“We are sector agnostic and that means that we may enter into new sectors that we don't even know ourselves,” the Founder and CEO of CYRIC – the Business Innovation Center of Cyprus Panayiotis Philimis told audiences at INSPIRE 2025.
In a fireside chat with Panis Pieri, Growth Hacker and Founder of Panis.News, Philimis went on to explain that in these cases, experts were deployed and an investigation into the market was carried out.
“If we have a problem in the IP, then we look at another option, and we have done this with a few startups, we may shift, we may pivot,” he continued, noting that, in these cases, it was crucial for the team behind the specific startup to be worth continuing with.
The discussion also explored how CYRIC has shaped the island’s startup and innovation ecosystem over the past decade and where it’s heading next, turning the spotlight on GRAVITY Ventures Incubator, CYRIC’s investment arm, and its role in backing promising tech startups that scale globally while driving positive impact on society and the environment.
The CEO also shared CYRIC’s bold vision for the next decade: strengthening Cyprus’ position on the global innovation map, empowering local talent, and fueling transformative ideas that create growth and social good.
“I started the company back in 2013. With the aim to bring state-of-the-art R&D into the market,” Philimis said, referring to CYRIC’s establishment, “It was a very difficult task because we didn’t have the infrastructure in Cyprus, we didn’t have high-tech technologies, we didn’t have electronics manufacturing.”
He also pointed out that CYRIC was set up just two months after the financial crisis in Cyprus, noting that most of its initial work was providing services to start-ups in Europe.
“Through that we started exploring the business model of start-ups. I visited Tel Aviv, Berlin, London looking into the business models of accelerators and incubators. It was very clear to me that being in a small country, not a lot of start-ups working on deep technology,” Philimis said.
“The only way was to follow the traditional business model of incubators,” he continued, going on to note that the average incubation time in Europe at the moment is four to five years for big tech start-ups.
“After that in 2015 we started hosting start-ups in our company at CYRIC,” he said, continuing that by 2016, the venture had been certified by the European Business Network, underlining that this is the biggest network for certifying business innovation centres and a body that helps start-ups and SMEs both in innovation and in business.
“After that we started investing in start-ups and at the same time at CYRIC being our technology company. It took us a few years and in 2020 we actually entered into the market for IoT. Currently we are one of the key players in the region, Cyprus, Greece, Europe and currently expanding into the Middle East,” he continued.
A Robotics division followed including drones which, as the CEO noted, “We build from scratch, so we design them from just an idea and going into the highest tier to take it to the markets..”
“The business model of CYRIC is based on the long journey of a tech startup which involves pre-incubation, incubation and post-incubation, he went on to say, elaborating, “If we relate that to acceleration, pre-incubation is the early stage accelerators, post-incubation is the growth accelerators. The journey into an incubator is basically from the beginning to the end and getting ready for investors. In our case we provide definitely a lot of support, technical support, raising the technology at high TRL.”
CYRIC also offers support from financial to office space and more recently also industrial space for startups, allowing startups to be able to produce their products on the premises.
“It may take approximately six to 12 months until a startup enters the incubator,” Philimis goes on to note, adding this is the case for 60-70% of the startups it is involved in, mainly because technical diligence is required.
“We are sector agnostic and that means that we may enter into new sectors that we don't even know ourselves. We need to deploy experts, investigate the market. If we have a problem in the IP, then another option, we did it with a few startups, we may shift, we may pivot, we may have the startup pivot, assuming that the team is great,” he explained.
When it comes to the Gravity Fund, which was started approximately a year ago, and for which the Gravity Incubator acts as an advisor, the target fund size is in the range of € 20 million and the initial ticket in the range of € 150,000, and then the follow-up may go up to € 1-1.5 million.
Areas of focus include health tech, clean tech, AI, artificial intelligence, transport and mobility, and the newest, let's say, sectors like space and business.
“One of the things we always look at is the impact on the environment and the social impact,” he added.
On what the future holds for CYRIC, Philimis said, “We are now more than 100 people. We have several spin-outs. We are looking into expanding and deploying facilities in three continents, Europe, Middle East and Africa. The vision is in five years we may also see Asia and the US.”
“Our vision model is to manufacture where there is a need for this product, whether it's IoT or robotics. Definitely, by 2035 we look to become a leader in autonomous and AI systems in the sector of biotech and robotics, which is the future,” he added.
Philimis also underlined that CYRIC was very proud of the startups it was involved in, and was “in it for the long run.”
Partners & Sponsors
Strategic Partner: Cyta Business
Platinum Sponsor: Bank of Cyprus
Gold Sponsors: ECOMMBX, Zorbas Group, Cyfield
Silver Sponsors: PwC Cyprus, Petrolina, Bioland
Academic Sponsor: University of Nicosia
Stage Sponsors: National Bank of Greece (Cyprus), KPMG Cyprus, Odyssey, CyRIC/Gravity Ventures Incubator, Invest Cyprus
Panel Sponsors: HRDA, OPAP
Podcast Presenter: Payabl.
Sponsors: Hermes Airports, IMR, Libertex
Technology Partner: Kotsovolos
Community Partner: TechIsland, Junior Achievement Cyprus
Innovation Partner: Research & Innovation Foundation (IDEK)
Mobility Partner: Pilakoutas Group
Sustainable Transport Partner: Cyprus Public Transport
Sustainability Partner: Electricity Authority of Cyprus
Coffee Partner: Coffee Berry
Partner: Charalambides Christis
Supporters: ASBIS, CSR Cyprus, Capacitor Partners, HJS Insurance Agents, Mastercard, Robura, Superad, Kapodistrias, Photos Photiades Breweries & Epilogi, Voici La Mode Group of Companies, GrantXpert, Gap Vassilopoulos, Techbiz, Grow Sustainability Consulting, ASBIS, Murex, Drastyc, Bolt
With the support of: Cyprus Computer Society, CITEA, CPMA, Youth Board of Cyprus, OEB, Skills Cyprus, National Betting Authority
Media Sponsors: Alpha Cyprus, CBN, IN Business, Reporter, SuperFM
Organizer: IMH
Under the auspices of: Municipality of Nicosia
- INSPIRE 2025 – Where passion meets action, and action changes the world.
