Entrepreneurship and Innovation Competition

The Crazy Business Ideas competition is open to the public, so anyone with an innovative idea, adults and minors (with the necessary consent) can participate.

Description of the tender

The Crazy Business Ideas competition is open to the public and therefore anyone with an innovative idea, adults and minors (with the necessary consent) can participate. Participation can be individual or group. In case of group participation, the maximum number of people, per group, is four (4). Each participant (individual or group) is allowed to participate with one or more ideas. Applicants who have competed in the “CRAZY BUSINESS IDEAS” Competition in previous years are permitted to participate in the Competition, but not with the same idea.

To participate in the competition, the candidate must submit his/her idea via landing page within the website www.ist.edu.gr, submitting a short text describing the idea, together with a photo or video of the idea including his/her personal details (name, e-mail and age) and (if a minor) the written consent of his/her parents.

Ideas are evaluated by a panel of selected entrepreneurs, professors, and personalities.

The 10 shortlisted teams/candidates will be invited to prepare, under the guidance of IST College and with the help and advice of academics and market executives (mentors), the Business Plan for their idea and then participate in a “Crazy Business Ideas Fest”, where the ideas will be presented, based on the Business Plans, and networking will take place.

The short idea presentations for each of the 10 teams will be made in front of the jury and the audience attending the event at the IST premises.

It is noted that as part of the competition we will organize an open Entrepreneurship Seminar.

Crazy Business Ideas Competition Objectives – 2025

IST College’s Crazy Business Ideas Competition aims to strengthen the entrepreneurial spirit and skills of young people and works by supporting in practice, youth entrepreneurship, innovative ideas and the young generation in general. With this premise, the aim is to create incentives and conditions for young people who will consciously choose to become active through their first entrepreneurial efforts. The aim is therefore to create all those synergies and partnerships which, on the one hand, will lay the foundations for an ‘ecosystem’ of cultivation and support for the initiative and, on the other hand, will bring compensatory benefits to all supporters and promoters of the action through interactive and ‘differentiated’ communication with the general young public.

2025 Competition Awards

The prizes of this year’s Competition are as follows:

1st prize winner:

3,000€ seed capital to turn his idea into a business (seed capital).

One (1) full scholarship for a Diploma programme of his choice

2nd prize winner:

One (1) full scholarship* for an undergraduate programme of his/her choice

3rd prize winner:

One (1) full scholarship* for a postgraduate programme of the winner’s choice

* The scholarship will cover full tuition fees, except for royalties to the partner university. In the event that the 2nd and 3rd winners are a group rather than individual entries, the scholarship for the undergraduate and graduate program respectively, will be awarded to all members of the group distributed at a discounted rate, depending on the number of individuals interested in attending the respective program.

Action Character

Educational institutions are a source of knowledge, but also a reservoir of ideas, so they must adopt a new educational philosophy, based on modern knowledge and continuous training of young people, fostering entrepreneurship, promoting innovation and opening new horizons.

IST College listens to the needs of Greek society, understanding that today’s conditions require the development of close and effective cooperation between educational institutions and businesses. Thus, it adopts the innovative model of studies called “business facing”. It is no coincidence that the majority of the universities with which IST College collaborates (Catholic University of Lyon, Glyndwr University, IDRAC, etc.) have invested substantially and have distinguished themselves for promoting entrepreneurship among young people and for linking education with the labour market.

This action was designed with the aforementioned in mind, aiming to encourage young people from all over Greece to think of an innovative idea and dare to transform it into a business act, thus giving ground for young start-up entrepreneurship to flourish.

The action is non-profit and does not aim to create financial profit.  On the contrary, as mentioned above and in order to facilitate and properly guide the participants in preparing their participation, IST College offers free support activities such as business plan training seminars as well as prize money and scholarships.

The resources required to run and promote the competition will be covered by IST College and potential sponsors. It is worth noting that, due to the intense interest and ongoing contacts between IST College and numerous business companies, sponsorships have not yet been finalized.

Once the sponsorships are finalised, they will be communicated to the Ministry of Education and Religious Affairs.

This action is addressed to the general public, involving a large number of young people who, either as participants or as observers, are motivated to think and act entrepreneurially.

In addition, young people are given the opportunity to experience a “virtual business reality” which can, if they so wish, become a reality as they seek solutions and outlets for developing, promoting and implementing their proposal through their business plan. And since the purpose of the competition is to encourage the young generation to dare to put their ideas into practice, IST College, provides them with all possible support in this direction. In this way, in addition to giving young people the opportunity to make contacts with renowned entrepreneurs, thus opening a channel of communication with the business world during the competition, IST College guides young people in their first steps, offering advice, putting them in contact with the relevant services, planning with them promotional and publicity activities, etc.

As an educational institution, IST has both the experience and the know-how to organise and support an entrepreneurship and innovation competition. This particular competition, which we would like to place under the auspices of the Ministry of Education and Religious Affairs for 2023, has been conducted with great success over the past four years, with the contribution of renowned academics and entrepreneurs as members of the jury, as well as the participation of academic and administrative staff of the institution with many years of experience and market knowledge. Moreover, in 2011, 2012, 2013 and 2014, Crazy Business Ideas was held under the auspices of the General Secretariat for Youth, the Piraeus Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the Athens Chamber of Commerce and Industry, which gave prestige to the competition and undoubtedly contributed to its even greater success compared to 2011, the first year of the competition.

In addition, IST College has significant experience in the organization of competitions and important events, since for many years it has been organizing various activities such as:

  • The “Business Voice” lecture and presentation series, which consists of speeches given by guests – important business executives from all sectors of the economy, in order to inform students on issues that concern the companies they work for and represent.
  • The “IST on Site” event, which involves a series of educational visits of students to companies and organisations, in the context of which students are guided around the company’s premises and come into contact with its executives, gaining knowledge and perception of the working environment.

Finally, the fact that IST College has the general mechanism, experience and know-how to support and implement major projects and events is also evident from the fact that IST College has for many years undertaken and implemented, either as a leader or as a partner in international synergies, projects co-funded by the European Union, which in most cases had an educational or research dimension and concerned young people.

Indicatively, IST College’s participation in PETRA II, Leonardo Da Vinci, Lingua, Tempus-Jep, Recite II, Do Business Online, CEDEFOP programme, etc.

Evaluation Criteria Crazy Business Ideas

Business Plans (Table 1) Score/Severity

Jury (Business Plans)

Degree of idea implementation 20%

Realism 10%

Opportunity/market niche 10%

Quality/relevance of business plan 30%

Performance 10%

Structure 10%

Financial figures 10%

Innovation 20%

Vision 10%

Idea differentiation 10%

Presentation 30%

Total 100%

The criteria of the quality of the presentation and essentially the ability of each team to explain, promote and “sell” its idea will play an equally important role in the final evaluation of the committee.

Out of the 10 ideas presented, the 3 best ideas will be awarded (1st, 2nd and 3rd winner). The final score will be derived from the evaluation based on the degree of idea implementation, quality/value of business plan and innovation (Table 1).

Finally, the 3 highest scoring teams will also receive an award from IST College at an event at IST premises.