The Team

Entrepreneurs and trainers and coaches, oh my!

We are an “all-sorts” bunch of entrepreneurs from diverse backgrounds, whom together have become more than the sum of our parts.

We are an “all-sorts” bunch of entrepreneurs from diverse backgrounds, whom together have become more than the sum of our parts. As a team, we put everything we have into the help, coaching, and training we offer our startups and the numerous innovation and entrepreneurship initiatives we undertake. Our passion revolves around boosting our teams’ business sense: getting them unstuck, questioning their assumptions and opening their eyes to the reality of their business idea and its place in the world of customers. We love “waking up” teams who are so immersed in their technology or idea that nothing else seems to enter the equation!

Team Members

Dr Alexandros
Charalambides

Founder

New Ventures

Tech Expert

Dr Alexandros Charalambides

Founder

New Ventures Tech Expert

“Can’t-sit-still-for-a-minute-kickstarter-of-ideas, master of realism and surrealism, and extreme Doer!”
Alexandros is a Mechanical Engineering graduate and holds a PhD from Imperial College London. He has worked at Imperial College London, at the University of Tokyo and on his return to Cyprus, at the Energy Service of the Ministry of Energy, Commerce, Industry and Tourism and at the Cyprus Investment Promotion Agency. In 2009 he returned to academia and is now an Assistant Professor at the Department of Environmental Science and Technology of the Cyprus University of Technology. His interests lie in the area of energy and meteorology, wastewater treatment using algae, and energy saving in buildings. Although an academic by practice, he is a rollercoaster of an entrepreneurial mind that is able to drive others forward with his enthusiasm and willingness to explore.

Current Initiatives

  • Assistant Professor at the Department of Environmental Science and Technology of the Cyprus University of Technology
  • Founder & Director of Enermap (now involved in a major project Enerfund)
  • Founder of Chrysalis LEAP

Stelios
Procopiou

Co-Founder

Operations & Finance

Start-up Economist

Stelios Procopiou

Co-Founder

Operations & Finance Start-up Economist

“Facts-for-a-fact-evidence-seeker, numbers to bedazzle, and unrelenting pragmatism!”
Stelios is a First-Class Honours graduate of Imperial College, London, a Fellow Chartered Accountant, Member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England & Wales (ICAEW), a holder of the Chartered Wealth Manager Qualification and Chartered Fellow Member of the Chartered Institute for Securities and Investment (CISI) and a CFA Charterholder and Member of the CFA Institute. He has extensive experience in the financial sector, having worked with a Big-4 Firm and as the CFO of a multinational private equity investment group based in Cyprus. Stelios is a professional with an acute sense of rationalising the world around him. Aside from freelancing in the financial world, he is actively involved in initiatives promoting entrepreneurship and innovation by using his amazing eye for detail, his look-to- the-future vision, and his remarkable ability to create order from chaos.

Current Initiatives

  • Co-founder & Director of Chrysalis LEAP
  • Manager & Financial Adviser of EXEO Consultants

Paris
Thomas

Co-Founder

Training & Design

Business Model Strategist

Paris Thomas

Co-Founder

Training & Design Business Model Strategist

“Communicate-straight-like-an-arrow-master, strategy conjurer, and extreme go-getter!”
Paris is a passionate communicator and a serial entrepreneur. He holds a BA in Communication Science, and an MBA in Strategic Management. Paris is one of 30 globally certified trainers on Business Model Generation, and has facilitated strategic sessions in a variety of industries such as Pharmaceuticals, Financial, R&D, High-Tech, Government, and to a large degree Clean-tech Startups. He has run both in-house workshops and prototyping sessions, as well as public masterclasses in the Middle East, Europe, and North America. Paris is a certified Business Model practitioner and specialises in innovating business ideas with a heavy focus on organisational culture and change; a necessary precursor to innovation. Paris is known for delivering results in a “sleeves rolled-up” approach.

Current Initiatives

  • Co-founder & Director of Chrysalis LEAP
  • Co-Founder & Director of Open Box Communication
  • Director of Enermap

Eloiza
Savvidou

Co-Founder

Community Outreach

Legal Advisor

Eloiza Savvidou

Co-Founder

Community Outreach Legal Advisor

“World-class empathizer, under-the-surface-perspectives excavator, and overall people-magnet!”
Eloiza’s professional background is that of a lawyer (member of the Cyprus Bar Association) and a Chartered Accountant (CA, Institute of Chartered Accountants of Scotland). Before turning entrepreneur, she worked for Ernst & Young LLP London, UK and Boston, MA as well as with one of the biggest law firms in Cyprus. As an entrepreneur, Eloiza has been featured in local and international press and in March 2013 she had been invited to be a TEDx speaker to TEDx Nicosia. Eloiza is passionate about creativity, human development and contribution to the world, and her mission is to use her multi-disciplinary skills in the fields of business, law, and coaching to do work that she believes will bring on growth and make a positive impact on people. She is a high-energy professional that enjoys helping people make their dreams come true and this is the very spirit she enthusiastically offers to everyone she comes across.

Current Initiatives

  • Co-founder & Director of Chrysalis LEAP
  • CEO of Junior Achievement (Cyprus)

Dr Stylianos
Yiatros

Co-Founder

Media Relations

Tech Expert

Dr Stylianos Yiatros

Co-Founder

Media Relations Tech Expert

“People-centric-to-the-bone, general passionate enthusiast, and voracious tech explorer!”
Stelios is an Assistant Professor in Structural Engineering at the Cyprus University of Technology and a former Marie Curie Intra-European Fellow at the Offshore Renewable Energy Engineering in Cranfield University. His research interests span from nonlinear stability analysis of highly optimized structures to the exploration of Biomimetics in Civil Engineering Design for sustainable development. As a student at Imperial he was a member of the 2006 El Salvador Project, a student-led project to raise funds and build earthquake resistant houses in rural communities in El Salvador. Stelios is not your stereotypical academic; he has a deeply-ingrained sense of people development and uses exactly this skill of his to mentor teams and pass on his relentless energy for learning and having fun along the way.

Current Initiatives

  • Lecturer in Structural Engineering at Cyprus University of Technology
  • Co-founder of Chrysalis LEAP

Deano
Symeonides

Co-Founder

Team Dynamics

Lead Coach

Deano Symeonides

Co-Founder

Team Dynamics Lead Coach

“Chilled-out-but-tempered-insight, psychology-enabler-and-disabler, and straight-talking gunslinger!”
Deano is a business psychologist, with a BA in Psychology, an MSc in Occupational Psychology, and is a certified practitioner in psychometric testing and assessment centre design and management. His extensive assessment and development background has seen him work in the UK, the Middle East and Cyprus, helping organizations with issues such as leadership assessment and development, talent management, coaching, behavioural assessments, and enhancing team productivity and dynamics. Deano specialises in engaging people and enhancing their skills and awareness of the complexities of the workplace and of their own personalities. He is motivated by unblocking the dynamics that are in constant friction between businesses and their teams. He is a people-centred person all the way.

Current Initiatives

  • Co-founder & Director of Chrysalis LEAP
  • Co-Founder & Director of Open Box Communication

Tasos
Constantinou

Start-up Coach

Innovation Manager

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Tasos Constantinou

Start-up Coach

Innovation Manager -

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Tasos, AKA “Taz”, has an extensive background in innovation management and start-up techniques. Holding a BA in Business Management and an MscBA in Management of Innovation, his career has included both academic and practical experience. He has held lecturing positions for the University of Maastricht, as well as the University of Wolverhampton. Practically, he has worked alongside countless startup teams, coaching them on how to bring their ideas to market, while also realizing his own successful innovative academy. Taz brings his own spin to coaching, combining his diverse international experience with his keen interest of human behavior and psychology, and even throwing in a few tricks from his journey as a comedian.

Current Initiatives

  • Startup Coach at Chrysalis LEAP
  • Growth Manager at Open Box Communication

Kyriaki
Kyprianou

Project Coordinator

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Kyriaki Kyprianou

Project Coordinator

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Kyriaki holds a Bachelor's degree in Sociology from Panteion University of Social and Political Sciences in Greece and a Master's degree in Digital Media and Communications, with a specialisation in Public Relations and Advertising from the University of Nicosia. As a Sociologist she has worked in communication and awareness campaigns that helped to facilitate the Integration of Refugees and Third Country Nationals into the Cypriot Society. This has helped shape who she is today and develop an understanding for people, their needs and emotions. Having worked as a PR Executive in one the country’s major advertising agencies, she had the opportunity to work with a diverse portfolio of clients, which further helped in improving and enhancing her communication skills.

Current Initiatives

  • Project Coordinator at Chrysalis LEAP

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