Mantis Beyond Innovation

22/10/2026

At Mantis Beyond Innovation, we believe that the development of the innovation and startup ecosystem improves people’s quality of life.

And that is how we approach all our partnerships. For yet another year, we are proud to serve as Innovation Enablers for the list.

We were glad to join the panel discussion at the Fortunegreece event with our CEO Christos Nikoloudis sharing insights from this year’s list and discussing the next generation of entrepreneurs building impactful businesses and shaping Greece’s entrepreneurial landscape.

Congratulations to everyone on this year’s list.

16/10/2026

Innovation becomes action in Elefsina today!

12/10/2026

From idea to stage at the Expert Forum for Green & Circular Metals, Amsterdam🇳🇱
We served as Innovation Enabler for the Talent SIGNs Sprint Open Innovation Challenge, hosted by EIT RawMaterials.
Over the four-week programme, we guided six teams through our Venture Building process: from framing the challenge and idea generation to shaping business models and preparing their pitches. Through hands-on workshops, each team turned an early idea into a solution ready to present.
Their solutions were presented at the forum where they quite literally took the stage.
We’re proud to have been part of this initiative.

24/09/2026

Come meet the EIT Food Country Representative Greece at Researchers’ Night 2026! 🌱
Find us this Friday, 25 September, at the Benaki Phytopathological Institute in Athens from 17:00-22:00. Whether you’re a student, researcher, innovator or entrepreneur, stop by and find out how you can get involved with EIT Food.

11/09/2026

This Saturday at TIF 2026, Mantis Founder & CEO Christos Nikoloudis will take part in the discussion on Digital Transformation and Green Transition in Greek Agriculture and Agrifood, representing EIT Food in Greece.

A conversation about how technology, innovation, and new approaches can contribute to the next chapter of the Greek agrifood ecosystem.

See you in Thessaloniki.

We are pleased to announce that the EIT Food Country Representative Greece will be presenting at the 90th Thessaloniki International Fair (TIF).

Maria Pappas, Professor at Democritus University of Thrace (DUTH) and Christos Nikoloudis , Founder & CEO of Mantis Beyond Innovation, both representing EIT Food in Greece, will be presenting at two separate panels.

Join us to learn about the agrifood opportunities available in Greece in funding, entrepreneurship and education.

EIT Food CR Greece – The activity is supported by EIT Food

10/09/2026

We are delighted to announce that our CEO, Christos Nikoloudis, will join the panel “Digital Transformation and Green Transition in Greek Agriculture and Agrifood” at the 90th Thessaloniki International Fair (TIF), following an invitation by DUTH.

He will contribute to the discussion around innovation, entrepreneurship, and the role of EIT Food in Greece, in his capacity as EIT Food Country Representative for Greece, with a focus on the transformation of the agrifood ecosystem.

For details 👇

🌾Το Δημοκρίτειο Πανεπιστήμιο Θράκης στο πλαίσιο της συμμετοχής του στην 90η Διεθνή Έκθεση Θεσσαλονίκης σας προσκαλεί, το Σάββατο 12 Σεπτεμβρίου και ώρα 18:30-20:00, στην εκδήλωση που διοργανώνει με τίτλο «Ψηφιακός Μετασχηματισμός και Πράσινη Μετάβαση στην Ελληνική Γεωργία και Αγροδιατροφή.»

Εκπρόσωποι της ακαδημαϊκής κοινότητας, του αγροτικού τομέα, της επιχειρηματικότητας και της καινοτομίας συναντώνται σε έναν κοινό διάλογο για τη σύνδεση της έρευνας, της τεχνολογίας με την παραγωγή και για τις νέες δυνατότητες που διαμορφώνονται για την ελληνική γεωργία.

📅 Σάββατο 12.09.2026 | 18:30–20:00
📍 Αίθουσα C, Συνεδριακό Κέντρο «Νικόλαος Γερμανός», ΔΕΘ

📝Οι ενδιαφερόμενοι μπορούν να δηλώσουν τη συμμετοχή τους μέσω του παρακάτω συνδέσμου:
👉https://shorturl.at/5u76I

#ΔΠΘ #ΔΕΘ2026

07/08/2026

5 Summer Reads for Innovators 📚
Ideas, collaboration, creativity and meaningful change. Innovation is not only about generating more ideas.

It is also about creating the conditions in which ideas can emerge, listening carefully to the people affected, connecting different areas of knowledge and building organisations capable of turning learning into action.

For this year’s summer reading list, we selected five books that approach innovation from different perspectives:

📖 Where Good Ideas Come From - Steven Johnson
📖 The Mom Test - Rob Fitzpatrick
📖 Range - David Epstein
📖 Creativity, Inc. - Ed Catmull and Amy Wallace
📖 The Power of Habit - Charles Duhigg

Together, they offer useful insights for founders, researchers, public-sector professionals, corporate teams and anyone working across the wider innovation ecosystem.

Which book would you add to the list?

16/07/2026

Innovation does not stop at selecting an idea. It gains value when it is tested, measured and connected to real operational needs.
This is exactly what the IPTO Innovation Hub demonstrated: two business challenges were transformed into two functional Proofs of Concept, bringing AI and VR closer to the daily workflows of a critical infrastructure organization.
With Mantis Beyond Innovation coordinating the journey from challenge design to PoC development and evaluation, the winning teams of the 1st IPTO Innovation Challenge moved from idea to implementation.

The initiative was presented by Ioannis Moraitis, Director of Research, Technology & Development and Head of the IPTO Innovation Hub, together with Christos Nikoloudis, Founder & CEO of Mantis Beyond Innovation, who coordinated the PoC journey and the discussion around their operational value. The VR team was led by Ilias Kalisperakis, Co-founder of up2metric, while the AI for Pylons team was led by Dimitris Giakoumis, Principal Researcher (Grade B’) in Service Robotics at CERTH/ITI.

Beyond the prototypes themselves, these PoCs point to a clear potential impact: reducing exposure to risk and, in specific training or operational scenarios, potentially preventing accidents by up to 100%; reducing required man-hours by up to 30%; and improving operational effectiveness by up to 30%. Showcasing how open innovation can translate into measurable operational potential.

10/07/2026

Climate Neutrality Challenge now open!

Innovation becomes action in Elefsina.
A call for startups, innovative SMEs and research teams with ready-to-pilot solutions for the climate and industrial challenges of the Thriasio Pedio.
Pitch to the Municipality and the region’s key players, with the prospect of a real pilot in Eleusis.

🗓️ September 2026
👉 Registrations open: link in bio

01/07/2026

Enabling the Greek Research & Innovation Ecosystem in Agritech & Foodtech.
An info day by EIT Food Country Representative Greece, in collaboration with ELGO-DIMITRA.
Researchers, innovators and idea holders in agritech and foodtech: this one’s for you.

Join us online to learn about:
- EIT Food’s mission and programmes in Greece
- Education and learning opportunities
- How open innovation and venture building can turn your research into products, services and spin-offs
- Funding and entrepreneurship calls for 2026

📅 Thursday 2 July 2026
🕐 13:30–15:30
💻 In Person & Online: Registration link in bio