Startup Europe, the European Commission Digital Agenda action plan, is promoting the success story of Cypriot software developer InfoScreen and the innovation it introduced, Quorum, a management and company secretarial software solution.
Quorum has an estimated 70% market share of law firms, auditing offices and fiduciaries in Cyprus and 16 other jurisdictions.
In 2010, the company received funding and support by the European Union, now provided through the new Horizon 2020 programme, and is considered a role model for young entrepreneurs.
In the same way, Cypriot startups can apply and receive such funds and further support within the framework of Startup Europe whose objective is to strengthen the business environment for web and ICT startups in Europe, contribute to innovation, growth and jobs in Europe and promote web and ICT entrepreneurs to start their business in Europe and to let them flourish.
InfoScreen’s introduction of Quorum allowed businesses operating in this discipline to offer a globally competitive service and allowed the industry to scale up whilst keeping its operating costs down. The company helped create several new job positions in Cyprus, Serbia and Hong Kong and is now looking to expand further in international markets, especially in Asia.
“The services industry has a prosperous future in Cyprus and it is based on the knowledge of the people,” said Tony Ellinas, the company’s founder and Managing Director (photo at left). “You can do wonders with a team of two people.”
If you have an innovative ICT/web idea and you are interested in following the steps of Infoscreen in entrepreneurship in Cyprus you will find these steps very useful:
Contact an accelerator or business angels network – they will prepare you to pitch your idea, mentor you throughout your journey and get you in touch with potential investors. Such accelerators are the Cyprus Business Angels Networks http://cyban.com.cy/ , Cypriot Enterprise Link http://www.projectcel.com/ , Chrysalis Leap http://chrysalisleap.com/ and Repower Cyprus http://www.repowercyprus.com/ .
Budding inventors can also participate in a startup event in Cyprus, such as the CleanLaunchpad Competition – 10-11 September www.cleanlaunchpad.eu and Hack Cyprus “Hackathon” 2014 on 28-29 June – http://hackcyprus.com/.
Benefiting from the European Commission funding for SMEs under Horizon2020, innovative businesses could receive up to €3 mln in funding, business support and mentorship. In total, more than €2.8 bln will be allocated for the SME instrument from 2014 to 2020. Apply now: http://ec.europa.eu/easme/sme_en.htm
For information on InfoScreen visit: http://www.quorumcentral.com/index.php .
