Agricultural University of Athens and EY Greece support student research and innovation

The Agricultural University of Athens, in collaboration with EY Greece, implemented joint initiatives to support entrepreneurial teams of students and researchers participating in the GrowHive project.

GrowHive is the Innovation and Entrepreneurship Center of the Agricultural University of Athens and forms part of the project “Strategic Research Development Plan of the Agricultural University of Athens,” implemented under the “Universities of Excellence” call of the Recovery and Resilience Facility “Greece 2.0,” funded by the European Union – NextGeneration EU.

Highlighting innovative ideas through GrowHive

In 2025, GrowHive implemented a support program for students and researchers of the Agricultural University of Athens, aiming to strengthen the culture of innovation and entrepreneurship and to develop relevant skills.

The program’s actions focused on highlighting original ideas, promoting and recognizing research outcomes, and supporting student and research teams in order to facilitate the connection of their ideas with the market and their commercialization. The program concluded with the GrowHive Innovation Competition, through which three notable entrepreneurial ideas were selected, with applications in the agri-food and life sciences sectors.

Practical support through mentoring by EY Greece

EY Greece, as a strategic partner of the Agricultural University of Athens, contributed to the success of the program’s activities and continues to actively support the creation of positive impact for selected entrepreneurial teams of GrowHive.

EY’s contribution was reflected in the participation of two distinguished executives in the evaluation of 11 entrepreneurial ideas that took part in the Innovation Competition and will continue through voluntary advisory guidance (mentoring) for the three winning teams. Specifically, EY executives will provide:

• 20 hours of mentoring to the Kerberos team, which won first place. Kerberos is developing a probiotic product aimed at reducing the risks posed by microplastics to the human body.
• 12 hours of mentoring to the AI Agro Safe team, which won second place. AI Agro Safe is developing a bio-sensory artificial intelligence platform for monitoring pesticide residues in agricultural products.
• 8 hours of mentoring to the PhysBeer team, which won third place. The team has developed a business idea in the brewing sector, focusing on sustainable development, energy efficiency, and scientific innovation.

The mentoring will be undertaken respectively by Thanos Mavros, Partner at EY Greece, Giorgos Tzamtzis, Director at EY-Parthenon (EY Greece’s corporate strategy and transactions arm), and Giorgos Logothetis, Manager at EY-Parthenon.

EY Greece’s sponsorship is carried out within the framework of the corporate social impact program “EY Ripples,” which, among other priorities, strategically focuses on supporting the next generation. In this context, EY supports the Agricultural University of Athens by providing guidance and mentoring to the three teams that distinguished themselves in the competition.

The collaboration between the Agricultural University of Athens and EY Greece is of key importance for supporting young researchers and innovative entrepreneurial ideas in the agri-food sector, within the framework of the University’s continuous connection with the market and the transfer of cutting-edge technologies from laboratories to society.