Stelios Awards for Young Entrepreneurs 2026

€300,000 Awarded to Three Winners – Record 62 Applications Received

The 17th Stelios Awards for Young Entrepreneurs, organized by the Stelios Philanthropic Foundation, concluded with a record number of applications and total prize money of €300,000.

This year’s winning companies were Loopcv, iSPACE, and Vivestia Booking & Metasearch Platform, receiving cash prizes of €150,000, €100,000, and €50,000, respectively.

The Awards Ceremony took place at the Stelios Foundation Conference Hall in Plaka, Athens, in the presence of representatives from the business, investment, and institutional communities.

This year’s competition attracted 62 applications, the highest number to date, confirming the growing interest in entrepreneurship and the continued strength of Greece’s innovation ecosystem.

The Awards were held with the institutional support of Elevate Greece, the national initiative supporting and promoting Greece’s startup ecosystem. All three winning companies are either registered with or have applied to join the National Startup Registry (Elevate Greece), further strengthening the Awards’ connection with Greece’s broader innovation and startup ecosystem

Sir Stelios Haji-Ioannou, Founder and President of the Stelios Philanthropic Foundation and creator and owner of the easy family of brands (www.easy.com), personally presented the awards to this year’s winners and commented:

“It gives me great pleasure that, for the 17th consecutive year, we are supporting young entrepreneurs in Greece through the Young Entrepreneur Awards, and I am particularly pleased that this year we received more applications than ever before. Our goal is to help young people grow their businesses, create new jobs, and contribute to the Greek economy.

I would like to congratulate this year’s winners and hope these awards will help them further expand their businesses, both in Greece and internationally.

These Awards form an important part of the Foundation’s wider philanthropic work in Greece. At present, we are also placing particular emphasis on filling the remaining 16 vacant doctor positions on Greece’s small islands as part of our seven-year, €11 million donation programme, which provides additional financial support to 90 doctors serving 50 islands. I hope these remaining positions will soon be filled, ensuring that even more residents of small islands have access to a local doctor whenever they need one.”

The event was honoured by the presence of the Deputy Prime Minister of Greece, Mr. Kostis Hatzidakis, who presented the first prize and stated:

“Young people are a top priority. Brain drain used to be the biggest challenge facing entrepreneurship in Greece, but this has changed since 2023. Today, Greece offers the strongest incentives for entrepreneurship anywhere in the European Union. Every year, the Foundation recognizes Greek startup founders through these Awards, and it deserves congratulations for its initiatives. We hope they continue, because Greece needs them.”

He also highlighted the Foundation’s donation programme supporting doctors on Greece’s small islands, noting that the Stelios Philanthropic Foundation effectively doubles doctors’ salaries on half of Greece’s inhabited islands.

The ceremony was also attended by the Minister of Development, Mr. Takis Theodorikakos, who presented the second prize and commented:

“The Stelios Awards for Young Entrepreneurs are much more than another business award. They recognize young people who dared to transform an idea into reality, took risks, built businesses, created jobs, and demonstrated that Greek entrepreneurship can be ambitious, outward-looking, and internationally competitive. I am particularly pleased that Elevate Greece actively participated this year in the evaluation process. Initiatives such as the Stelios Awards are an outstanding example of cooperation between the State and private initiative.”

First Prize – Loopcv | €150,000

The first prize, worth €150,000, was awarded to George Avgenakis, CEO of Loopcv.

Loopcv leverages artificial intelligence to automate and simplify the job search process, helping candidates identify positions that match their profiles while managing applications more efficiently. With an international outlook, the company operates in the rapidly growing AI-powered job search sector.

George Avgenakis said:

“This award is a tremendous honour and an important recognition of the work we are doing at Loopcv. I would like to sincerely thank the Stelios Philanthropic Foundation and Sir Stelios Haji-Ioannou for this distinction and for believing in our vision.

From day one, our goal has been to use technology and artificial intelligence to make job searching simpler, faster, and more effective. This recognition gives us even greater motivation to continue innovating and expanding Loopcv on a global scale.”

Second Prize – iSPACE | €100,000

The second prize, accompanied by €100,000, was awarded to Nikiforos Kritikos and Grigoris Stathis, co-founders of iSPACE.

iSPACE combines 3D Virtual Tours, artificial intelligence, smart navigation and augmented reality technologies to provide businesses in hospitality, tourism and retail with tools that create more interactive digital experiences, automate customer service and increase direct sales. The company already operates throughout Greece and is planning further international expansion.

Nikiforos Kritikos and Grigoris Stathis commented:

“Receiving this award from Sir Stelios Haji-Ioannou and the Stelios Philanthropic Foundation is a tremendous honour for the entire iSPACE team. We sincerely thank them for their trust and tangible support. This distinction represents an important milestone for the further development of our technology, encourages us to create new highly skilled jobs, and strengthens our vision of showcasing Greek technological innovation on the international stage.”

Third Prize – Vivestia Booking & Metasearch Platform | €50,000

The third prize, worth €50,000, was awarded to Andreas Gkinis and George Kontaxis of Vivestia Booking & Metasearch Platform.

Vivestia is a booking platform for luxury cruises, villas and hotels that incorporates certified Virtual Tours, allowing travellers to digitally explore their chosen experience before completing their booking. The company already operates internationally, including in Greece, Croatia, Italy and the Seychelles, with a portfolio of more than 200 villas and 5,000 hotel rooms.

Andreas Gkinis and George Kontaxis said:

“This award is a significant recognition of a vision that began with a simple idea: travellers should know exactly what they are booking before they arrive at their accommodation.

This recognition gives us even greater momentum to develop Vivestia Booking & Metasearch Platform into one of the world’s leading booking platforms, expand into additional countries, and make travel bookings more transparent, reliable and engaging.”

The third prize was presented by last year’s overall winner, George Karavokyris, founder of Rênfluence & easyInfluencer.travel. The ceremony was attended by prominent members of the business community, institutional representatives and founders of companies that have been recognised in previous editions of the Awards.

Supporting Young Entrepreneurship in Greece Since 2008

Since 2008, the Stelios Awards for Young Entrepreneurs have supported young entrepreneurs building and growing businesses in Greece by providing financial assistance to help accelerate the development of their ventures.

To date, the Stelios Philanthropic Foundation has contributed more than €2 million to support new businesses and job creation in Greece.

Previous winners include successful companies such as Ferryhopper, Cinobo, Ancient Greek Sandals, Enaleia, Vendora, and Sun of a Beach, among many others.

The full Awards Ceremony can be viewed on YouTube.