Carolos Georgallis, the CEO of AIFCAP Managers, an Alternative Investment Fund Management firm in Cyprus and also a Partner at the Kinisis Ventures Fund, shared his view of the development of the island’s startup scene at the recent INSPIRE 2025.
Georgallis was participating in INSPIRE 2025 through the ‘Investing in Cyprus Tech Startups – Past, Present & Future’ section of the event and more specifically in a panel discussion entitled ‘Investing in Technology’ and powered by CyRIC/Gravity.
Among other things, through his participation in the discussion, Georgallis noted that there was a lot of talent in Cyprus, “A lot of people that require the structure and the ingredients that can be provided by sophisticated investors.”
However, he also indicated that it remains to be seen whether the country’s startup ecosystem is yet at a stage where it could produce a much-coveted 'unicorn', adding, though, that, “we're definitely moving in the right direction.”
Georgallis suggested that, “Because of the Cyprus market being so small, very closely knit together, it can provide a test model for something that you can then scale and go international.”
On his professional journey, Georgallis revealed, “I started my career in the UK and spent the first seven years of my career in VC and tech investing. And then when my wife informed me of our mutual decision to come back to Cyprus, my initial aspiration, my initial idea was to basically just continue into the VC space, which I always loved,”
Georgallis went on to note, “In 2010, there was nothing. The term VC didn't really exist. It wasn't really understood. There were no institutional pockets of money. There weren’t enough investment-ready startups out there for me to think about building a business around them. And you would hardly even hear the words Cyprus and tech in the same sentence at the time.”
“As a result,” he continued, “I got a 'day job'. I went into investment banking and I used Cyprus as my base. In the meantime, I got involved in a few startups. I invested in a couple, but really that was it.”
“Fast forward to 2019. In the meantime, I'd been to Dubai and come back. It was really different. There was appetite in the private sector. There was an appetite in the government for this. Universities finally caught up with the need for tech transfer, real tech transfer. And entrepreneurs, scientists, technologists, were willing to venture into the world of entrepreneurship. That’s more or less the point where I decided to join Kinisis Ventures,” he went on.
Georgallis’ participation became instrumental in turning Kinisis Ventures into a venture capital fund.
“Our philosophy is one of being high-tech and US-centric. Now, we provide, of course, the capital, but our ‘secret sauce’ is that we provide a lot of resources. We work very closely with our startups,” he revealed.
“The idea,” he went on to explain, “is to try and seek founding, founder teams that we believe can thrive in the US. That have what it takes to make it in the US, which is basically where half the team is located. And also in equally competitive markets.”
What he means by the teams having what it takes can be defined in three parameters, the expert said, going on to elaborate, “The first one is character. We need people with passion. We need people with dedication, focus, perseverance, and plasticity. People that are adaptable, that learn quickly and they are ready to pivot from what they believe in kind of instantaneously. That's very important.”
Commercial acumen is the second parameter, he said, noting, “They need to understand business.”
According to Georgallis, “The third parameter is technological ability. Even though it is the third one it is also what is actually going to get you through the door for us to look into…and a good product always wins.”
The discussion was moderated by Panis Pieri, Growth Hacker, Founder of Panis.News.
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.
