Our
Program
An 18-month program offering grants, mentoring, training and networking opportunities with international investors
We Offer
Grants
We offer funding in the form of grants, ranging between €10.000 – €30.000. The grant is awarded to scientific teams, selected to participate in our 18-month Program.
Eligible expenses include:
- Salary for the Champion, with salaries of other Team members covered on an ad-hoc basis. The salary of the Principal Investigator is not eligible.
- Travel expenses for meetings with clients or investors.
- Equipment and consumables for developing the MVP (up to 5% – 10% of the total grant).
- Marketing expenses to design a logo and a website.
- IP protection, applicable only if the Team has received or will receive the Innovation Coupon from the Research and Innovation Foundation (up to 10.000 of co-funding).
Funding and non-financial support (mentoring, training, and networking with investors) can be awarded to the same project for a second cycle, subject to the submission of a new application.
Mentoring Program
- Dedicated Mentorship: Each team is assigned at least two experienced mentors.
- A lead mentor holds monthly meetings to guide the team’s progress.
- Expert Support: Alongside the lead mentor, a Technology Transfer Expert and specialized legal advisors will offer additional guidance as needed.
- Customized Mentoring: Depending on specific challenges or areas of focus, we arrange ad-hoc sessions with additional mentors who bring relevant expertise to address these needs.
Our mentors offer their time and services on a pro-bono basis, as a give-back to society. We extend our gratitude to our incredible mentors for their ongoing commitment and generosity in offering their pro bono services to Cyprus Seeds. Without them, we would not have such a successful program. Our teams recognize our mentoring program as its most valuable asset.
As of 2025, Cyprus Seeds will hold an exclusive license for the MIT Venture Mentoring Service (VMS). This renowned program will significantly enhance our program to support Cyprus Seeds grantees and not only.
What is the MIT Venture Mentoring Service (VMS)?
The MIT Venture Mentoring Service (VMS) is a globally recognized mentoring program established by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) to support entrepreneurial ventures. VMS program is built on a unique team-mentoring methodology, where multiple mentors with diverse expertise collaborate to provide structured and impactful guidance to entrepreneurs. The program equips organizations with tools, methodologies, and operational frameworks to develop and scale mentoring services. With a proven track record across 28 countries and over 129 organizations, the MIT VMS is renowned for fostering innovation and entrepreneurship through strategic mentorship, emphasizing long-term sustainability and professional growth for participants.
How VMS Will Transform Cyprus’s Innovation Ecosystem?
Licensing the VMS model represents a transformative step in cultivating a robust innovation ecosystem in Cyprus. Through this program, Cyprus Seeds will train a local network of professional mentors who can provide on-the-ground support, tailored to the unique challenges of the Cypriot entrepreneurial landscape. This localized mentoring infrastructure will enable researchers, startups, and entrepreneurs to access expert guidance, bridging critical gaps in commercialization expertise, intellectual property management, and market validation. As a result, the VMS program will catalyze the creation of deep-tech startups, foster a culture of mentorship, and promote knowledge transfer, significantly contributing to economic diversification and the growth of the high-tech sector in Cyprus.
Training
Our program offers a series of mandatory workshops to team members delivered by a pool of experts. These workshops cover:
- Intellectual Property and Technology Transfer
- Market Discovery
- Pitching to Investors
Networking
We network and connect our teams with business angels and investors as well as incubators/accelerators in the EU and the US.
We provide and facilitate networking opportunities to teams, evaluated as “ready” to pitch in front of investors, through a series of special events organised by Cyprus Seeds or its strategic partners outside Cyprus.
Demo Day
We organise a Demo Day at the end of each funding cycle.
Our grantees are given the opportunity to present their work, and pitch for private funding sought from business angels and venture capital funds.
Participation in the egg enter grow go
Egg has been running since 2013 with the support of Eurobank Greece and Corallia of the Athena Research and Innovation Centre. Egg offers to startups and scientific teams opportunities for financing, mentoring, networking, and international exposure through their start-up and scale-up platforms.
Through our collaboration with the egg enter grow go, our teams can join the egg acceleration program. To date, four Cyprus Seeds teams completed the egg’s 12-month startup program after completing our 18-month program.
A Unique Program
Public-Private Partnership
We are a public-private partnership, created solely to support research commercialization Our founding members are the A. G. Leventis Foundation, The Hellenic Initiative, and the Government of Cyprus. Our private donors are Eurobank Cyprus, PWC Cyprus and Mohari Hospitality.
Supported by Diaspora
We are the only initiative in Cyprus, supported and funded by prominent Greeks and Cypriots of the Diaspora. Our diaspora advisors and donors offer a multiplicity of benefits to Cyprus Seeds and its grantees.
Focus on academic entrepreneurship
We are the only initiative in Cyprus focusing on supporting exclusively research commercialization in public and private universities, centers of excellence, and research centers.
Equity-free
International partners
Our strategic partners are catalysts for innovation and change. We are able to tap on their experience and network. These include:
Success stories
Since our inception in 2018, we achieved:
- The conclusion of 1 licensing agreement with a US Pharma Company.
- Filing of 9 patents of which 3 have been granted.
- 6 spinoffs in the areas of health, ART, energy, and climate/environment change.