Having a shared objective of research commercialization and collaborative approach, Cyprus Seeds and the Innovation Department of the CYENS Centre of Excellence organized recently mentoring sessions for the CYENS research teams interested to take their research from the lab to the market. This mentoring was offered, pro bono, by 5 CS experience mentors who visited Cyprus for one week on the invite of Cyprus Seeds. Both organizations support the commercialization and valorization of research results in Cyprus and believe that the Cyprus ecosystem can only grow and develop with solid collaborations between its key stakeholders.
The mentoring took place at the CYENS Centre of Excellence at the beginning of June 2022. It was organized as a part of Cyprus Seeds’ activities during the mentors’ visit to Cyprus. During their visit, the US mentors also met the Cyprus Seeds teams at their labs as well as CYENS researchers and innovation professionals and engaged with key stakeholders of Cyprus's research and innovation ecosystem including policy officials and private corporations.
Jonathan Green, George Mabry, Paul Blackborow and Karen Golmer are four of a number of US mentors who have been offering advice and coaching pro bono to Cyprus Seeds academic teams since the beginning of the 1st funding cycle of the program in 2019, they are all successful entrepreneurs with many years of research commercialization experience and relevant industry expertise. Jonathan Green, the Managing Director at Arcadia Funds, a Ph.D. graduate from Stanford University, has more than 35 years of experience spanning a range of advanced technology and new business development. George Mabry, a Harvard MBA graduate and an MIT Ph.D. graduate, is a seasoned entrepreneur and senior-level executive. He helped build and lead the pre-eminent market research and consulting company in the pharmaceutical industry. Paul Blackborow has an extensive career in the technical sales and marketing of products used to manufacture semiconductor devices, particularly products that incorporate high-intensity plasmas. Karen Golmer, a recently retired Innovation Manager at the MIT Deshpande Center, has more than 35 years of experience in facilitating industry and university collaboration to advance new technologies, identify technical challenges, and find solutions to mitigate business risks. Leon Sandler, the Executive Director of the MIT Deshpande Center for Technological Innovation, was also in Cyprus and participated in all the activities organized by Cyprus Seeds.