The progress report of the “INVENT ICT” innovation and startup support program is encouraging, after the completion of the third cycle, as 75% of the participants have managed to establish a business, creating new added value and new jobs.
Specifically, 32 projects managed to become autonomous from the “incubator”, while dozens of innovative startups have emerged with excellent returns and have attracted funding, which in total exceeds 1.1 million euros.Of these, 340,000 came from NSRF, 700,000 from VC, 100,000 from competitions and other programs and 20,000 from Business Angels.
“INVENT ICT” promotes the development of products and services of high added value by deep tech enterprises and the creation of an ecosystem of youth entrepreneurship, which can be a booster in restarting the economy and enhancing the country’s extroversion.
It is a project that connects research, entrepreneurship, Polytechnic universities and the ecosystem of startups creating significant added value, experience and legacy for such collaborative models that promote the essence of innovative entrepreneurship, translating research into corporate schemes. 
In the 3 cycles of the program, more than 134 proposals were submitted for inclusion in the pioneering program by research groups, which benefited in many ways with:
-personalized coaching and mentoring
-participation in international and national events
-networking with program partners and potential customers
-seminars and training workshops
-access to finance
The ideas
Drones and satellites for the cultivation of estates, lights, heating and shutters that open alone, thermal chambers that keep the food at an ideal temperature from the shop to the customer’s door, coffee residues that become usable raw material from cosmetology.
The above are just some of the startups that are evolving into innovative businesses.
The teams that participated in the program submitted proposals for research results that can be exploited commercially and have to do with information and communication technology solutions in different sectors, such as health, travel, agriculture, infrastructure, etc.
For example, the Joy Foundry team built the Keyonic platform with which one can manage building facilities with a single click from the mobile, the Scientia Maris software, which is necessary for engineers in order to design sustainable projects in the marine environment and state authorities (ministry departments, regions and municipalities) for the integrated management of the coastal zone.Also, Airbots Agri-Tech integrates cutting-edge technologies such as drones and satellite information in agriculture by reducing the environmental footprint and Coffeco utilizes the organic residues of coffee by taking out the nutrients hidden within them, as well as HyBox built a heat chamber for food transport, so that it is delivered to the customer without loss of temperature.
Results
The participants, assessing how much they benefited from it, submitted on video their experience, demonstrating the importance of proper guidance to emerging startups.
“We had guidance in our first steps”, “You are part of a strong network, the people who are in the network offer you a lot of opportunities”, “It showed us how to find the market, it helped us to emphasize the marketing and business part”, said the representatives of the teams at the event for the completion of the 3 cycles, in a related video.
The report of the third cycle, after more than 850 hours of support, reflects in practice that Invent ICT – incubator is a reference point for the interconnection of entrepreneurs, investors and startups from the national and international ecosystem and a decisive channel of communication between business and the academic world (more than 370 participants in the groups).
Also, the incubator provided technological solutions through the exploitation of important research results and more widely the knowledge produced in technical schools, universities and research centers.
The program was implemented by the Research and Entrepreneurship Interconnection Structure of the National Technical University of Athens and the Industry Disruptors – Game Changers (ID-GC) with the assistance of the Association of Mobile Telephony Companies.
