovation and of course also in tourism. His expertise is mainly in the field of business strategy and marketing communication.

Joost Frijda (1970) was born and raised in the Netherlands. He finishes his architecture studies at the Delft University of Technology in 1995, after which he moved to Greece.

The office gfra architecture was founded in 2004 by Tasos Gousis, Joost Frijda and Eddie Roberts as a result of many years of cooperation in previous associations where they participated with the major Greek projects of the previous decade, such as projects for the Olympic Games, the new Athens airport and the Acropolis Museum competition.

Projects undertaken by gfra are apart from Orange Grove and the Netherlands embassy in Greece: offices, housing, cultural projects and leisure and tourism projects.

A creative thinker, with 8 years of experience in marketing roles and 6 years of experience in the academic industry.

A marketing whiz with a special love in growth and value creation.

Konstantinos is one of the Founding Partners at DLE. He is a lawyer, specializing in Data Protection, Privacy & Intellectual Property. He is registered with the Piraeus Bar Association. He has strong experience in data protection compliance projects and in serving as Data Protection Officer with private and public sector institutions in Greece and the European Union. He is also an external advisor to the Vrije Universiteit Brussels in privacy-related projects. Being a pioneer in digital rights protection in Greece, he has also co-founded Homo Digitalis. 

Having previously worked in the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva, Konstantinos is currently living in Athens, envisioning a law-abiding and ethical digital environment, in which corporations, the public sector and individuals can flourish. He holds and LL.B. from the Law School of Athens and an LL.M. from the University of Utrecht, Netherlands. He speaks Greek, English, Spanish and French. 

A technology startup founder whose purpose is to ensure algorithmic systems are Fair, Accountable and Transparent. Having over 17 years of experience in evaluating large scale software systems as a PhD researcher, management consultant and finally as a practice leader for an international firm in Greece.

An active member of the startup community, serving the Orange Grove incubator as Chairman of the Board of Directors. Specialties: Software development, entrepreneurship, business development, banking, insurance, energy, IT strategy, in-depth academic research, Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, Algorithmic Accountability, Algorithmic Audit.

Effie Karakitsou was born in Athens. She is the founder of Magnet, one of the leading advertising agencies in Greece (www.magnetad.gr). She holds an MBA degree (University of Pittsburgh, USA).
In 2012 she co-founded iforU, (www.iforU.gr) a non profit organization that aims to empower young women entrepreneurs.
Effie is an Executive Board Member of the Hellenic Association of Communications Agencies and of the Greek Council for Ethics in Communication.
She is passionate for new ideas, creativity and technology.
Last (but not least) mother of Michael and Christina.

A consumer goods business generalist with over a decade of multi-functional experience and an inclination towards marketing. I believe in the transformative power of teamwork, structure and purposeful business and seek to work with organizations, teams and brands that aim at making unique, positive impact.

Dimitris Karavasilis is the founder and the CEO of the DK Consultants firm, which operates in the field of Business Consulting specializing in the areas of International Marketing and Strategic Development of International Activity. He has studied Business Administration and International Marketing at UNIVERSITY OF SHEFFIELD. He has attended dozens of specialized seminars internationally in marketing, exports and sales. He is a member of the Administrative Committee and the Board of Directors of the Greek International Business Association (SEVE). He participates in the core team of Dutch experts of the Task Force for the structural reform of the State towards a single National Export Strategy; he is also a member of the Hellenic Institute of Marketing and active member of International Organizations. Prior to the foundation of the Business Consulting firm «DK Consultants» he had been occupied as a senior and executive in industrial and commercial enterprises in Greece and abroad (SATO, Toshiba, Sunair, Premierotel, Pointgroup, Axon Inc., DB group). Since 1999 he has supported significant Greek and foreign firms by providing them with consulting services, and by designing and applying internationally orientated marketing and sales strategies.

Nicolas holds a BA in Management Accounting from Middlesex University Business School, London, and a PgD in Organisation Studies from Warwick Business School. He was the organiser, Competition Mgr, of the Equestrian Sports for the Athens 2004 Olympic Games. For 5 years, he led the Services Operations Division as well as the Market Development & Store Establishment of Housemarket SA (IKEA Greece, Cyprus, Bulgaria). He also led a number of retail development projects in Greece, Cyprus and other Balkan countries, assuming operational and general management roles. In his last position with Wealthium, a London based Wealth-tech advisory firm, Nicolas was in charge of the business development of Private Marketsmodules with a focus on VCs and Startups. Currently he is the Program Manager at The People’s Trust, providing micro-funding to new and existing businesses.

“As an adolescent person growing up in challenging circumstances, it was more than often I was reminded of what I am incapable of doing or the “you can’t do that” or “that will never work”.
Always the optimist and of the “why not” mentality, my resoluteness to effect the indispensable change to make things transpire is my disruptive innovation to prosper. I have worn many hats in my vocation, sales and marketing, packaging and product development, finance and legal, branding and sourcing, negotiator and strategist. As a result I have a unique skill set to manage multi-disciplinary projects and to navigate
intricate challenges.

With the perpetuated proliferation of globalization, I believe that life experience through travel and the openness to learn, the endeavor to understand other cultures and engage is one of the most consequential factors providing insights into emerging business ideas and exponential growth. I enjoy making new professional and social acquaintances; it’s how we learn from one another and how we grow. Reach out if you want
to talk business, coffee or culinary.

Skill Set: disruptive innovation and solutions, operation management, consumer packaged goods, branding, sales and marketing, flexibility, multi-tasking, collaboration and team building, strategist, legal and finance, international business.”

Chryssa Kentouris was born in Greece, grew up in NY and returned to Athens after completing studies at New York University.

She holds a degree in Business Administration with double major – Finance and Marketing. Working since the age of 16, has a +35 years vast working experience that includes salesperson, bank teller, product manager, group product manager as well as marketing director in diverse business sectors such as that of retailing, banking, industrial goods and FMCG. Has worked for Schienfeld Goods, Chemical Bank, Nixdorf Computers, Sara Lee and FrieslandCampina.

Today she is responsible for Corporate Communication, Media Relations and CSR of FrieslandCampina-NOYNOY, a subsidiary of one of the largest dairy producing company in the world.
Chryssa is a dedicated professional, combining her strategic marketing and communication skills with out-of-the-box creativity, and people –oriented solutions.
Guiding principles: work-balance, sincerity, commitment, results.
Married and mother of three.

John Kikidis is an experienced technology executive, senior professional and serial entrepreneur, cofounder in a number of technology innovative startups, with over twenty years of business experience in the software, electronics and semiconductor industries. He is currently Program Manager at Dialog Semiconductor at Patras Greece, co-founder and Chairman at Eyelead Software, founded in 2007 as a University of Patras spin-off, focusing in 3D entertainment applications and visualization software technology, and co-founder and board member at Analogies, a high speed analog/mixed signal semiconductor IP company established in 2006.

Mr. Sotirios Kokkinos followed the sector of Telecommunications & Information Technology and became specialized in computer networks and wireless data transmission. He holds the license to perform electrical installations of all disciplines & categories as well as studies, supervision of implementation and operation of all mechanical plants. He has proven working experience in the fields of automation, renewable energy sources and telemetry (computer networks and wireless data transmission) by leading the engineering team. He conducts structural, thermal and electromagnetic FEA and has participated as a reviewer and participant in worldwide simulation conferences & engineering contests. Mr. Sotiris Kokkinos is in charge of managing FEAC Engineering P.C. (CEO -Chief Executive Officer) and is responsible for the business development and the contractual, administrative and financial issues of the company. Mr. Kokkinos is an active member in the Greek Start-up Community and has provided his business experiences as mentor in plethora national and international start-up accelerator programs.

Online marketing professional and Google AdWords Certified professional since 2007, focused on maximizing online marketing potential for every web project.

I always work closely with project owners by setting specific KPI and focusing on maximising the ROI through inbound marketing. I manage to achieve my goals and maximising ROI by:
1) setting clear expectation on the goals, creating marketing plan & budgeting resources
2) selecting the appropriate KPI in order to monitor progress
3) communicate carefully crafted, attention-getting marketing messages
4) constantly evaluating the best performing channels that deliver the vast majority of targeted traffic at the lowest possible cost.

I have implemented more than 120 online marketing projects including some of the biggest Google AdWords and SEO projects in Greece with success, helping existing and new web projects achieve their goals with efficiency. Since 2010 I managed more than 20 international online marketing projects.

Specialties:
– Marketing Strategy
– Marketing Communications
– Budgeting
– E-commerce marketing
– Hotel & hospitality online marketing
– Landing Page Optimization
– Conversion Optimization
– Google Analytics Consulting

Online channels that I have been using for many years in order to optimize effectiveness:
– Search Engine Optimization (Keyword Research, Onsite optimization, Copywriting, Link Building, Training)
– Google AdWords (Set Up – Manage & Optimize: Search Ads, Display Ads, YouTube Ads, Interaction Ads)
– Facebook Advertising
– Content Marketing (Blog posts, YouTube Videos)
– Conversion Optimization
– Landing Page Optimization
– Social Media
– Email Marketing

Throughout my career I have created Online Marketing teams out of people with small or no experience experience in Online & Digital Marketing that through effective training and guidance grew to become online marketing professionals themselves.

George Likourezos is a partner and patent attorney at the intellectual property law firm of Carter, DeLuca & Farrell LLP. George graduated from Touro University Law Center and obtained a degree in electrical engineering from NYU Tandon School of Engineering. He has a master’s degree in Operations Management also from NYU Tandon School of Engineering. He represent many universities, research institutions, and multinational corporations, as well as startups, scaleups and SMEs, in protecting their intellectual property in technical areas such as aerospace and defense, semiconductors, robotics, AI and mobile applications, communications, mobility and transportation, IoT and sensors, machine vision, medical devices, and many other areas. George is admitted to practice before the United States Patent and Trademark Office and has established relationships with international law firms to protect his client’s technologies in every patent jurisdiction. He enjoys mentoring emerging technology startups and university spinoffs based in the USA and worldwide on topics such as the patent process, strategic patent portfolio development, freedom to operate, trademark and brand protection, and IP management. He is also a lecturer at the IP Business Academy of the Center for International Intellectual Property Studies at the University of Strasburg, and the Co-chair of the Startups Committee of the International Institute for IP Management (I3PM). George is a regular presenter and writer on intellectual property topics.

Highly motivated, results oriented, management professional with strong technical background, experienced in directing IT projects and teams.
He is the technical Director and Co-Founder at Linakis Digital, one of the leading web agencies in Greece with multiple domestic and international awards. In the past he has worked for large companies in the private sector such as Forthnet and Altec always combining his deep knowledge of Internet Technology with a passion for Business.
He holds a Master’s degree in Advanced Methods in Computer Science from the University of London (QMW College).

Specialties:Strategic business planning, project management, technical solutions design, business management, analytical problem solving.

Founder of Atlantis Consulting S.A., a company based in Thessaloniki, Greece with branch offices in Athens and Larisa and subsidiaries in Heraklion, Lamia, Agrinio, Founder of Atlantis Engineering S.A., Founder of Atlantis Cyprus Ltd – an environmental company, Co-founder of Hellenic Association of Mobile Applications Companies (HAMAC), Facilitator of Hellenic Mobile Cluster, Founder and Manager of Adrion Business Angels
Network, Principle Consultant of Technopolis Artificial Intelligence (AI) Cluster, Evaluator of SME Instrument Phase II, Head of the Evaluation and Management Programme of funding thousands of SMEs from Piraeus Bank through the Framework Programme of Support Greece. An honorary member in the HAMAC Association for high contribution in establishing the Hellenic Mobile Cluster and implementation of the HAMAC vision.
Throughout his 30 years of consulting experience, he has worked with a large portfolio of HiTech/IT Startups and Industrial SMEs among others Upstream, Compucon, Unisoft, Fasmetrics, Computer Logic, Globo, Brite Hellas, MLS, Wadja, Cosmos Holding, Haitoglou Bros S.A., KRI-KRI S.A., DORAL SA, Hatzopoulos S.A., Velti S.A., Logismos S.A., K &N Efthimiadis, Viva S.A. et al along with strong working relationships with innovation policy makers internationally. In his career with Atlantis Consulting he has worked with thousands of mainly industrial SMEs providing more than 1 billion euros in funding through EU and National subsidy programs.
He has served as member of the Board of Directors of Wadja Ltd and he has been elected as General Secretary in the Greek Diving Center Association. He holds a MSc degree in Technical Chain and Industrial Strategy from the University of Manchester and a Civil Engineer Diploma with specialization in Project Management. He has been coordinator among many other EU funded projects, Euromanagement I and II, Gate2Start, MOBIP and EMMINVEST projects focusing in Access to Finance as well as participated in several relevant EU projects such as GraspInno, SmartInno et.al.
He has initiated the pre-incubation concept, launched and managed the 40-day clinic and Stage II Acceleration Programmes, the only 4 International Venture Capital Events in Greece, several Venture Capital Events in European cities like London, Barcelona, Milan, et al, a few Pan-European Acceleration Programmes and 5 Business Angels Forums in Greece. Furthermore, he has designed the initiation of programmes such as E-tender, Jobical, E-consulting and Congress Help. He has been placed as Head of big Impact Assessment Studies of EU R&D policies in Europe and in Greece as well as his role as coach and mentor to many innovation competition and acceleration programmes has been catalytic. He is extremely known for his ethos, hard work and excellent managerial capabilities.
Despite his main line of business activities, he hasn’t stopped in pursuing his passion for the underwater cultural heritage sector, thus for the last 15 years – being himself an experienced and certified PADI Diving Instructor – he has been engaged in the implementation of several national and European Projects, focusing in the protection and promotion of underwater cultural heritage (i.e. Bluemed, Lab4Dive, ScienceDiver, MeDryDive, Magna, UCRCA, etc) and has been author and co- author of a series of relevant papers and abstracts. Angelos is currently in the process of applying for a PhD at the Department of History, Archeology and Social Anthropology at the University of Thessaly.

An energetic, ambitious person with a sound and optimistic outlook on all things in life. Can keep an overview of complex multidisciplinary processes and can rapidly master new fields. With others, get along well, stimulating effective teamwork. Have a keen eye for finding flaws, solutions and possibilities, while maintaining a pragmatic matter-of-factness. Significant professional experience in the seed/biotech industry with over a decade of international exposure in research and the industry.

Julio is a Canadian nomad entrepreneur and the COO of Monetizemore. Over the last 5 years, Julio, along with his partners, has helped grow the company from 5 to 115 employees spread across 5 continents.
Once the company’s strategies and vision are established, Julio is in charge of the execution along with his VP’s of HR, Finance, Marketing, Support, Operations, Sales, Business Development, and Account Management.
Julio believes that efficiency and execution are paramount. He can help any entrepreneur with their overall gameplan, business challenges, and any specific business topics.

Daria Nepriakhina is an initiator of the Ideahackers.network dedicated to startup ecosystem building in The Netherlands. She created the Problem-Solution fit canvas and Collab canvas – tools that help startups with market adoption and structuring partnerships. In the last 3+ years, Daria has facilitated the Startup in Residence program, starting from The Hague and growing it to the Startup in Residence Intergov. Currently, SIR Intergov unites four ministries (LNV, SZW, BZK, EZK), the province of South Holland and the Municipality of The Hague. SIR Intergov enables the Dutch government to address its challenges with the help of local startups and innovative SMEs.

Marketing expert and Innovation catalyst, with focus on enabling people and facilitating businesses transform, discover and exploit superior value. Passionate about challenging the status quo, discovering new paths and walking in unknown territories.
Katerina has over 20 years of experience in business, marketing and communications, having held senior marketing and trade positions (Marketing Director, Global Category, Trade Marketing Manager) in large multinational companies. Currently she is working as a consultant focusing on areas like strategic planning, innovation, business & marketing, and as a business trainer/facilitator working with leading companies in Greece.
Her work has been awarded and received the Marketing Excellence Award from the Hellenic Institute of Marketing and the Grand Award for product innovation, as well as the HR Award and HR Excellence Award for Best Talent Development program.
She is an elected member of the Executive Committee of the Hellenic Institute of Marketing, where she has also been appointed General Secretary, and is leading activities that promote marketing and innovation in Greece.
She has studied marketing at the American College of Greece, Deree College and holds a postgraduate degree (MBA) from Boston University, focusing in marketing and strategic planning.

Born on May of 1986 in Patras, Yiannis Nikolopoulos finished school with remarkable grades and got into the dept. of Electrical & Computer Engineering. Only 3 years later, he co-founded his own company which builds & runs solar parks ever since, along with a friend from the dept. of Mechanical Engineering & Aeronautics. At the same time he was volunteering as a Red Cross Samaritan in between classes and his first job at the National Telecommunications Organisation.

In Oct. 2009, his sister’s car accident forced him to develop a most flexible problem-solving approach. He kept running the solar parks and pursuing his personal projects, while neglecting college due to the tight schedule of her medical treatment. This experience helped him sharpen his emotional intelligence and taught him to be productive under very stressful circumstances, while keeping calm and happy.

In Oct. 2012 Yiannis co-founded Clio Muse PC: what started as a 3-people tour guide app startup, evolved to a 20 full-time employees company which runs a Software as a Service platform for anyone to publish and resell their digital self-guided tours.

Since launching, Clio Muse has successfully hosted and curated over 100 tours in Greece, Italy, Austria and the US while partnering with the Athens International Airport, Athens Biennale, Art-Athina, Municipality of Athens, American School of Classical Studies, Embassies (Netherlands and Germany) and the National Bank of Greece. They have been awarded over 10 times globally for the re-use of cultural content and its business model and mentioned in major newspapers like USA Today and the New York Times. In 2019, they managed to grow 10 times and serve 50K travelers, while getting 5-star reviews on GetYourGuide, TripAdvisor, Expedia, etc.

Yiannis is the proud CTO in Clio Muse PC, contributed as a founding member to the creation of Orange Grove Patras an dis currently a BoD member of Orange Grove.

John is a serial internet entrepreneur. He started his first company in 1998 and since then he has been involved in several internet companies in the areas of ecommerce, web hosting, online marketing, social networks and travel. Since 2012 he is co-founder of Travelmyth, the hotel search engine for sophisticated travelers.

Faye has followed a multidisciplinary career, discovering and developing her potential along the way. This has offered her a rich diverse experience in various fields.
She believes to be a generalist by design (a “homo universalis”), but whenever she dedicates herself to a mission, she focuses to acquire in-depth knowledge and experience and to offer high-quality specialized services.

Currently she is devoting herself in capacity building for science-based ventures through Sci-2-Biz studio, which is focused in the science-to-business process. Furthermore, she designes and organizes learning & development (L&D) programs for AELIA-lab, an organization that she co-founded and managed, which initially started as a non profit and recently evolved into an L & D agency. (Sci-2-Biz studio is an initiative of AELIA-lab).

Formerly, she had an intensive career path, which passed through consulting firms, law firms, public policy and finally research organizations. She also attempted her own consulting firm venture. Her path led her to technology transfer and innovation development in the R&D ecosystem.
In parallel she always dedicated time to the mission of AELIA Lab, designing and organizing L&D activities for people of diverse backgrounds.

Poly is a Director Business Programs | Digital Transformation Leader at Microsoft. Her role is to power, protect, and enable CEE’s digital transformation of business and employee experiences, while serving as a market advocate through leadership engagements inside and outside the company.

In the past, Poly was working at OTE Group and she was responsible for Process Improvement Division. The role of the division was to provide process simplification and operational transformation, for OTE Group companies and ICT customers. In addition to this role at OTE Group, Poly was also leading the IT Innovation Center which aim was to deliver Innovation to OTE Group customers and employees, in order to improve people’s lives and enhance the technological brand of the company.

Before that, Poly has worked in consulting with PricewaterhouseCoopers Greece and IBM Global Services UK, for engagements in service areas such as organisation & operations, process improvement and IT strategy.

Has more than 20 years’ experience in Process Management and Operational Transformation.

As a marketing strategist, brand builder and storyteller Melina helps entrepreneurs, rising leaders and businesses connect and align with the power of their why and translate it into a meaningful brand story and focused digital marketing strategy. Her mission is to support you in your journey to communicate, share and spread your reason for being with the world in a way that resonates deeply, and authentically with the people that can benefit from your products & services the most.
Melina brings a unique perspective that is awareness and mindset based and am also passionate about helping individuals and teams thrive by helping them tapping into flow states that unlock their inner genius using awareness based practices, mindfulness, NLP, and her background in health coaching.
She has spent the last decade leading entrepreneurs, marketing teams and projects for a wide range of companies and industries around the world including: health/wellness, personal development, technology, digital media, music/art, hospitality/tourism, urban planning and fashion. She currently runs her own branding consultancy and digital marketing agency, Spark Your Brand.
Melina holds an Economics degree from Duke University and is also an MIT Sloan MBA alum, with a Master’s in Management Studies from The Lisbon MBA. She brings a unique perspective that is awareness and mindset based through the use of NLP, design thinking, integrative health coaching and flow state practices.

Energy (oil & gas and renewables) Dealmaker professional, with background of a Mechanical Engineer with an MBA in Strategy. Core skillset: commercial negotiations, valuation analysis, legal/commercial contract negotiation & drafting, as well as contractor/partner relationships management.

Currently working as a Commercial Partner Manager for Innovation in Royal Dutch Shell, in the Energy sector (Oil & Gas and Renewables). Previous experience in Economic valuation, Procurement, commercial negotiations, tenders for technical services and legal contract drafting.

Outside the Energy industry, experience in the Food Industry, as engineer for construction projects for the owner of the two largest Greek food and coffee chains – fast food leader “Goody’s” and coffee business leader “Flocafe”. Some experience in luxury watches sector with Versace/Timex Group.

Interested in deal making and commercial delivery across new industries (including but not limited to sports, tech, retail).

Marathoner and basketball buff with a flair for advanced sports analytics.

Giannis Skitsas is a Senior Software Engineer and a Java Architect. He is capable of taking ownership of a product and leading the technical team to successful
deliveries using Agile software development and Scrum. He has been involved in various projects, startups and companies as a founder, designing and implementing multi-purpose platforms, services and applications. Giannis is also a mentor, helping aspiring entrepreneurs and startups to avoid common fallacies, set the right goals and find their way to success.

Dr. Nikolas Smyrlakis is an electrical engineer turned to spirits entrepreneur. After graduating from NTUA, working at the European Space Agency in the Netherlands and finishing his PhD at Bocconi University in Milan, he went back to his roots in Greece and co-founded Roots Spirits, an innovative premium spirits range, with exports in more than 20 countries (Stelios HajiIoannou Awards for Young Entrepreneurs in Greece 2016) and Nomada Honey Soda (Hellenic Entrepreneurship Award, Libra group / Envolve 2017).

Founder & CEO at Coldigital, an SEO agency based in Tel Aviv. Has 16 years in marketing and digital entrepreneurship. Speaker and Startup mentor. Born in Israel, lived 6 years in South America. Trilingual (English, Spanish & Hebrew).

Dr. Chris Sotiropoulos has extensive expertise in global commercialisation of innovative education, healthcare and technology products and services. He serves as Co-Founder and CEO of Global Opportunities Commercialisation, Managing Director of Mainstage Hub and Director of APAC Health, both private companies that deliver entrepreneurship, commercialisation advisory services and their own products to national and international clients.
He is an internationally speaker on such issues faced by many industries, diverse forums and nations, including Afghanistan (for climate change), Nigeria (for IT clusters), India (for Digital education, Artificial Intelligence for crop nutrition and start-up mindset), Australia (for artificial intelligence and emotional intelligence), Somalia (peacebuilding training of parliamentarians and tribes), UK for capacity building and mindset change, Philippines (for education innovations) and South Korea (for health innovations).

In the healthcare sector, he has introduced medicines for the treatment of sleep disorders, rare diseases and completed licensing deals worth over USD $300m.
He is also a practising Lawyer, focussing on International Trade and Commercial Law transactions, assisting clients to quickly grow their business, develop strategy and implement corporate restructure for global expansion in US, Europe, Africa and Asia. His knowledge of commercial practices and business mindsets across disparate markets enables more pragmatic advice, drafting and negotiations, reducing grievances due to cultural misalignment.
He has taught at university entrepreneurship and MBA programs in the field of innovation, corporate strategy and venture development. He is a frequent international speaker, speaking at forums in Europe, USA, India, Africa, Asia and Australia on themes including education models for emerging nations, youth and women empowerment and its role in nation capability development.
He serves on private and public governing boards and charities in several countries. He is also a mentor to executives in the US and Europe and a mentor advisor for start up incubators in India, Greece and an Australian university.
He holds a PhD in Molecular Microbiology, a Law Degree from Australian universities and completed Executive Training in Leadership and Strategy in Pharmaceuticals and Biotech Executive Training from the Harvard Business School.

Antonis Spanos is the Managing Director and owner of Methodical Organisation of Accounting Departments (Μ.Ο.Λ.). Antonis supervises the Accounting Departments of companies located in the Prefectures of Achaia and Helia. And is also a Financial and Tax Consultant in partner companies. Antonis consults as a volunteer mentor startups and innovative SMEs participating at Orange Grove in Patras.
Antonis holds a Master in Business Administration (M.B.A.) from the University of Wales, Glamorgan, Wales, an MBA from the University of Patras and a BA in Politican and Economic Science from the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens

An international professional with a curious mind and a solid track record at companies in transition,
facing financial, governance and strategic challenges.
Arnoud has been a mentor at the Orange Grove since 2017 and is an assessor at the
Register for Certified Board Members, Netherlands and an advisor to the Dutch Federation NFK.

Dimitris is an experienced professional in the Energy sector. He has held positions across Investment Banking, Management Consulting and Industry and is currently working as an Investment Advisor to international renewable energy funds.

Cristina Strimpakou has studied Italian Language and Art History and her entrepreneur spirit led her found LIÃ Premium Extra Virgin Olive Oil. Starting with a family olive oil grove she grew her company into an innovative international brand. It is a lifetime trip going back to Extra Virgin Olive Oil Culture sharing creativity, knowledge and passion for Premium Olive Oil!

Epameinondas obtained his law degree from the Law Faculty of the University of Athens, while he completed his LL.M. studies at King’s College London with specialization in International Commercial Law. Later on, he received his diploma in Tax Law from the Athens University of Economics and Business. He has been a member of the Athens Bar Association since 2008 and he is also registered as European Lawyer in England and Wales (UK). He specializes in Corporate Law, ADR, Tax Law, Media Law and Digital Law. Epameinondas writes articles focusing on the economic and political environment of Greece that have been published in both print and online highly respectful media. He has served as a member of various committees and boards. He speaks English and German.

Arjan has a background in sales and marketing. He finished multiple evening studies, for instance Business Administration and the postmaster Learning, Development and Change. After multiple commercial posts he started in 2002 as a entrepreneur in Training/Coaching. In the course of time his company ‘Accent op Ontwikkeling’ grew to an organisation that provides solutions and services for learning, development and change issues within companies and organisations. Arjan is specialized in learning and change issues with focus on culture within teams and organisations. He is also active as a moderator and chairman of business meetings and is a speaker about topics such as entrepreneurship, leadership and customer focus.

Theodore Tollis is the Executive Director of Employment Solutions Division of ICAP Group since March 2008 after the buyout of the business. In parallel, he is an appointed Director of ICAP Employment Solutions Romania Srl and ICAP Cyprus.

Theodore has more than 27 years professional experience mostly in consulting (general business, change management, IT and HR). Except Greece, he has worked for several years in various countries in Europe and various locations in USA. During his professional career, he has worked in international companies in IT projects, redesign processes, getting involved with change management and human resources in the USA and Europe. Have been directly involved in several (20) US and European SAP R/3, SAP HR, CRM, SCM and EAI tool implementations and e-commerce projects working as a team lead, project lead and project manager/director getting valuable hands-on experience.

Theodore has served for two years as Director of Information Technology Europe in a large specialty chemical company Crompton Corp (now Chemtura) based in London. Responsible for the European SAP roll out in various locations and the support and upgrade of existing SAP locations. Direct a team of some 50 individuals across Europe in supporting head office, local manufacturing plants (8), sales offices and their management with up-to-date and relevant data with which the company can run its operations together with hardware and software support as required. The user community included 1000 individuals.

In the last 15 years, after his return to Greece, Theodore served as a General Manager at a group company of National Bank of Greece, as Chairman and CEO of two major public hospitals, Laiko and KAT. Currently he is the Executive Director Director of ICAP Employment Solutions, which employs 2,200 staff at its customer’s premises.

Theodore has studied Mathematics and Computer Science in the U.S. Holds two M.S. Degrees from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (Mathematics) and the University of Texas at Dallas (Computer Science) and a Ph.D. in Mathematics/Theoretical Computer Science. Holds a continuing education certificate in Business Administration and Technology from Harvard University and is a member of the Academy of Sciences of New York.

Dr. Ioannis Tomkos is currently Professor of Optical Communications at the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering of the University of Patras, Greece and his research is focusing on 5G mobile networks and datacenter networks. In the past he held various academic and managerial positions, of increasing responsibility, at companies and academic institutions around the world (e.g. USA, Spain, France).
Over the past 20 years, he has managed teams that participated in industry R&D projects and in a record number of EU-funded industry-academia collaborative projects (over 25 in total; 14 just in FP7) with a consortium-wide leading role (including being Technical Manager of 10 major projects with a total budget of over 50M€). For his research group, he has raised about 9.5M€ in funding, all as Principal Investigator (PI) of his institution; making him one of the top performers within EU in terms of attraction of funding. His direct reports included over 100 people, while the EU project consortia that he has coordinated (i.e. 10, among the 25 for which he served as PI) included multi- national teams of more than 20-40 scientists/engineers.
His research activities resulted in over 650 co-authored scientific archival articles, with over 410 entries at IEEEXplore (making him one of the most highly published authors at IEEE journals/proceedings). His published work has received over 10.500 citations (h-factor=49). He is included in the “Top H-Index” list of scientists working in the fields of “Computer Science and Electronics” (https://lnkd.in/gYwzYY4) & has received about 110.000 reads at ResearchGate (therefore being one of the most published and cited Greek authors in the field of electrical engineering and among the top worldwide on core/access/datacenter networks). For his scientific achievements and as a recognition of the broad impact of his work, he is among the few researchers in the world who have been elected as Fellows of 3 different professional societies; namely the Institute of Engineering and Technology-IET (2010), the Optical Society of America-OSA (2012) and the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers-IEEE (2018).
Prof. Tomkos has been serving as advisor for major companies and governmental organizations and executives, assisting them in their technology strategy and intellectual property development efforts, as well as in business planning and activities.

George Tsolis is a Principal Architect in the Networking product group (www.citrix.com/networking ) of Citrix Systems Inc. He graduated from the Computer Engineering & Informatics Department (CEID), University of Patras (1996), where he also completed an M.Sc. (2001). In parallel he worked on R&D projects, occupied as a Researcher for the High Performance Information Systems Lab (CEID, University of Patras). Switching gears, he co-founded Daedalus Networks Ltd (2001), which he helped as a Chief Engineer, until an acquisition by Bytemobile Inc. (2004). He then helped Bytemobile European Development Center Ltd as a product Architect, until 2012, when Bytemobile was acquired by Citrix Systems Inc. He has co-authored 25+ papers, published by international conferences & journals. He holds two issued US+EU patents, while two more are pending. Since 2017, George has been a mentor at Orange Grove in Patras.

Since 2004 Costas is the Owner and CEO of VK PREMIUM Business Consultants LTD. Before that Costas worked for Coca–Cola in Ireland, Switzerland and Greece in various managerial positions in Sales, Operations, Supply Chain & Production. He also worked as Operations & Supply Chain Manager for Alumil Milonas an Aluminum Extrusion Company (turnover €200mil) in charge of the operations (production facilities & logistics Centers) in 13 countries. Costas is a Chemical Engineer (Aristotle University, Thessaloniki, Greece) with an MBA (Strathclyde University, Great Britain). Costas is also the President of Greek Azerbaijan Chamber of Commerce

A senior international marketing and commercial executive with both BTC as BTB (Foodservice) experience in building relevant Brand portfolios, Corporate Identity and Digital Channels. Worked all over Europe (15 years expatriate), multi lingual and a deep intercultural understanding, managing diverse teams stretching to 15 countries. Built effective marketing organizations in BTC and competitive BTB Industries up till 80 marketing FTE
internationally. Leading with support, guidance, optimism and ideas rather than authority and instruction with a keen eye on attracting talent into diverse teams.
Recently completed over 6 very productive years as CMO of the family owned VANDEMOORTELE
group with a €1.4 billion turnover in various food and food ingredients sectors.

Leontien is a creative results-oriented all-round CMO with 20 years of experience in marketing and sales, profit and non-profit, small entrepreneurial and big corporate environments (Heineken, G-Star RAW, Dole) and she has recently moved to Athens with her family. She has started her own ventures, as well as for Heineken: now part of Beerwulf.com. She quit her last full time role in July and is eager to share and exchange knowledge and skills with you.

Stefanos Vasdekis is a serial entrepreneur and skilled engineer with a passion for creatinginnovative solutions in the online space. As the co-founder of Travelmyth, he is dedicated todeveloping cutting-edge algorithms that deliver an advanced hotel search experience,tailored to the unique needs and preferences of sophisticated travellers.In 1998, while in the first year of his Civil Engineering studies at NTUA, Stefanos and hisbest friend from school, John Nousis, co-founded their first venture—a free web hostingcompany that rewarded its members.Since then, he has co-founded (along with John) several other internet businesses, includingan e-commerce SaaS platform for small businesses, an online software store, awebmasters’ portal, a web development and marketing agency and a social network forstudents.With rich experience in various aspects of building and growing internet-based companies,Stefanos shares his expertise and enthusiasm for engineering, entrepreneurship, andproblem-solving with the next generation of innovators at Orange Grove.

A committed, dynamic and results-oriented senior executive, with a strong track record of achieving extraordinary results in challenging environments. Proven achievements in the Services, Engineering, and Technology sectors at Business-unit and Corporate HQ levels. Strong Leadership focus on building sustainable performance and results, in a sustainable manner. Extensive experience in leading multinational and multicultural teams, in Europe, US, Asia, and Australia.

Stefanos is a lawyer specialising in Data Protection, Cybersecurity and Ethical AI. He has great expertise on technology regulation issues, being part of the European Data Protection Board Pool of Experts and having significantly contributed to the drafting of national Cybersecurity legislation. He is also a recognized Fellow of Information Privacy (FIP) by the International Association of Privacy Professionals (IAPP). He is also one of the co-founders of Homo Digitalis and has previously worked as a consultant for distinguished firms in Greece, as well as for the Greek Delegation to NATO.He speaks Greek, English, French and German. 

Peter has a passion for leading Sales and Innovation teams in SAAS, PAAS, Cloud, AI/ML and STEM staffing services implementation. Working on the interface of Technology and Business. He has a demonstrated experience in leading operational and digital transformation for Fortune 500 companies in Manufacturing, High tech, Utilities, Oil & Gas, Fast Moving Consumer Goods, Technology and Energy. Peter founded his own tech startup in 2010 focusing on enriching the recruitment industry with AI/ML driven solutions as well as coaching niche recruitment agency owners (SMB/start-up) in optimizing profitability. His strength is in building and driving accelerated revenue growth through a strong vision and mission, while also providing training and mentoring to multi-disciplined teams to maximize their potential. Peter is a Trusted and Passionate Account Executive & Sales Director offering 19+ years history of driving multimillion-dollar revenue growth throughout the Americas, Asia, and EMEA as a thought leader, directing leadership teams with sales from $2M to $300M. 

Spiros Vossos is a professional with extensive business experience in the fields of Management Consulting, Strategic Alliances, Business Development, Operations, Cleantech, Sustainability, Building Materials, Real Estate Development and Construction. During his career he has served in top managerial positions at various international organizations, where he developed expertise in the areas of general management, operations, investment management, sales and marketing, retail, project development, sector re-engineering, start-ups, niche markets, and global business development.
He holds a BSc in Physics and an MSc in Management Engineering. He lives currently in Athens, Greece.

Maria Vytinidou, Chemist-Fashion Designer-Entrepreneur, distinguished by VOGUE ITALIA for her entrepreneurship, started her career as a Chemist & Sales executive at J&J multinational company.
After working there for 18 years, she quitted her job and became the Founder & CEO of <<AthensFashionClub>> Group of Fashion, that involves her Fashion Brand <<Μaria Vytinidou Conscious Design Brand>> and also <<AthensFashionClub>> Fashion School and the 1rst Athens Fashion Business Incubator <<The Fashion Gate>>.
She is a graduate of the Chemistry department of University of Crete and also a graduate of Central St Martin’s College of Arts & Design and London College of Fashion.
In 2013 she established her company as one of the best 20 High Fashion Technology companies in the world at the global Contest Startupbootcamp High Tech XL in Eindhoven of Holland, while 2 years later in 2015 the ‘Premiere Vision Paris’ featured her as one of the most Innovative Fashion Designers in Wearable Technology in Europe.
In 2020, Maria Vytinidou, alumni of Orange Grove, created the ‘Co-Incubation’ programme in collaboration with the Dutch Embassy in Athens focusing on Sustainable fashion and offering to the participants the potential to cultivate an entrepreneurial mindset in order to build a successful fashion brand.