Getting into Y Combinator: Why CEE Startups Need to Aim Higher
Last winter of 2024, 260 companies joined Y Combinator, as selected from over 27,000 applications. […]
А Civil Engineer by degree and an innovation enthusiast by nature, our next guest Niki Karali is the co-founder of Mantis Business Innovation. A company that provides growth strategies, innovation programs, and startup scouting. It also offers an innovation management software to digitize the whole process.
Niki is also an active startup ecosystem builder. She has helped the organization of the StartupNow Forum, the largest startup event in Greece.
Niki reflects how she found her calling in entrepreneurship, while still studying in the National Technical University of Athens. That is where she discovered her passion for supporting startups. There she also met her co-founder at Mantis Business Innovation Christos Nikoloudis.
Niki sees her work as a facilitator connecting the world of research and academia, and the business world. In the episode she also talks about the importance of this connection for the ecosystem to thrive. And shares her views on the recent successes of the Greek startup ecosystem like the unicorn status of the neobank Viva Wallet.
“It’s not only an important achievement for Viva Wallet but also for the whole Greece”, she says, “It’s the first time that Greece actually shows that we have the infrastructure and all the tools for anyone who wants to be an entrepreneur and start a startup to do so. We have these bright examples like Viva Wallet and others like InstaShop or Softomotive, etc. who have done a great work”, Niki adds.
Watch the whole episode to learn what has her experience in competitive gymnastics taught her about running a business and also why she values teamwork above all in her professional life.
And if you are hungry for more from the Greek startup ecosystem, check out our episode with angel investor and serial entrepreneur Stefi Vasilopoulou.
