Ignite Ideas – Πρόγραμμα ανάπτυξης καινοτόμων ιδεών που δημιουργούν αξία

Ignite Ideas II

An acceleration process
to build your Proof-of-Concept in 3 months.

An initiative co-organised by Nestlé Hellas SA and
The Athens University of Economics and Business

The Phases of the Program

Phase A
Share your idea

Submit your business idea by filling in the application form. Share information about your business idea/ solution as well as your team’s competences.

Phase B
Pivot your idea

Present how you envision the solution working, and get feedback by experts. Learn and receive focused feedback on how to pivot and adapt your idea so that it best meets the company’s needs.

Phase C
Validate your idea

Run your Proof Of Concept and demonstrate the feasibility of your solution and confirm the value proposition.

Meet the organizers

The “Ignite Ideas” Program is a Nestlé Hellas initiative aiming at supporting startups on topics of mutual interest. The initiative is running for a second time with the support of Athens Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation (ACEin), the incubation center of the Athens University of Economics and Business. The program aims at developing an acceleration process of innovative ideas in areas related to Nestlé’s business activity. Recognizing the significant presence of the Greek innovation and entrepreneurship ecosystem, Nestlé invites entrepreneurial teams, start-ups, scientists & researchers to submit new business models and innovative products / services related to the environment, energy, climate change and sustainability. ACEin is the intermediary partner that provides the methodology and ensures a high level of quality and trust.

Innovation has been at the heart of Nestlé Group since its beginning. The inventions of Farine Lactée, the first food for infants, by Henri Nestlé in 1867, the “champagne of waters” or the Perrier water that we all know by Sir John Harmsworth in 1903, Nescafé instant coffee by a team of experts...

As part of its strategy towards innovation and entrepreneurship, the Athens University of Economics and Business (AUEB) has recently established the Athens Center of Entrepreneurship and Innovation (commonly initialized as ACEin)...

"IGNITE IDEAS has practically demonstrated how valuable is the business know-how Nestle has and how valuable is the “drive” young start-uppers have; Putting the two together is key to successful “win-win” entrepreneurial partnerships with positive outcome for all parties"

Nick Emmanouilidis

Nestle Hellas CEO and Ignite Ideas Program Sponsor

Areas of Interest/ The challenges

Nowadays, one of the biggest challenges is that of climate change. Recent cutting edge technologies have an important role to play on the way the natural environment can be protected. The program focuses on – but is not limited to – specific topics:

Circular economy in packaging: materials and design, handling and disposal of packaging from consumers, recycling and / or reuse for the smallest possible environmental impact
Reduction of food waste
Energy conservation and reduction of pollution
Educating and sensibilization of the society in Greece towards environmental issues
Sustainable supply chain and transportation
Other broader topics regarding the environment

Program Support & Awards

PROOF OF CONCEPT

Pilot implementation of case-assumptions in a meaningfulyour business idea in a real environment to test way

COACHING

Coaching, training and incubation services provided by ACEin

FINANCIAL AWARD

Symbolic monetary prize for the winning teams

MENTORING

Mentoring support by Nestlé executives to further develop the innovative idea and prove its value within the business environment

Mentions of us

Being part of a startup in 2000, I loved the idea of creating a corporate innovation program to support the Greek entrepreneurs’ ecosystem: Ignite Ideas was born in 2018! I wish we had access to such high-quality coaching, mentoring and training provided by extremely competent and full of energy Nestle people back then! We are delighted to be able to support Greek startups complete their proof of concept through collaborative initiatives: 6 projects came out of round I and we are looking forward to round II, on such an inspiring topic as environmental sustainability! Stay tuned!

Nikos Boucaouris

Nestle Hellas Continuous Improvement / Coffees Value Stream / Ignite Ideas Program Manager
Ignite is a really important program for our company. It is a nice opportunity for Nestle to come closer to young talents, to learn from them and coach them in a constructive way. Our objective is to impart some entrepreneurial thinking to executives while at the same time getting to know promising start-up companies. Nestle sees Ignite as an opportunity to discover new ideas early and perhaps partner with, invest in, or learn from today’s most innovative entrepreneurs. Seeing how they think and what moves the needle for them has been fascinating

Nikos Prapas

National Sales Director
Innovation, entrepreneurship and people with different ways of thinking, backgrounds & ages collaborated on the Ignite Ideas program to contribute with their idea or experience to a common goal. To turn business ideas into a final innovative product or process. It takes courage, time, passion, flexibility, perseverance and faith in an idea to evolve. And this route is a great experience

Alexia Laskaratou

Impulse Confectionery Manager, Nestlé
Ignite was one of the most fruitful and interesting experience in my professional career. It’s fascinating to discover new talents and ideas from a total new perspective. The agility and the innovation of the teams reminded us that there is not boundaries in imagination

Eftychia Baka

Nestle Hellas E-Commerce manager
It is not very often that you get the opportunity to participate in such an open exchange of ideas and perspectives. Discussions on not whether it is possible, but instead how it can best be done! For anyone presented with this unique opportunity, I say grab it and make the best of it!

Despo Papadaki

Nescafe Dolce Gusto Group Brand Manager
We are very lucky to have participated in the Ignite Ideas program. Through the program we had the opportunity to work with experts. Their energy and support expanded our way of thinking concerning our business idea and market validation. The constructive feedback we received during the program and the pilot implementation helped us further develop our idea.

Vasilis Stavrou

Co-Founder at Shopmind
Our participation in Nestlé’s Ignite Ideas has helped us discover alternative markets, get real feedback, be exposed to new data, and gain a key partner.

Stefanos Tsiakmakis

CEO & Co-Founder at BIO2CHP
Nestlé Hellas, through the program of Ignite Ideas, proved to be a determining factor in the development of CoffeCo. In addition to financial support, the most important help has been the advice provided by the project leader and very experienced executives of the company. At the same time, it has offered us an excellent network of external partners, thus integrating us into a professional environment in which we had to adapt. A competition that is gradually evolving in deep collaboration with a large company is the best thing that can happen to a start-up company that has just started taking its first steps.

Marios Vlachogiannis

Chemical Engineer & Co-founder at CoffeCo