10 Greek entrepreneurs selected for the third edition of EWA programme in Greece
EIT Food and 'A Woman Can Be' launched the Empowering Women in Agrifood programme for greek women entrepreneurs in the agrifood industry.
10 female entrepreneurs will go through a 6-month pre-incubation programme adapted to creating solutions for specific challenges in the agrifood industry.
12 Jul 2023
EIT Food South
Empowering Women in Agrifood Greece, an EIT Food programme and implemented in collaborations with 'A Woman Can Be', hosts 10 dedicated female entrepreneurs who have projects in the Agrifood sector, and 10 experienced mentors that are supporting them through a tailored programme starting this July 2023.
This 6 month programme consists of a variety of trainings, networking opportunities and a pitch day towards the end of the program that will award 2 prizes of €10,000 and €5,000 to two entrepreneurs. The overall goal is to enable and develop their business and projects in order to have sustainable long-term growth!
The EWA program also provides an inclusive environment for the entrepreneurs to explore and share their personal journey, support each other, and create synergies and strong bonds within the community!
The 10 selected entrepreneurs for EWA programme in Greece are:
- Stavroula Chaloulakou - Olympian Bars | Innovative bars made from wholesome ingredients, featuring the benefits of novel foods and supported by nutrition or health claims. Committed to sustainability, utilizing eco-friendly packaging materials, and supporting ethical sourcing practices for a greener future, the aim of this project is to empower individuals with mindful health choices and convenient access to fast, yet healthy food options.
- Anastasia Kritikou - Track4Value | An innovative idea, intertwined with the Agri-Food sector, based on an integrated traceability system that assures authenticity throughout the food production line. It is directly linked to the European "Farm-to-Fork" policy, with critical control points being established for each product to ensure its uniqueness. Authenticity is verified by advanced laboratory analyses, with all the information regarding product’s traceability being accessible to consumers via a unique digital marking for nutritional value (NUTRI-4Value), food safety (SAFE-4Value) and environmentally friendly approaches (GREEN-4Value).
- Maria-Eirini Lekka - InhPreData | A business idea submited to “Agribooster” program organized by Agricultural University of Athens by following team: Maria-Eirini Lekka, Theodora-Eirini Zorba, MariaXenaki. InhPreData is an online database which contains enzymes and proteins inhibitors designed as drugs. These drug-inhibitors have not been approved by medicines agencies yet, but they are in preclinical studies. This database demonstrates inhibitors’ physicochemical
characteristics, inhibiton’s degree and type, toxicity’s results in model organisms or cell lines and the difficulties during the drug development in preclinical study.
- Panagiota Sotiropoulou | The central idea is the creation of a series of drinks based on kombucha and in a second stage adding extracts - juices or components of local agricultural products which for different reasons have not been used commercially and for consumption (eg Harokopios grapefruit - Skopelos plums). Process beneficial both at the level of environmental ecology (sustainable - circular - development) and at the level of < ecology > of the human organism.
- Angeliki Drakou - Grizo & Prasino | It was established for the purpose of re-introducing herbs to the Greek Market. It is a vertically integrated company that cultivates organically, processes and trades high-quality whole-leaf dried herbs in small branded packages. Also, it produces bottled herbal iced tea and botanical syrups for sodas and cocktails. We are now on a mission to spread abroad our enthusiasm for real-brewed iced herbal tea and a new way of enjoying all the herbal goodness.
- Stavroula Mpasakidou | "Nutrition always play a key role in human life. The nuritional needs of certain group of population due to their age, or health condition or theri life style, create the demand for fortified food that will support them. As a food technologist I obtained experience in sauces and emulsions. The olive oil sauce is the evolution of the emulsions. The benefits of the combination oliveoil - unsaturated fatty acids and phosphatidylserine have been studied by many institutes. Phosphatydylserine is phospholipid in abudant amount in beans and chickpeas. They can be used for the extraction of their phospholipids and other products that will contribute to suctainability and cyclical economy."
- Bougatsou Katerina - STALIÁ | A Greek extra virgin olive oil, produced at Gargalianoi in Messenia, Peloponnese. It is a small family business following an age-old tradition and aiming at combining it with technology and innovative design. The olives are hand-picked the traditional way. They are cold-pressed immediately – within 12 hours of the harvest – in a perfectly controlled process, using modern ethods and conditions. That way we have a fully certified product of the highest quality. This exquisite olive oil is bottled and offered to you, wrapped up in a beautiful package. STALIÁ’s team pay attention to every detail, personally designing every aspect of a beautiful product. STALIÁ is yours to enjoy and share with your dear friends and partners.
- Sotiria Efthimiadou - Mellas Honey Company | The company aspires to implement a comprehensive plan of production, storage, packaging and promotion of beekeeping products and that is not all. Our vision is to create a model beekeeping apiary unit based on experiential tourism and the circular economy, where visitors from all over the world and the locals too, will have the opportunity to learn about the importance of apiculture but also to evolve on environmental, recycling, nutrition, organic farming, self-management and sustainability issues.
- Spanouli Eirini Christina | Cultivation of almonds in the flatland of Larissa applying innovative high density planting technique and mechanical harvesting. Implementation of an overall processing and distribution model that emphasizes in product quality by encouraging almond shelling, sorting, packaging and delivery just upon customers’ order ensuring thus freshness and safety. Application of environmentally friendly practices from the original idea of planting trees in one of the hottest Greek regions, to the cultivation methods implemented and the use of Renewable Energy Sources.
- Xakousti D. Gkaletsi - "Grande Fructus" | Starting in 2019 with a vision of producing healthy fruits and products with as little processing as possible, we invested in the cultivation of trees and the construction of a modern processing plant, with the aim of an organic and certified plant for the production of pomegranate and citrus fruits, fresh juices, sauces. We cultivate our trees with sustainable and organic methods. All steps of soil preparation, tree care, harvesting, processing and standardization are controlled and done under our personal supervision. This way we are absolutely sure that we offer products of high nutritional value and excellent quality.
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