Tectonic changes are taking place in the Cyprus business scene. The new generation is already at the helm and will play a leading role in local business for the next twenty years.
On the one hand, there are the younger generations of the country's family businesses, which have taken action to ensure the future and sustainable development of the now multi-shareholder organisations that were founded, mainly, between 1960 and 2000 by the country's powerful first generation of entrepreneurs.
On the other side stand the self-made entrepreneurs who have built profitable companies out of an innovative idea. The common denominator? They are all young. Millennials (29-44 years old) and Gen Z (28 years old and younger).
Through the ambitious project, an initiative of IMH with the valuable support of project partners who are none other than Bank of Cyprus, Cablenet, European University Cyprus and PwC, the spotlight for an entire year, 2025-2026, is being turned on the new generation of leaders and entrepreneurs.
The project
The project, which is set to last a year, is an initiative by IMH to highlight corporate decision makers, i.e. the new generation of entrepreneurs, after identifying them, to understand their priorities and ambitions through extensive research.
The aim is to give them a platform and a voice, to inspire them, to promote them and to create a network for them. To guide them so that they become responsible shareholders, to make them participants in its broader actions that ultimately aim at the sustainable development of the Cypriot economy.
A new generation of entrepreneurs
- The successors
The time has come! The business successors have come of age. In the family companies that constitute the majority in Cyprus and make up 95% of the business guide IN Business ‘1000+ Biggest Companies in Cyprus,’ the second, third, in some cases the fourth, and even the fifth generation has already taken the reins.
In addition to the representatives of Gen X (born between 1965-1980), most of the Millennials and Gen Z successors have already taken on leadership positions in family businesses. They are the new CEOs, senior managers, shareholders, owners or new entrants to the job market in low and middle management positions.
They usually have impressive CVs as they are well-educated and have work experience abroad. They think and act differently from their predecessors, and their priorities often also differ.
In many cases, the leaders from whom they have taken the reins exemplified the classic success story of hard work, perseverance, sacrifice and business acumen. They were the ones who created businesses, usually as sole shareholders and CEOs between 1960 and 2000.
Younger people, within what are now multi-shareholder organisations, tend to question traditional systems and implement more modern practices, emphasising business values such as responsible corporate governance, ethics and a modern ESG approach.
- The self-made
A large number of representatives of the new generation, on the other hand, have created their own businesses, earning the title of being self-made.
Most of them have already been featured in IMH 's Media and are systematically making their presence known in the company's call for business upgrading, participating in every way in actions related to conferences, other events and activities in the media sector.
Compared to the self-made people of earlier times, who often shaped the broader scope of the market in which they operated and created companies from scratch that went on to flourish, today's entrepreneurs are called upon to enter, remain, and stand out in already established business environments.
This fact includes positive elements, which arise mainly from the fact that they have often found the ‘soil’ already cultivated in the sector they focus on.
But there are also vulnerabilities, which interfere like weeds in the soil that has already been cultivated, and which the self-made inherit whether they want to or not, and are therefore forced to face as challenges at the beginning and certainly later on.
- The most premium audience
IMH , which has held a leading role for years in the field of knowledge and information transfer through the organisation of events and its business media, now has a new audience .
After all, nowadays the most desirable audience of all is the new generation of entrepreneurs, successors of family businesses or self-starters, mostly Millennials but also representatives of Gen Z.
They are the ones who make the business decisions, the people who will be the stars of the Cypriot business scene for the next twenty years, the target audience and everyone's customers.
Project objectives and actions
For the Gen Z & Millennial Project, which begins in the last quarter of 2025, six main goals have been set and for each of them an action plan has been prepared by IMH, in collaboration with project partners and other sponsors.
IMH 's first goal is to identify the new generation of business leaders - Gen Z and Millennials - from the IN Business ‘1000+ Biggest Companies in Cyprus’ guide and to compile a complete database, selecting a group of ambassadors that will reflect the ambitions and values of the target audience.
Subsequently, to understand and map the aspirations, priorities and challenges faced by the new generation, quantitative and qualitative research will be carried out by IMR.
The third objective concerns engagement, inspiration and networking through actions such as organising events and summits to provide networking opportunities tailored to the specific audience. Examples of such actions are scheduled roundtable meetings between selected new generation entrepreneurs - successors or self-created - with the President of the Republic or sponsors, and also smaller, sectoral ones.
In this context, the UNFOLD networking event will also take place with over 300 participants and international speakers, who will focus on the future of entrepreneurship.
The next multifaceted action of the project is the highlighting and promotion of millennials and Gen Z entrepreneurs with visibility through IMH media (special publications, extensive articles, presentations, videos and social media stories) and the provision of development and networking opportunities, this time through collaborations with consulting firms, financial and academic institutions, ICT companies and others.
Another very important purpose of the project is to contribute to the development of responsible shareholders - board members, who respond to the modern ESG approach, following the criteria of ethics and corporate governance, something that was not necessary for the previous generation of entrepreneurs.
The final, but no less important, goal is none other than the participation of the new generation in positive change. That is, the project should contribute to young entrepreneurs believing in the positive and sustainable development of the economy and becoming part of it.
- As a coordinator
The managers of the three IMH departments coordinating the implementation of the project talk about the inspiration behind it and its importance.
Kevi Chishios, Marketing manager IMH (project manager)
IMH has traditionally, in addition to its activities in the fields of corporate events, conferences and media, been known for undertaking complex projects that follow major market and economic trends.
The dominant one among them, which was the reason for the design of this multi-level project, is the new generation of business leaders, whether they are Millennials or Gen Z, taking the baton
This is a tectonic shift in business. The Gen Z & Millennial Project will last one year and will involve all departments of IMH, from media and marketing to client events and conferences.
For the implementation of the project, our company will be assisted by the four founding partners - European University Cyprus, Bank of Cyprus, PwC and Cablenet. Their contribution will be invaluable at all stages of the planning and actions, for which we warmly thank them.
Elena Leontiou, Media manager
The project aims to highlight the leaders of tomorrow, the new generation of entrepreneurs, Millennials and Gen Zs, with their own management strategies, priorities, way of thinking and everything they want to change, which is often decisive for Cypriot entrepreneurship.
These young senior executives, from their position as managers, shareholders or owners of the 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and even 5th generation of family businesses, place issues beyond profitability on their agenda and, at the same time, support sustainability, social responsibility, equality and ethical behaviour.
They are the generation that grew up with technology, that uses social media incessantly, and that has AI as part of their lives.
These are the movers and shakers of the coming decades of Cypriot business and, through the project, we want to both highlight and understand them, shedding more light on what form business of the future will take.
Lena Kakkoura, Corporate Client Events manager
This IMH initiative constitutes a project of the utmost importance, designed to bring together representatives of the new generation of business leaders, Millennials and Gen Z.
All the events, meetings, conferences and other happenings for the coming year aim to inspire, motivate, network, educate and showcase the new generation of entrepreneurs.
To make them believe in and dynamically contribute to the sustainable development of the economy and society at large.
At the same time, we will listen to their concerns, ambitions and suggestions, we will share knowledge and experiences, so that from the point of inspiration of a project, we can lead it, together with the four founding partners, to its successful and constructive implementation.
