Great success was achieved by the Greek team “InnoGo” from the Technical University of Crete, which won third place in the international youth entrepreneurship competition EUSAIR POPRI Youth 2025, in the university category.
The competition took place this year on May 6 and 7 in Georgioupolis, Chania, coordinated by the Science and Technology Park of Crete (STEP-C) of the Foundation for Research and Technology – Hellas (FORTH), in collaboration with the Innovation and Business Observatory (IBO) of the Region of Crete. STEP-C has been consistently participating in the EUSAIR POPRI Youth initiative as part of its collaboration with the Primorski Technology Park in Slovenia, while this year it also undertook the coordination of the Greek participation.
The initiative is part of the EU Strategy for the Adriatic and Ionian Region (EUSAIR) and aims to strengthen innovation and entrepreneurial culture across nine European countries.
The innovative product of our team, titled “IgnisGuard,” is an autonomous system for early fire detection in rural and remote areas, utilizing sensors and artificial intelligence. The team consists of university students Christos Papanastasiou, Stergios Chaitoglou, Emmanouil Doxastakis, Emmanouil Polychronakis, and Ioanna Theodosiou, with mentors Nikolaos Sifakis, Alexandros Chachalis and Stylianos Manoudakis.
In the university category, first place was awarded to a team from Serbia, and second place to a team from Slovenia. In the high school category, first place went to a team from Bosnia and Herzegovina, followed by North Macedonia and Slovenia in second and third place, respectively.
Dr. Giorgos Papamichail, Director of STEP-C, stated:
“It is an honor for us to host in Crete an international competition that highlights the dynamism of youth entrepreneurship in Southeastern Europe. Warm congratulations to all the participating teams, and especially to the InnoGo team for their outstanding achievement. This success confirms the high level of expertise of Greek universities. It is no coincidence that in 2024, a student team from the same institution won first place in the same competition. As an organization that promotes the connection between research and innovation, we support initiatives that foster entrepreneurial thinking, enhance extroversion, and showcase Crete as a place of creativity and progress.”
Judging Committee
The judging committee included distinguished representatives from the fields of science, innovation, and business:
· Evangelia Gontikaki, Researcher, Institute of Geoenergy, FORTH
· Alexandros Markantonakis, International Consultant, Mylos of Crete S.A.
· Giorgos Arampatzis, Professor, Technical University of Crete
· Petros Marinakis, Director, Botanical Park of Crete
· Stelios Archontakis, Founder & CEO, BioCoS
· João Malva, Director, Institute of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics, Faculty of Medicine, University of Coimbra (Portugal)