Award Ceremony of the 6th Annual John & Mary Pappajohn Business Plan Competition
On Tuesday, June 25th, 2019, Bissell Library at ACT- American College of Thessaloniki hosted the Award Ceremony of the 6th Annual «John and Mary Pappajohn Business Plan Competition». More than 135 teams from all over Greece applied to the Competition, which was organized by the Entrepreneurship Hub at ACT. Five winning teams each received €4,000 for the development of their business ideas, an award which was generously donated by Greek-American entrepreneur John Pappajohn. Apart from the award—generously donated by Greek-American entrepreneur John Pappajohn—the winning teams will have access to a variety of events organized by ACT. The Pappajohn Business Plan Competition is one of the major projects led by ACT’s Entrepreneurship Hub, which serves as a start-up accelerator that disseminates valuable know-how and innovative entrepreneurial spirit to the wider community.
The five winning teams of the Competition were:
AidPlex
AidPlex is providing splints, which are 5 times lighter by conventional solutions. Our patent-pending solution is waterproof, skin friendly, breathable and translucent. It is a ready-to-use solution, which reduces the health economics of healthcare organizations. In addition, AidPlex's splints are recyclable, biodegradable and they can be composted and transformed into fertilizer, being part of the circular economy.
SEAMX
SEAMX Is developing a technology-enabled solution with the form of a web platform to help sport event organizers to manage their event more efficiently by providing new, smarter services that can enhance customer experiences.
Sui Generis Seat
The Sui generis Seat is the smartest way of turning a Segway into a self-propelled wheelchair that, in addition to its unique functions also manage to remove part of the "stigma" of disability because it does not look like a medical product.
Twiddle
Twiddle is an Al-powered platform that automatically recommends and positions the best-matching sound effects and music to any video. The Twiddle Mobile App enables anyone to create outstanding videos effortlessly using Twiddle Sound Recommendation technology.
Verge.Capital
Verge.Capital will be a pan-European credit score provider that enables consumers and financial institutions to universally assess affordability and creditworthiness of individuals by utilizing machine learning on top of open banking APIs.
This year’s judging committee included Mr.Thrasos Makios (Deputy CEO, Makios Logistics), Evita Gantina (Professor of Marketing, ACT, & President, Sector of Women Managers and Entrepreneurs – TOGME), Katerina Sarri (Professor & Director of the Entrepreneurship Lab, UOM), Christos Georgiou (Director of Validation & Research (SBE) , Sotiris Siagas (Vice President, i4G), Dimitris Kourtesis (Program Manager & Startup Coach, Ok!Thess).
Kurt Haier, Professor at the University of Iowa and Director of the John Pappajohn Entrepreneurial Center and special guest of the event addressed the 14 finalists and shared with them valuable advice and input from the entrepreneurial world.
