Cyprus deep-tech scene tops 150 start-ups as research funding nears €1bn

Cyprus’ deep-tech ecosystem has grown to more than 150 start-ups, backed by almost €1 billion in competitive research and innovation funding over the past decade, according to ecosystem mapping presented at the University of Cyprus. The figures were unveiled during the 7th DeepTech CY Meetup, held on September 23 at the university’s Faculty of Engineering, marking the first time the community event has taken place inside a university and placing the discussion directly within one of the institutions producing the research the ecosystem is seeking to commercialise. The gathering brought together students, researchers, professors, founders and investors to examine how scientific work carried out in Cyprus can move beyond academia and develop into commercially viable companies. The meetup series was launched earlier in 2026 by Andrei Yarantsaeu and Oleg Reshetnikov as a grassroots community event for people building technology on the island. Since then, Dionysis Partsinevelos of venture capital firm 33East and Evangelia Athanasiou, Ventures Associate at Plug and Play Cyprus, have joined as co-organisers, while the latest edition was also supported by Cyprus Seeds, one of the island’s main research commercialisation platforms. Opening the event, Faculty of Engineering Dean Marina Neophytou set out the faculty’s ambition to bring research closer to entrepreneurship and industry. She pointed to the progress made in recent years and said that, alongside its academic mission, industry and entrepreneurship must increasingly become pillars supporting the faculty’s students. That theme was picked up by Partsinevelos, who presented findings from a year-long mapping exercise by 33East examining the scale and composition of Cyprus’ deep-tech ecosystem. According to the mapping, Cyprus is now home to more than 150 deep-tech start-ups active across areas including health and biotechnology, energy and climate, applied artificial intelligence, robotics, defence and space. At the same time, the island has absorbed almost €1 billion in competitive research and innovation funding over the past decade. Partsinevelos also said Cyprus has secured more competitive EU research funding per head of population than any other member state under both Horizon 2020 and Horizon Europe. That funding has supported seven centres of excellence and 22 European Research Council grants hosted on the island. While the research base has expanded, the mapping also showed a gap between grant-backed companies and those that have gone on to attract private capital. Roughly half of the companies identified have received grant support from the Research and Innovation Foundation or EU programmes, while a smaller number have subsequently raised private venture capital. That gap between research funding and private investment formed one of the central themes of the evening, as both the Research and Innovation Foundation and private investors increase their support for early-stage companies. The Cyprus picture also reflects a broader shift in European venture capital. Partsinevelos said deep tech now represents around one third of European venture capital investment, more than double its share a decade ago, while research shows European deep-tech companies reaching billion-dollar valuations faster than other start-ups. The discussion then turned to what Cyprus still needs if more research is to move from laboratories into companies. It was moderated by Yiannis Eftychiou, co-founder and General Partner at 33East, and brought together voices from academia, research commercialisation and the start-up community. Among them were Margarita Chli, Professor of Robotic Vision at the University of Cyprus and Visiting Professor at ETH Zurich, and Anastasia Constantinou, who heads the Innovation Management Sector at UCY’s Research and Innovation Support Service. They were joined by Anixi Antonakoudi, Director of Innovation at The Cyprus Institute, Maria Markidou Georgiadou, Executive Director and Founder of Cyprus Seeds, and Charis Christofi, co-founder and chief executive of Orom AI. Their discussion focused on how each organisation is working to reduce the distance between scientific research and entrepreneurship. Cyprus Seeds was emphasised as one of the organisations that has directly supported research commercialisation on the island, including university spin-outs that have emerged in recent years. The Cyprus Institute was also presented as an example of how founders can draw on the facilities, scientific expertise and infrastructure of a research institution both before setting up a company and after incorporation. However, the discussion also underlined the structural obstacles that remain. These include the legislative framework governing university spin-outs, intellectual property ownership and researchers’ participation in companies, areas that can directly affect how quickly research can move into the market. Constantinou outlined the work being carried out by the University of Cyprus’ Innovation Management Sector to support researchers through licensing, contract research and incubation, as well as steps aimed at shortening the route from laboratory work to company formation. The discussion also looked at the role of academic culture itself. Chli drew on her experience at both the University of Cyprus and ETH Zurich, one of Europe’s most prolific sources of university spin-outs, to explain how academics can move closer to entrepreneurship and what institutional conditions can make that transition easier. Her contribution added an international comparison to the debate, particularly around the relationship between researchers, universities, investors and founders. From the start-up side, Orom AI was cited as an example of a company emerging from Cyprus’ growing technology ecosystem. The company, co-founded by Christofi, is among the start-ups identified in 33East’s mapping and was referenced during the discussion as an example of what local founders can build when they choose to develop novel technology from the island. The event also moved beyond presentations and panel discussion. Following the fireside session, the University of Cyprus opened several of its engineering laboratories for guided tours, giving attendees a first-hand look at research currently being carried out at the faculty. Visitors were also encouraged to consider how the university’s facilities could be used in their own research and technology ventures, reinforcing one of the central messages of the evening, that Cyprus already has infrastructure and expertise which could play a greater role in supporting company creation. The evening concluded with a networking session aimed at connecting people across academia, investment, research and entrepreneurship.