A group of students and alumni from the International Faculty have joined the ‘SEVE next generation’ a new initiative by the Greek International Business Association (SEVE), that invites young people to submit business ideas for new ventures, products and services to be examined, evaluated and financed by SEVE.
Our representing team - consisted of Anastasios Vourgas, Jorgo Gellci, Marius Shehati, Kushtrim Fetahu, Lorik Mullaademi - participated in the first event of ‘SEVE next generation’ that took place on 21 November 2013 at Electra Palace Hotel in Thessaloniki. Entitled ‘STARTUP and Extroversion’ the event gave our students and other participants the opportunity to they presented their business ideas explaining why they believe their ideas are worth investing in.
The event's key speakers included Steve Yarborough - President of Aviation Data Specialists, Michael Nalbantis - CEO Helional and Mr. Christos Papanikolaou, Owner and CEO of Opto Hellas, Executive Member of the B.o.D. of the Greek International Business Association (SEVE) and Head of SEVE Next Generation (Sevenagers).
SEVE's initiative presents a great funding opportunity to those seeking to create their own business and looking for investors. The University of Sheffield International Faculty, CITY College is among SEVE next generation's supporters.
“As a graduate and student of Computer Science, my experience in business and investments is somehow limited. The presentation of the idea on 20 and 21 November was a great experience. We had the opportunity to talk with real businessmen, willing to invest, one of which showed a great interest in our business plan. SEVE’s competition was and continues to be a great experience in this aspect, as it provided us with the opportunity to talk about real life business idea with businessmen and investors who were willing to collaborate with us. I really hope that the contacts we made will prove to be successful collaborations in the future” Jorgo said while Lorik added: “We have had this idea for a couple of months now and the only part missing was somebody who could provide the necessary funding to get the project running. So SEVE’s next generation competition was the perfect opportunity for us.” When asked about the competition Kushtrim said: “The competition prepared us for future contacts with prospective investors. We got valuable insights of the investors’ world and what they are looking for in different projects.” In his turn Marius added “We are all very excited about our business idea and we hope and believe that this collaboration will continue beyond the two days of the SEVE competition.”