The EIT Cyprus Impact Festival 2025 opened this morning at the CYENS Centre of Excellence in Nicosia, bringing together policymakers, industry leaders, investors, researchers and startups for two days dedicated to innovation, entrepreneurship and European collaboration, just a year before Cyprus assumes the Presidency of the Council of the EU in 2026. The event runs on 9–10 December under the auspices of President Nikos Christodoulides.

Organised by the EIT Community Hub Cyprus in collaboration with the wider EIT Community – coordinated by the European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT), a body of the European Union – the festival aims to strengthen Cyprus’ role in Europe’s innovation landscape and deepen its participation in EU-level programmes and networks.

The festival also hosts the first Cyprus presentation of the winning proposal for the new EIT Water KIC, where the Limassol District Organisation of Local Government is a core partner—marking a major milestone that places Cyprus inside the founding leadership of Europe’s newest innovation community on water.

The first day opened with welcome remarks by Kyriacos Kokkinos, Member of the EIT Governing Board, Nicosia Mayor Charalambos Prountzos and Dr Styliani Petroudi, EIT Community Officer for Cyprus and Head of the Innovation Department at CYENS.

A high-level panel on “Driving Impact: Cyprus’ 2026 Presidency of the Council of the European Union” followed, featuring Kokkinos, Theodoros Loukaidis, Director of the Research and Innovation Foundation, and Dr Ioanna Hadjicosti, Director of the Contemporary Culture Department at the Deputy Ministry of Culture, moderated by Dr Petroudi. The discussion focuses on how research, innovation, culture and entrepreneurship can support Cyprus’ priorities during its EU Presidency and raise its profile within Europe’s policy and innovation debates.

The morning programme also includes the presentation of the new EIT Water Knowledge and Innovation Community (KIC) by Yiannis Tsouloftas, President of the Limassol District Organisation of Local Government. This is followed by a session showcasing the mission, funding opportunities and success stories of several EIT KICs, including Climate-KIC, EIT Urban Mobility, EIT Health and EIT Manufacturing.

Entrepreneurship and youth innovation take centre stage in a “fire chat” on impact stories, with founders and leaders from Freyia Labs, Ascanio and Mighty Kitchen sharing lessons from building startups in and from Cyprus. The afternoon is dedicated to the launch and implementation of the “High Impact Challenge”, an applied innovation competition that runs into the evening, supported by mentorship sessions and closing with a networking dinner.

The High Impact Challenge is described by organisers as the core of the festival: teams, startups and individual innovators are invited to propose practical solutions to real-world challenges set by the EIT KICs. Participants include startups, researchers, students, teams from the Cyprus Entrepreneurship Competition (CyEC), iHealth Days, JA Cyprus alumni and independent innovators. Cash prizes of €4,000, €2,000 and €1,000 will be awarded to the top three teams during tomorrow’s awards ceremony.

Wednesday’s programme turns the spotlight to ecosystem needs, investment and deal-making. A morning panel on “Startups’ needs and the role of policy” brings together representatives from the Cyprus Chamber of Commerce and Industry, crowdfunding platform Crowdbase and local startups ParkInTown, Senssos and Robo.com.cy, moderated by media entrepreneur Panis Pieri.

This is followed by a session on “Investment criteria and the Cyprus investment landscape”, with contributions from venture capital and investment professionals including Yiannis Eftychiou (33East), Andrei Yarantsau, Andreas Papadopoulos (Eurobank) and Anton Vasiliev (Freesearch Ventures), again moderated by Pieri.

The rest of the day features coffee and dessert networking, targeted 1-to-1 matchmaking meetings between innovators and investors, an elevator pitch session and the High Impact Challenge awards, before the event concludes with closing remarks at CYENS.

According to Dr Styliani Petroudi, the festival is designed to act as a strategic platform ahead of the 2026 EU Presidency, bringing the EIT Community closer to Cyprus’ innovation stakeholders and amplifying the country’s voice in European debates. She describes the EIT Cyprus Impact Festival as “a unique opportunity to unite policymakers, innovators and industry leaders in shaping Cyprus’ role in Europe’s innovation landscape”, stressing that it supports new collaborations, empowers startups and opens new pathways for impact.

The EIT Community Hub Cyprus, hosted at CYENS, represents the European Institute of Innovation and Technology in Cyprus. Its mission is to boost the country’s participation in EIT programmes, support entrepreneurship and foster a strong, sustainable innovation ecosystem that links government, industry, academia and startups. Through events such as the EIT Cyprus Impact Festival, the hub aims to connect local actors with Europe-wide innovation value chains in areas ranging from climate and urban mobility to health, manufacturing, culture and the newly launched EIT Water.