Cyprus Business Now

The Ministry of Energy, Commerce and Industry that its recently launched programme to boost Small-to-Medium sized enterprise (SMEs) competitiveness has received 453 applications through the designated system.

The number of applications received account for most of the €50 million budget allocated to the programme and they are being considered by order of submission. The ministry has stated that the results will be announced in the coming weeks.

“Due to the great interest shown both by new and existing entrepreneurs in the manufacturing sector, the Ministry of Energy, Commerce and Industry, in collaboration with the managing authority of the programme, announces that from Friday, September 10, 2021 at 09:00 AM and until midnight on September 30, 2021, it will continue to receive applications for this programme through its electronic application system,” the ministry said in a statement.

“We are emphasising that the applications will be considered in the order in which they are submitted, taking into account the savings that will stem from the proposed investment,” the ministry added.

A Eurobarometer flash survey has shown that 66 per cent of Cypriots broadly agree that ‘things in the country are heading in the right direction’.

Of those, 50 per cent ‘tend to agree’ with this statement, while the remaining 16 per cent strongly agree with it.

Conversely, 32 per cent tend to disagree with this notion, while 2 per cent strongly disagree that things are heading in the right direction.

Under the same category, 56 per cent of Cypriots broadly agree that things are heading in the right direction across the entire European Union, while 44 per cent broadly disagree.

In the same survey, Cypriots were also asked to rate the three primary issues which they believe the European Parliament should be focusing on as its main priority. Cypriots gave their highest scores to the effort being made against climate change (49 per cent versus an EU average of 43 per cent); combating poverty and social exclusion (50 per cent versus an EU average of 32 per cent); and efforts to support the local economy and create new jobs (43 per cent versus an EU average of 31 per cent).

Russia-founded but Cyprus-headquartered video game developer Nexter, along with Russian special purpose acquisition company Kismet, has begun trading on US marketplace Nasdaq.

The duo entered Nasdaq on August 27 as a common entity dubbed Nexters Inc., in a deal described by Kismet as ‘the first cooperation of its kind, involving a company from Russia and a Russian SPAC to list shares in the United States’.

Nexter is one of Europe’s top five independent video game developers and is behind such titles as Hero Wars and Throne Rush, helping the company record a 48 per cent year-on-year revenue increase during the first quarter of 2021.

The CYENS Centre of Excellence (former RISE) and CYENS Techub have announced a new accelerator program, “Nicosia²” (Nicosia Squared) focusing on the development of projects that use digital twins as ways of solving the challenges faced by cities and their inhabitants.

“Nicosia² aims to accelerate and support promising teams with hands-on training in business modelling, service design, project management and finance also providing coaching throughout the 3-month programme to help convert ideas into viable businesses”, a press release said.

The programme is designed in four phases to support teams at every stage, the press release added.

The first phase is the soft application phase, where applicants from all around Cyprus with any background are invited to propose ideas that relate to the use of Smart Cities and digital twins and match with at least one of the following criteria:

• Innovation delivering societal and environmental benefits
•  employment opportunities
•  contribution to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UN SDGs)
•  circular economy business models.

According to the press release, all successful applicants of the soft application process will be invited to participate in a week-long Basecamp to work with experts in preparing their applications to participate in the Accelerator.

Programme Timeline

• 6 September 2021 Announcement of the programme and soft applications (Deadline 26 September)
• 15 September 2021 Info session – Online
• 2 October 2021 Invitation of the selected applicant to join the Basecamp
• 4 – 8 October 2021 the Basecamp
• 8 October 2021 Hard applications & announcement of selected teams to Nicosia² accelerator program
• 18 October – 17 January 2022 Nicosia² Accelerator