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SPEAKERS

CHAIR:

Stavriana A. Kofteros, Vice Chair Research Innovation Foundation, Cofounder Startup Cyprus & European Startup Network
Stavriana A. Kofteros is the Vice Chair of the Research & Innovation Foundation, member of the Investment Committee of the European Innovation Council and an EIC Ambassador, an angel investor, and the Director of Communication, Innovation & Digital of the Democratic Rally. Stavriana is well known and highly connected in the international startup ecosystem; she is Cofounder and Chair of Startup Cyprus, a member of the European Digital Leaders Network of the World Economic Forum, member of the Innovation Advisory Board of the Biosense Institute in Serbia, Cofounder of the European Startup Network, on which she has served as Vice Chair. She has also served on the Transatlantic Council of Allied for Startups. Her professional experience is in technology, telecoms, innovation and startups for over two decades. She has invested in cybersecurity, ICT, adtech, healthtech, medtech, realtech, SaaS, and AI startups and has had one exit. She holds degrees in Business Administration and Political Science from the University of La Verne (USA) and has specialized in Entrepreneurship Development at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) as a Fulbright Scholar.

Michalis P. Michael, Chairman of the Board of Directors, Invest Cyprus
Michalis P. Michael is the Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Cyprus Investment Promotion Agency since January 2018. He has a long professional career in business and audit services, both as a sole practitioner and as a Partner in KPMG Cyprus. Michael has a vast experience in the Ukrainian market, and he is the Chairman of the Cyprus-Ukraine Business Association from 2012 until today. Michael has been actively involved with public life since his early career. Formerly, he served as a Member of the Board of Directors of the Cyprus Broadcasting Corporation (1996-2000), Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Cyprus Organisation of Land Development (2000-2003), Member of the Committee for the Supervision and Development of Cooperative Societies (2003-2013). He was also Member of the Board of Directors of The Cyprus University of Technology (2014-2016) where he held the position of Vice-President (July 2016-2018). Michalis is a Chartered Certified Accountant, a Fellow member of the UK Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (FCCA) and Member of the Institute of Certified Public Accountants of Cyprus, of which he served also as a Member of the Board of Directors.

George Campanellas, CEO, Invest Cyprus
George Campanellas is the Chief Executive Officer of the Cyprus Investment Promotion Agency (Invest Cyprus) and the Vice President of the Cyprus Investment Funds Association (CIFA). He has nearly twenty years of professional experience in Cyprus and abroad, working with the DG Competition in Brussels and directly with the Cypriot Ministers of Health and Energy, Commerce, Industry and Tourism. George has been actively involved in the development of the oil & gas sector in the Cyprus Exclusive Economic Zone, dealing with licensing, exploration and exploitation activities, as well as promoting bilateral and multilateral cooperation at a regional level. Throughout his career, he also had an active role in drafting the regulatory framework and running the relevant licensing procedures for attracting Foreign Direct Investment in sectors of strategic importance and large-scale infrastructure projects, such as the LNG terminal at Vasilikos Energy Center, Cyprus Techno Park, EuroAsia Interconnector and the City of Dreams Mediterranean, Europe’s largest integrated casino resort and Cyprus’ largest FDI project.

Andreas Assiotis, Board Member, National Economic and Competiveness
Andreas Assiotis is a Board Member at National Economic and Competiveness and the Group Chief Economist of Hellenic Bank Company Ltd, one of the three systemic banks in Cyprus, where he directs economic analysis and research. Andreas is also a member of the National Economic and Competitiveness Council of Cyprus and the Chairman of the Steering Committee of the country’sLong Term Economic Strategy. He also serves as the Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Cyprus Blockchain Technologies Center. He has held both academic and consultancy positionsto domestic and international organizations.

Stelios D. Himonas, Permanent Secretary, Deputy Minister to the President for Research, Innovation and Digital Policy
Stelios D. Himonas was born in Athens, Greece, on May 2, 1962. He received the BE, MS and PhD degrees from the State University of New York at Stony Brook, USA in 1985, 1986 and 1989, respectively, all in electrical engineering. From 1989 until 1997 he was an Associate Professor at the Department of Electrical Engineering at the New York Institute of Technology, USA. Also, from 1994 until 1997, he was collaborating with the Multimedia Communications Research Group of Bellcore’s Applied Research Division in Morristown, New Jersey, USA. Dr. Himonas has published numerous research papers in refereed journals and conference proceedings in the fields of detection and multimedia communications. Also, during the period from 1989 until 1997 he served as a reviewer of research papers submitted for publication to Transactions of the IEEE and Proceedings of the IEE, as well as to various conferences in the field of communications. Currently he is the Permanent Secretary of the Deputy Ministry of Research, Innovation and Digital Policy. Prior to this position he was the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Energy, Commerce and Industry, the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Justice and Public Order and the Director of the Department of Electronic Communications of the Republic of Cyprus. Also during the period from 2000 to 2003, he served on the Board of the Cyprus Telecommunications Authority. From 2006 until 2013, he held chairmanship and vice-chairmanship positions in European electronic communications committees. Since October 2012, he has been appointed by the Council of Ministers as the Digital Champion of Cyprus. Dr. Himonas is a member of the Sigma Xi and Eta Kappa Nu honor societies and the New York Academy of Sciences. He is listed in the Who is Who in the World, the Who is Who Among Human Services Professionals, the Who is Who in the East and the Who is Who in American Education.

Pieris Markou, CEO, Deloitte in Cyprus
Pieris Markou is the CEO of Deloitte in Cyprus and a member of the Deloitte Middle East Executive Board as of 1 June 2021, having previously served as the Tax & Legal Services Leader. He started his career in London in 1986 and was admitted to Partnership at Chrysanthou and Christoforou (Andersen) in 2000. He is currently the Vice President of Institute of Certified Public Accountants of Cyprus (ICPAC) and a member of the ICPAC Council since 2014 having previously assumed many professional roles within ICPAC, including Vice Chairman and Chairman of the Tax and VATCommittees. Pieris is also a board member of the Nicosia Chamber of Commerce & Industry. Pieris holds a B.A. (Hons) degree in Accounting, is a fellow member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales and a member of the Chartered Institute of Taxation.

Petros P. Krasaris, Partner, Head of International Tax and Transaction Services, EY Cyprus
Petros Krasaris is a Partner at EY Cyprus and heads the International Tax and Transaction Services. He joined EY Cyprus in 2001 and also worked in the past for our New York office at the Cyprus and Malta Foreign Tax Desk. His main areas of practice are international tax, transaction tax, transfer pricing,and MDR/DAC6 advisory services. Petros has extensive experience in international tax planning,advising US and European clients on structuring their operations and investments, improving tax efficiency of multinational operations, advising on earnings repatriation strategies, and other areas. Petros is a member of the Tax Policy Committee of the local Institute of Certified Public Accountants,a member of the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA) and CFA Charter-holder.

Nicolas Mastroyiannopoulos, Chief Scientist for Research and Innovation, Chairman, Cyprus Research and Innovation Foundation (RIF)
Dr. Nikolas Mastroyiannopoulos is the Chief Scientist for Research and Innovation and the Chairman of the Cyprus Research and Innovation Foundation. He has extensive experience and a doctorate in Biomedical research, Molecular and Cellular Biology. He worked in the Department of Molecular Genetics, Function and Therapy at the Cyprus Institute of Neurology and Genetics from 2006 and, in 2012, he was appointed Lecturer and later Assistant Professor at the Cyprus School of Molecular Medicine (CSMM) and has supervised numerous, MSc, Ph.D. candidates and postdoctoral fellows. Dr. Mastroyiannopoulos has worked on various basic and translational biomedical research projects with academic and commercial value for over 15 years. His research focused on developing Gene Therapeutic approaches for Muscular Dystrophies and genetic heart disorders. He has established National and international collaborations with various academic and research institutions around the world, as well as a solid publication record with several peer-review publications and book chapters with considerable citations. Dr. Mastroyiannopoulos has attracted a number of grants in his field as principal investigator or collaborator from national and international funding bodies as well as private initiatives. He has also served as an elected Board Member of the Cyprus Society of Human Genetics as well as a National representative, in a number of European Cooperation in Science and Technology (COST) actions. On March 4, 2020 Dr. Mastroyiannopoulos was appointed by the President of the Republic of Cyprus as Chief Scientist of Research and Innovation and Chairman of the Cyprus Research and Innovation Foundation.

Alexis Pantazis, Co-Founder and Chief Executive Director, Hellas Direct
Alexis Pantazis is the Co-Founder and Executive Director of Hellas Direct. Prior to Hellas Direct, he was an Executive Director at Goldman Sachs where he led principal investing and new strategic initiatives for the firm in the European investment management field. A former strategy consultant with the Boston Consulting Group, he also worked for Miramax Films in New York and the Competition Directorate General of the European Commission in Brussels. Alexis is a Fulbright and British Chevening Scholar, a Robert & Diane Levy Fellow and an Endeavor Global Entrepreneur.

Michael Milonas, Executive Director, The Naga Group AG
Michael Milonas is the Executive Director at The Naga Group AG.Since the age of 15, Michael has been a natural businessman. Started off by selling motorcycle parts whilst engineering motors out of his parents’ garage. After studying for Mechanical Engineering in Nicosia, Cyprus – time which he used to pursue his music passion and become the most popular DJ in town – Michael moved to London. During a Business and Law Degree, Michael’s selling and curious nature drove him to a Multi-Level Marketing venture, selling door to door products, engaging in public speaking for personal development and entrepreneurship, ending up building a great business across Europe. In 2011, Michael founded a forward thinking type of Law and Corporate/Financial Advisory practice in Cyprus which successfully grew to a respected brand, one that Michael still fully owns.In parallel during 2016 Michael met German swimming champion and internet tech entrepreneur Benjamin Bilski and together have led and built NAGA, a German innovative fintech company that has developed a socially enhanced financial system that creates a unified and seamless experience across personal finance, investing and Crypto. The Company went public in Frankfurt SE in 2017. Michael is in parallel invested in Education and Academia in one of the prominent tertiary education institutions in Cyprus. The business offers Batchelor and Masters Degrees to thousands of students ranging from Law to Fashion Design.

Kyriacos Kyriacou, General Manager, NCR Cyprus
Kyriacos Kyriacou is the General Manager of NCR Cyprus Ltd the first multinational ICT company that stepped its foot in Cyprus since May 1955. Technology person active for the last twenty yearsin the ICT Sector in Cyprus, sixteen of which at NCR. Graduate of UMIST University in Manchester, United Kingdom, with a bachelor’s degree in computer science and a master’s degree in business in technology. He has been serving on the Board of Directors of the Cyprus Employers & Industrialists Federation since 2016, as well as the Board of Directors of the American Chamber of Commercein Cyprus. In April 2021 he was elected Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Cyprus Tech Association under the auspices of the Cyprus investment promotion agency, Invest Cyprus.

Avi Sela, COO eToro Group Limited

Avi Sela has been the COO of eToro Group Limited since inception, 2007. He serves as Managin gDirector of eToro EU LTD and as Executive Director of eToro UK. Avi is responsible for legal affairs, compliance, back office, operation risk management and payment operations. He oversees the compliance needs for the eToro Group. He also holds a Bachelor of Law and LLB from Bar-Ilan University followed by an MBA, Finance and Marketing, Kellogg-Recanati.