Reflect Festival, Cyprus' largest tech event, started as a small gathering organized by passionate friends. Now, it has become a pivotal platform for innovation and entrepreneurship in the region. The festival covers a broad range of topics, including entrepreneurship, fintech, web3, health, impact, and the future of work, while the 2023 edition will focus on emerging technologies like AI, fintech, and web3. 

Stylianos Lambrou, co-founder of Reflect Festival, talks about how the Festival offers a diverse experience, allowing attendees to choose their preferred activities, speaks on how the conference stays ahead in the evolving tech landscape and shares his future aspirations for the Festival. In addition, Stylianos explains new initiatives that are currently in works, such as an AI-powered networking app and startup competitions, with the aim to ensure Reflect’s ongoing evolution and impact.

It would be a lie to say that we had any idea what Reflect would become in the beginning. I could talk about the ambitious vision my co-founder Dusan Duffek, my sister Andria Lambrou and I had, or say that we were driven and ambitious. To some extent, that's true, but honestly, we were still pretty naive back then. Thus, we were quite bold. Apparently, sometimes in life, that can be a blessing!

Friends who love Cyprus simply decided to organize a tech conference, and that's what we did. We didn't do extensive market research or overthink it, and we had no tangible event management experience. It was small the first year, and then suddenly everything exploded. There was enormous enthusiasm connected to the budding startup ecosystem here in Cyprus, an appetite for innovation and novelty, and amazing people and partners who helped us along the way. And then we grew up and started being more intentional with Reflect's impact to influence the startup ecosystem here in Cyprus and build bridges within the region.

Perhaps not so ironically, today, Reflect's claim is "doers united". That's the whole story in a nutshell: doers who got together, tried, failed, tried again, and continue to do so 6 years later.

Reflect has always been and will remain a diverse festival, so the scope will cover everything from entrepreneurship and investing to fintech, web3, health, impact, and the future of work. But you're right, some key topics always resonate the most.

To explain: throughout the year, we keep an eye out for topics that influence our lives, be it at home or at work. Reflect is first and foremost practical, so with each talk, we want to answer these audience questions: Why should I care? How is my life going to be influenced? How will lives change for the better thanks to this idea or technology?

That being said, AI has been the clear game-changer of the year. And it's safe to say that it will permeate all stages of Reflect, no matter what they focus on. We're also going to deep-dive into fintech and web3. Both make perfect sense in Cyprus, where many of these companies found a home, and they are changing the way we will function significantly.

I'm not sure I would use the word balance, because that's not entirely up to us. It's the attendees who choose the experience they prefer. For some, it's listening to talks all day. Others might want to attend the expo and parties and don't care about the presentations.

We simply offer a platform with many concurrent options: learning from the speakers, hanging out in lounges, attending small-scale workshops, enjoying lunch with a new acquaintance, having fun, networking via our app or at a party, and much more. The "balance" is up to every attendee.

I suppose the expected answer is that we hit 5000 attendees in our 5th year, or some of the big keynote names like Bryan Johnson or Sophia the Robot, or the support we received from key players of our country (and beyond). And yes, all those achievements are something we're extremely proud of. But the most special moments are related to the people we run into during the festival, old friends and new. It's entrepreneurs telling us: "You guys, everything changed for my business after I met XYZ thanks to you." It's seeing people having fun, chatting, getting to know each other, never knowing how many paths will be different thanks to these two Reflect days.

For me personally, the most significant moments happen behind the scenes. Reflect is incredibly hard work that consists of hundreds of mini emergencies and last-minute ideas and requests. It doesn't take long for them to turn into stories we laugh about with our team, and these challenges have bonded us for life. That's pretty special!

Look, there are hundreds of large-scale tech conferences around the world. What makes sense is to focus on things only we can do.

Our team is exceptionally well-versed in the startup ecosystem here in Cyprus, and we're born networkers in the wider region too. It's a no-brainer for us to facilitate connections on this island with its unique location at the crossroads of continents.

This is the bottom line we're building upon: Cyprus as a tech island of the Mediterranean and Reflect as the ultimate meeting spot of the region's multicultural doers. The rest is an eye for good stories and people worth meeting, and constantly upgrading the networking and learning formats and experiences. I'm not sure if there will ever be a year where we'll settle for what we already have!

Reflect has the potential to become the largest event in the wider region. That's not even an aspiration: it will likely happen. What I view as our task is to handle the growth responsibly, to stay true to our mission and to not lose the family-like, relaxed yet buzzing feeling people like about Reflect. This year, we're adding a lot of new features: an AI-powered networking app, startup competition, workshop area, and roundtable discussions to name a few. As for new initiatives: you'll see in due time!

What: Reflect Festival 2023 

Where: Limassol, Cyprus

When: 20-21 September, 2023 

More Info: reflectfest.com

Who: Stylianos was born in Limassol and studied IT at UCL in London and then Entrepreneurship at the University of Cambridge. He started his entrepreneurial journey at the age of 19. He already has several ventures in his portfolio under the umbrella of Heart Group of which he co-founded with his sister. Since 2017, he is the co-founder of Reflect Festival, the largest technology festival in Cyprus and the wider region. Through this festival, important business synergies and actions for Cyprus and beyond have been achieved, with world-class founders, investors and researchers showing practical interest in operating their ventures on the island. In 2021 he was one of the initiators and founders of Techisland, a non-profit organization whose mission is to accelerate the growth of the tech ecosystem in Cyprus. He is also a Founding Partner at Whitebeam Ventures, a venture builder which built Workin Spaces in Limassol & Athens.