29/06/2005

The works of the 6th International Venture Capital Forum, which took place on June 14-15 in Athens and was organised by the Hellenic Centre for Investment (ELKE), the New Economy Development Fund (TANEO) and the HELP-FORWARD network, in collaboration with the Hellenic Venture Capital Association (HVCA), were successfully completed. During the forum, awards were presented to the three best business plans, out of 52 plans submitted from Greece, Cyprus, Turkey, Israel, Bulgaria, Romania and FYROM.

The first prize of 3,000 Euro was awarded to the business plan of a newly-created company "MEMsHELLAS", which will market technologies developed by the Microelectronics Institute of the "Democritus" Research Foundation. The company plans to design high-technology products in the field of Micro-Electro-Mechanical systems (MEMs) and to promote these products in the international markets for biomedical equipment, automated control and wireless communications.

The second prize was awarded to the "IMMULENT" business plan. The object of the newly-created IMMULENT company is the production and sale of edible and medicinal mushrooms. The company's founders and shareholders are researchers of the National Agricultural Research Foundation (NAGREF). The third prize was awarded to "Pay Point". This company, founded in 2004 and operating in Patras, Greece, aims to change citizens' daily life by creating a national network for the electronic collection and payment of all types of bills and services.

During the forum, distinguished Greek and foreign venture capitalists, policy makers and businessmen, presented their experiences regarding the investment potential in Greece and abroad. They also spoke extensively about the latest evolutions in the area of private equity and venture capital, and showed particular interest in the presentation of examples of successful investments from the previous Venture Capital Forum. The talks covered issues ranging from the regional and international dimensions of venture capital and the relationship between research and venture capital, to the role of business incubators in the promotion of entrepreneurship.

The second day of the forum was given to meetings between businessmen and venture capital companies. This was perhaps the most important part of the event, as the interested businessmen were able to investigate potential sources of private capital for the realisation of the business plans they submitted during the forum.

Source: 6th International Venture Capital Forum