Management Team
Our Team

Maria Markidou Georgiadou
Managing Director | Cyprus Seeds
Ms Maria Georgiadou is the Managing Director of Cyprus Seeds, responsible for the design and implementation of the program.

Maria Markidou Georgiadou
Managing Director | Cyprus Seeds
Ms Georgiadou is the Managing Director of Cyprus Seeds, responsible for the design and implementation of the program.
Between 2014 and 2017, Maria was a full-time consultant with Bank of Cyprus in matters relating to innovation and entrepreneurship; in this capacity, she initiated and coordinated IDEA, the first Accelerator-Incubator Program in Cyprus which supports the creation of Cypriot start-ups
Maria has 25 years of experience with the Cyprus Development Bank. At cdbbank, she headed for 8 years the International Banking Unit, she set up the EU Unit of the bank and attracted EU grants for SMEs in Cyprus. During her last 3 years at the Bank, she was Head of Business Development & Marketing of the cdb Group.
Prior to joining cdbbank, Maria worked in the European Commission in Brussels for one year. She is an evaluator for the HORIZON 2020 program, SME Instrument, which supports the commercialization of innovative research. For the last 12 years, she is one of the two partners of the World Economic Forum in Cyprus for the production of its annual Global Competitiveness Report.
Maria studied in the US, with Fulbright scholarship, and got a Master’s degree in Economics from the University of Oxford, UK.

Margarita Kyprianou
Innovation Manager
Margarita is the Innovation Manager of Cyprus Seeds. Her primary responsibility is managing the Cyprus Seeds grant program and launching the Cyprus Seeds calls for applications.

Margarita Kyprianou
Innovation Manager
Margarita is the innovation manager of Cyprus Seeds. Her primary responsibility is managing the Cyprus Seeds grant program and launching the Cyprus Seeds calls for applications.
Before joining Cyprus Seeds, Margarita worked for six years as a Consultant in the Business Consulting of PwC Cyprus. While at PwC, she worked in various projects funded by the European Investment Bank, DG Reform, DG Connect, and the Cyprus Government related to the restructuring and modernization of the Public Sector of Cyprus as an innovation policy expert.
Additionally, Margarita has extensive experience applying in European and national grants targeting the development and commercialization of innovative products/services (SME instrument, Innovative entrepreneurship, RESTART) and supporting start-ups and innovative companies (ENI CBC MED, Interreg Med, RESTART, Digital Europe Programme). Finally, Margarita designed and delivered training entrepreneurship programs to academic institutions and public authorities.
Margarita holds a BA in History and Archaeology from the University of Cyprus, an MPhil of Medieval History from the Trinity College of Dublin, an MBA from the University of Nicosia, and international certification in European Planning and Project Management.

Ourania Markou
Community Manager
Ourania is the Community Manager of Cyprus Seeds. Before joining Cyprus Seeds, Ourania worked as a project manager and researcher in European funded programmes.

Ourania Markou
Community Manager
Ourania is the Program Coordinator and Communications Officer of Cyprus Seeds. Before joining Cyprus Seeds, Ourania worked as a project manager and researcher in consulting companies and NGOs, managing and implementing various projects funded by the European Union related to solutions for the improvement of social issues, including education, diversity and inclusion, environment, and digital technologies. She worked for four years at Playtech, the world's largest online gaming software company, where she organized a number of corporate events and local charity initiatives as a member of the CSR Committee. She has also collaborated with the Centre for Educational Research and Evaluation (CERE) of Cyprus Pedagogical Institute as a research assistant. Ourania holds a BA in Philosophy and Pedagogy from the Aristotle University of Salonica and a Master's Degree in the School of Education from the University of Nicosia.