Entrepreneurship

Cosmetics company Apivita is the first Greek firm to receive the B Corporation certification, becoming a member of an international network of companies and organizations that aspire to combine entrepreneurship with social welfare and use the power of markets to solve social and environmental problems.

The International Finance Corporation (IFC) has invested $75 million in a bond issued by Turkish private lender Garanti Bank to boost loans for women entrepreneurs' href='/search/women entrepreneurs'>women entrepreneurs in Turkey, it announced on June 13.

An important opportunity to increase the number of women parliamentarians for equal representation has been missed, according to the head of women's NGO. "These elections are very important because Turkey will be governed by a different model," said Sanem Oktar Ögüt, the president of the Women Entrepreneurs Association of Turkey (KAGİDER).

Some 40,000 enterprises were born and died during Greece's financial crisis, as attempts to find a way out of unemployment through entrepreneurship, out of necessity, has proven a very difficult and risky choice.

Greek student Stavros Tsompanidis was walking on a beach when he saw a business idea in the piles of dried-up seagrass. He decided to recycle it to make iPhone cases, sunglasses and gift boxes. Four years on, his startup, PHEE, sells its products across Greece and abroad. He represents a change in mind-set among young Greeks who are turning to entrepreneurship as a result of the crisis.

Romania's Black Sea resorts are set to start their 2018 tourist season this weekend, with over 40,000 visitors expected to head to the seaside for the traditional May 1 break.

But local entrepreneurs say they may have a hard time coping with the influx because of the unprecedented shortage of staff.

Where does the Greek startup ecosystem stand? Last week was marked by the official launch of EquiFund, the new fund of funds that has been set up to promote entrepreneurship in the recession-battered country. How much progress has been made since the launch of four funding programs through the JEREMIE initiative of the European Investment Fund (EIF) in 2013?

Greek company Syncbnb has been shortlisted among over 500 European startups to participate in the EU Startups Summit on April 24 in Barcelona, Spain, so as to present its service to a large audience consisting of the elite of the continent's startup ecosystem.

For the seventh consecutive year, the American University in Bulgaria will transform into a center for innovative ideas and entrepreneurial spirit, the educational institution said.

On March 31st, there will be a regular Startup Conference on Entrepreneurship, organized by Student Club StartUP @ Blagoevgrad.

In a message to the Federation of Female Employers' Associations gala on Thursday called "Out of Appreciation for You," President Klaus Iohannis announced that soon a "vision for a modern and European Romania" will be put up for public discussions.