First Cyprus Seeds Entrepreneurship Bootcamp for PHAETHON

The first PHAETHON Entrepreneurship Bootcamp for Researchers, held between the 7–9 September 2026, at the Faculty of Engineering, University of Cyprus, offered a three-day introduction on commercializing novel scientific research to more than twenty PhD students, postdocs and researchers from the PHAETHON CoE, as well as from other Centers of Excellence and academic institutions in Cyprus.

Designed by Cyprus Seeds for the Phaethon Centre of Excellence, delivered jointly by Cyprus Seeds and Phaethon CoE, and hosted by the Faculty of Engineering as part of its strategic commitment to innovation and technology transfer, the three‑day training guided participants from ideation to a live pitching in front of a panel of four experts.

Over the course of the Bootcamp, participants worked through idea generation, business modelling and intellectual property protection, before developing and delivering their own pitches. The training was led by experienced practitioners including Martin Holmboe from DTU Skylab (Denmark), Dr. Maarten van Roosmalen (University of Groningen, Netherlands), Margarita Kyprianou (Cyprus Seeds) and Nikolas Kourtis (PHAETHON Centre of Excellence).

Two Cypriot founders of science-based ventures, namely Prof. Julius Georgiou (University of Cyprus, Gynetronics) and Dr. Marianna Prokopi-Demetriades (Theramir, Promed Bioscience, RSL Revolutionary Labs), shared their journeys with the participants. The Bootcamp also offered numerous networking and social activities, including an afternoon gathering, a friendly game of French boules and a closing dinner in Nicosia’s walled city.

The Bootcamp concluded with the pitching of four innovation‑driven research ideas developed by the participants and presented before a panel of experts from Cyprus Seeds, Phaethon CoE and the private sector. The panel offered feedback and selected one winning idea, which received an award for the ‘Best Pitch’ from Cyprus Seeds; the Award was one free mentoring session with a team of business mentors from Cyprus Seeds’ network of high-caliber international mentors. Cyprus Seeds will be offering this Entrepreneurship Training once a year, in its capacity as PHAETHON’s innovation partner.