The official launch of the Silicon Valley Greek Hub (SVGH) πραγματοποίησαν ο υφυπουργός Εξωτερικών για την Οικονομική Διπλωματία και την Εξωστρέφεια Κώστας Φραγκογιάννης μαζί με τον υφυπουργό Ανάπτυξης Χρίστο Δήμα και τον Γιάννη Σμυρλή, γενικό γραμματέα Διεθνών Οικονομικών Σχέσεων (ΔΟΣΕ του υπουργείου Εξωτερικών και πρόεδρο του Enterprise Greece, με την άφιξη τους στο Σαν Φρανσίσκο όπου πραγματοποιούν επίσκεψη εργασίας. Members of the expatriate community, academics and entrepreneurs active in Silicon Valley attended the event at the Greek Consulate.

SVGH is a networking initiative created under the auspices of the Consulate General of Greece in San Francisco. Its members are Greeks from the Bay Area who are active in the technology industry with various specialties:

• business executives
• startup founders
• academic researchers
• experts in venture capital etc.

Aspiring to connect Silicon Valley with the global Greek innovation ecosystem, in the context of Economic Diplomacy, SVGH paves the way for creative synergies in entrepreneurship, business, commerce and technology

The core team of the Silicon Valley Greek Hub platform consists of highly successful professionals. Professionals who intend to act as mentors, advisors, intermediaries, partners and/or investors for the Greek startup ecosystem. The ultimate vision for the Hub is to grow into a powerful collaboration network, offering tailored support to entrepreneurs who are eager to explore the opportunities available in Silicon Valley and beyond.

The initial range of SVGH activities includes:

a) regular online coaching sessions between platform members and Greek entrepreneurs

b) a series of networking events connecting like-minded peers

(c) online discussions with special guest speakers covering trends and topics related to the innovation and technology community

Visit to Matternet, a Greek owned Drones manufacturing company

The team of three representatives of the Greek government, accompanied by executives of startup companies, who traveled to Silicon Valley to participate in the SVGH platform meetings, held visit to the Greek-owned company Matternet, where CEO Andreas Raptopoulos and a team of executives presented their business model.

Matternet is the first civilian drone manufacturer in the world to be certified by the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and is already working with UPS. Both the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Costas Frangoyannis and the Deputy Minister of Development Christos Dimas, bothboth invited mr. Raptopoulo to cooperate with the Greek Governement At the same time, he received a series of questions and queries from the executives of the 6 startups accompanying the mission.

Update on CryptoCurrencies

The Consulate General of the San Francisco Consulate General of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs also organized a meeting of the team of State Secretaries, with executive of Greek origin of the company Coinbase, which gave an in-depth presentation on cryptocurrencies, their origins, risks and opportunities that are emerging with their increasing penetration into US businesses.

Visit to the Holiday Inn Golden Gateway Hotel

The boutique hotel of Patty Thoedoridis, was also visited by Mr. Fragogianni with Mr. Dimas and I. Smyrlis, the Secretary General of the DOSE, in the heart of the Napa Valley, famous for its vineyards and dozens of wineries. At the hotel presentations of projects handled by Economic Diplomacy to business people attending the visit, as well as information on major investments by giant companies in our country.

Continuity of the project

The schedule for the next few days includes meetings with investors, a visit to UC Berkeley. There will also be a meeting with members of the Silicon Valley Greek Hub (SVGH) to officially launch the Mentoring Sessions initiative.

Chr. Dimas: Greece can always make more steps in innovation

Christos Dimas, Undersecretary of State for Development and Investment, describes as interesting the discussions in San Francisco with the Greek startups of Elevate Greece, on how Greece can take even more steps in innovation.

This is what the Deputy Minister said in a post on social media, on the occasion of the two meetings he had yesterday in San Francisco. Specifically, mr Dimas points:

"In San Fransisco, we made two important meetings. With the Greek startups of Elevate Greece we met the founder and CEO of Matternet, Andreas Raptopoulos. A startup that leads the world in drone product transportation, saving time, money and with significant benefits for health services and the environment. We also met Michalis Potamias, Head of Machine Learning at Coinbase. He updated us on global developments around bitcoin and cryptocurrencies. Very interesting discussions on how Greece can make even more steps in innovation and hopefully useful as a source of inspiration for Greek startups."