The YES for Europe press release for the 1st European Youth Entrepreneurship Conference in Athens, June 26-28

1. YES for Europe
European Confederation of Young Entrepreneurs
Press Release
1st European Youth Entrepreneurship Conference:
TURNING EUROPE YOUNG AGAIN: “OVERCOMING THE
FRAGMENTATION BARRIER IN EUROPE – CREATING THE
EUROPEAN ENTREPRENEURIAL IDENTITY”
Organizers:
Under the auspices of:
Greek Presidency of the Council
of the European Union European Commission
Municipality of
Athens

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Athens,
June 23, 2014
Press Release
June 26-28, 1st European Youth Entrepreneurship Conference
June 28, 5th Hellenic Startup Forum
From Thursday, June 26 until Saturday, June 28, Athens will host the 1st European Youth
Entrepreneurship Conference, a new institution launched by the European
Confederation of Young Entrepreneurs (YES), that will be held on a biannual basis at the
EU member state holding the rotating Presidency of the Council of the European Union.
The conference is organized by the Youth Entrepreneurship union, which represents the
European Confederation of Youth Entrepreneurs in Greece, INNOVATHENS - a
Municipality of Athens initiative for the support of startup entrepreneurship, and
Orange Grove, a startup incubator founded by the Embassy of the Kingdom of the
Netherlands in Athens.
The 5th Hellenic Startup Forum, organized by the Hellenic Startup Association, will be
held in parallel with the 1st European Youth Entrepreneurship Conference on Saturday,
June 28th, at INNOVATHENS.
On the second day of the conference, Friday, June 27th, with the participation of the
Vice-President of the European Commission, Mrs Neelie Kroes, the Greek Startup
Manifesto will be presented, an action plan prepared by a team of Greek startup
founders that aims to serve as a reference document for the development of
entrepreneurship, outward orientation and innovation in Greece.
The two main themes for the 1st European Youth Entrepreneurship Conference are
overcoming the fragmentation barrier in Europe and creating a shared European
business identity. A large number of distinguished speakers from all over Europe, but
also countries like the US, Brazil, Australia, Ghana and Egypt will participate in this public
discussion, contributing to truly global dialogue on those issues.

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The 1st European Youth Entrepreneurship Conference will also highlight areas of
potential European leadership, such as 3D printing, biotechnology and space
entrepreneurship, with speeches by successful entrepreneurs and scientists from each
sector. The conference will also address the changes needed at the European level in
areas like education, legal frameworks and tax policies, in order to strengthen fast
growth entrepreneurship with an outward orientation.
On Friday, June 27th, the leadership assembly of the European Confederation of Young
Entrepreneurs will take place, with the goal of creating a pan-European action plan for
the support and development of youth entrepreneurship as a means for the generation
of quality employment and as a sustainable way out of the economic crisis.
Finally, the 5th Hellenic Startup Forum will host a big public discussion on the startup
phenomenon in Greece, with emphasis on Venture Capital, Angel Investors and
Incubators, accompanied with a showcase of successful Greek startups. In the same
context, there will be a workshop by the consortium responsible for the “Future
Enterprise” project, culminating in a series of suggestions to the European Commission
for the appropriate actions needed in order to foster startup culture, connect research
and entrepreneurship and develop better targeted funding programs.
The organizers of the 1st European Youth Entrepreneurship Conference and the 5th
Hellenic Startup Forum would like to thank the European Commission and our sponsors,
whose valuable support enabled enabled this conference to occur.
For more information on the conference:
http://www.youthentrepreneurship.eu
YES for Europe: http://www.yes.be, http://twitter.com/YESforEurope
Youth Entrepreneurship Union: http://www.neaep.gr
INNOVATHENS: http://www.innovathens.gr, http://twitter.com/innovathens
OrangeGrove: http://www.orangegrove.biz,
http://www.facebook.com/orangegroveathens
Attached:
1) Speakers’ List
2) Organisers’ Profile

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SPEAKERS
Neelie Kroes (Netherlands), Vice President of the European Commission
Jan Versteeg (Netherlands) Ambassador of the Netherlands in Greece
Georgios Kaminis (Greece), Mayor of Athens
Dimitris Tsigos (Greece),President YES for Europe
Yiannis Giannarakis (Greece), Executive Director HAMAC – Hellenic Association of Mobile
Applications Companies and Σynergies – Connecting Changemakers
Viorel Peca, European Commission - DG CONNECT F2
David Beijer (Netherlands),Founder & CEO at Dignify, www.dignify.com
Philipp Brinkmann (Greece), Co-founder and CEO at Travelplanet24/Tripsta
Varvara Roza (Greece) President, Hellenic Youth Entrepreneurship
Ann Mettler (Belgium) Executive Director Lisbon Council
Josephine Green (UK), Founder at Beyond20:21st Century Stories
Marco Veremis (Greece) Founder & CEO at Upstream, Vice President at HAMAC – Hellenic
Association of Mobile Applications
Maria Pinelli (Italy), Global Vice Chair, Ernst & Young
Andreas Karelias (*) (Greece) Managing Director at Karelia SA
Dimitris Drakoulis (Greece), Founder & CEO Telesto Technologies, Leader of the Greek
Startup Manifesto Team
Candace Johnson (Luxembourg), President at EBAN – The European Trade Association for
Business Angels, Seed Funds and other Early Stage Market Players
Georgios Peristeris (*) (Greece) Chairman and Managing Director at TERNA
Yigal Erlich (Israel), Founder & Chairm at YOZMA Fund of Funds
Peter Madsen (Denmark), Founder, Copenhagen Suborbitals
Giannis Papadopoulos (Greece), Chairman at the Hellenic Venture Capital Association, CEO
at Attica Ventures

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Maxim Lobovsky (US), Founder & CEO at Formlabs
Bastiaan Zwanenburg (Netherlands), Founder at Woodify, award-winning teenage
entrepreneur
Marcel H.J. Ruiters (Netherlands), Founder & CEO at Synvolux
Maria Vlachou (Greece), Co-founder & CEO Fereikos Gefsis
Luca Donelli (Italy), President Italian Delegation at G20 YEA - Responsible for International
and European Relations at Confindustria Young Entrepreneurs
Pilar Andrade (Spain), President at Confederación Española de Asociación de Jóvenes
Empresarios
Alex Mitchell (UK), President at Young Brits
Nils-Erik Jansson (Sweden), President at YEOS
Sándor P. Mohácsi (Germany), President German Delegation to the G20 YEA
Euchar Sultana (Malta), Founder, Young Business Entrepreneurs
Eduardo Platon (Brazil),International Relations Chair, Brazilian Confederation of Young
Entrepreneurs
Hany Elhabibi (Egypt), Head of EJB international relations
Kojo Oppong-Nkrumah (Ghana) Ghanaian Entrepreneur & Broadcaster
Socratis Ploussas (Greece) Vice President at the Hellenic Start-up Association
Panos Zamanis (Greece), Vice President at the Hellenic Start-up Association
Vangelis Antoniadis(Greece), Co-founder at Cytech
Nadia Cheng (US) Director of Research and Development Empire Robotics
Stewart Youngblood (US), ex. Program Director, Tech Wildcatters incubator, Dallas
Nathaniel Peat (UK) Founder at The Safety Box Ltd

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Daniel Tomov (*)(Bulgaria), Co-founder at “Eleven” incubator
Michael McGeary (USA), Co- founder and Chief Political Strategist, Engine
Nick Gonios (Australia), Pollenizer Startup Studion

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CONFERENCE ORGANIZERS
❖❖❖❖ YES
YES – the European Confederation of Young Entrepreneurs, based in Brussels, is the
main organisation representing young entrepreneurs in Europe, with over 40.000
members. YES’s mission is the promotion of entrepreneurship and the development of
the economic and social prospects of Europe’s young entrepreneurs.
In pursuit of this, YES has extended its range of activities at all levels of social and
business life in the European Union, in order to ease young startup founders’ access to
markets and funding, to promote entrepreneurial culture and to overcome policy
impediments.
❖❖❖❖ ΝΕ (Youth Entrepreneuship)
The Youth Entrepreneurship organisation is a member of the European Confederation of
Young Entrepreneurs, targeted at all Greek startup entrepreneurs. It aims to bring
together young entrepreneurs (or potential entrepreneurs) in any sector, and help
them exchange ideas and opinions on entrepreneurship in order to foster cooperation
and innovation.
❖❖❖❖ Orange Grove
Orange Grove is a flexible workspace, where Greek and Dutch entrepreneurs can work
on their startups, network and share their knowledge. It’s located in the centre of
Athens, across the Kalimarmaron stadium.
Orange Grove is an initiative of the Athenian Embassy of the Kingdom of the
Netherlands and its Greek and Dutch partners.
It aims to help address the problems caused by the migration of the Greek young
workforce abroad and by youth unemployment.
The Embassy is cooperating with a large group of Dutch and Greek organisations, Dutch
companies with a long presence in the Greek market, Greek businesses, and educational
institutions, including: Athenian Brewery, Philips, InterAmerican, Coco-Mat, KLM,

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University of Amsterdam, Delft University of Technology and Athens University of
Economics and Business.
❖❖❖❖ INNOVATHENS
At INNOVATHENS we support every new idea and every startup initiative, and help it get
the momentum it needs to reach the market.
INNOVATHENS provides the infrastructure for the support of innovation and
entrepreneurship in a youthful place for inspiration, located at the most recognisable
landmark of Athens with more than 600.000 visitors a year, the "Technopolis" of the
Municipality of Athens.
INNOVATHENS aims at supporting the creation of a network where creative people with
innovative ideas, well established entrepreneurs, academics, mentors and researchers
exchange knowledge, stimuli, technical know-how, experience and good practices
through professional meetings, lectures, presentations, workshops, career &
entrepreneurship days, competitions and innovation festivals.
INNOVATHENS has been incorporated in the REGIONAL OPERATIONAL PROGRAMME
“ATTIKI 2007-2013”, in its priority axis (2): “Sustainable Development and Improvement
of the quality of life” co-funded by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF).
Six links listing 317 members of the most innovative and extroverted business of the
city:
• Hellenic Association of Mobile Application Companies
• Hellenic SIA Hellenic Semiconductor Industry Association Greek Association of
Semiconductor Industry
• Greek Association of Biotechnology (Hbio)
• The Hellenic Association of Space Industry
• Greek Free / Open Source Software Society
• Hellenic Startups Association
The strategic partner and sponsor of INNOVATHENS is Samsung Electronics, the world
leading company in the development of high technology products, with a dynamic
presence in Greece and targeting the active and substantial contribution to Greek
society.