Municipality of Athens teams up with universities for innovation and entrepreneurship

The Municipality of Athens, the Athens University of Economics (AUE) and the National Technical University of Athens (NTUA)entered into a partnership by signing a five-year memorandum of cooperation, with the aim of supporting innovation and entrepreneurship in the city.

The Municipality of Athens will provide, among other things, hospitality at the Innovathens Technopolis area for the activities of the two Universities related to innovation and entrepreneurship.

The two Universities have many years of activity in supporting students and researchers in innovative entrepreneurship, through courses, competitions, incubators, business acceleration actions and technology transfer. The cooperation between them and the hosting of actions in the city center can lead to the creation of new interdisciplinary teams and contribute significantly to the business acceleration and osmosis with the market.

In particular, the Municipality of Athens looks forward to the promotion and development of the city center as a pole of attraction and natural hosting of innovative entrepreneurship actions in the standards of other European cities. In addition, through the action of the Athens Digital Lab, it expects to involve citizens in a creative dialogue and in actions to solve the problems of the city, contributing, among other things, to the testing and adoption of innovative products and services by the Municipality of Athens to its citizens.

Athens is a reference point for innovative entrepreneurship

As stated by the Mayor of Athens, Costas Bakogiannis: “Athens has all the potential to be a reference point for the innovative business activity of the country. We are proud of the partnership with the two leading -in their field- Greek universities, as this cooperation is a guarantee for the strengthening of the innovation ecosystem of the city and ultimately for the stimulation of entrepreneurship and the economy. The Municipality of Athens continues to be a pioneer, collaborating from the first moment, with all the higher educational institutions, in the field of research, innovation and the development of entrepreneurship “.

Both the Athens University of Economics and Business, with the activity of the ACEin Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation, and the National Technical University of Athens, with the activity of Invent, (the development of which was funded by the Municipality of Athens in 2015) are distinguished all these years for their actions. Since 2022 the two institutions have partnered and have planned to carry out many activities in support of entrepreneurship, technology transfer and startup “scene” together, in addition to the individual action of each institution, in the context of creating a technology transfer hub and innovation hubs. These activities include conducting seminars / workshops, coaching, mentoring and incubating business groups, organizing open innovation programs, organizing networking activities with the domestic, international market and with potential investors to support and promote the city’s innovation ecosystem.

The two Rectors stated respectively:

Professor Andreas Boudouvis, Rector of NTUA: “Collaboration and co-creation of value is a key component of innovation. The potential of our institutions and the international research conducted in our laboratories acquires through this partnership a new way to substantially affect the economic and social life of the city. The municipal authority, with a vision and initiatives, hosts and promotes the important project of NTUA and AUE “.

Professor Dimitrios Bourantonis, Rector of AUE: “The signing of this Memorandum is a milestone for the development of innovative entrepreneurship in our city. We warmly thank the Mayor of Athens, Mr. Bakoyannis, who with this move recognizes in the most practical way the important role that the AUE and the NTUA play and the important effort that they make in the fields of entrepreneurship and innovation “.