About

Almost a decade ago, the idea of CEL was conceived by 3 friends that felt Cyprus was lacking the drive to participate in a Global conversation about technology and entrepreneurship. Michael Tyrimos, Angelos Perdios and Michael Hadjijosef got together, put their time and vision into action by recruiting other like-minded individuals in order to build what eventually became a driving force for fostering an entrepreneurial ecosystem in Cyprus.

The CEL founding family as it was referred to grew to 12 members by Summer 2012. Since then countless members/volunteers joined its ranks and created some amazing initiatives and projects to this day.

Our
History

March 2012

First CEL meet up in Nicosia at Mondo Cafe

July 2012

First ever Hackathon announcement

hack{cyprus} community was born.

September 2012

First ever Hackathon by hack{cyprus}

It took place in CUT with 80 participants.

December 2012

First CEL BBN

Beer, Burgers and Networking happened at ESOGBA in Nicosia. More than 100 people rated our super grillman burgers.

March 2013

CEL turns 1 and announces a bigger hack{cyprus} festival

The hack{cyprus} festival announced to happen in September 2013 with multiple events taking place in University of Cyprus and other venues around the island.

March 2013

First Pink Edition

First Pink Edition introduces an all-female panel of entrepreneurs and developers from all sorts of industries.

September 2013

hack{cyprus} festival

The hack{cyprus} festival creates unprecedented waves around the island, even scoring being included in the TechCrunch and other major publications as events to follow yearly.

October 2013

Tech Talks launch

Tech Talks launch aiming to keep the discussion about technology alive until a following Hackathon.

November 2013

First "Show me the money" event

Aiming to lobby for more investment and VC money in order to grow the entrepreneurial ecosystem.

June 2014

Hackathon

August 2014

CEL Education forms

CEL Education forms inspired by the invitation of UNDP.

October 2014

CEL Education classes

CEL Education classes take place in Deryneia and Famagusta every second week for a 6-week course in entrepreneurship.

May 2014

First delegation of CEL EYE heads to Strasbourg

March 2015

First stand alone Insights Conference

Insights Conference taking place in Filoxenia Conference Hall in Nicosia.

June 2015

Hackathon with Major League Hacking

October/November 2015

CEL Education Entrepreneurial Bootcampsb in Famagusta

Entrepreneurial Bootcamps in collaboration with UNDP.

November 2015

Local {hack} days takes place in Nicosia

May 2016

CEL Founder Talks in UK kickoff

June 2016

hack{cyprus} Hackathons celebrate 5 years

November 2016

Insights Conference is back!

January 2017

CEL Education Entrepreneurial Bootcamps kick off again

CEL Education Entrepreneurial Bootcamps kick off again with British High Commission under the project name: The Entrepreneurship Series 2.0

November 2017

hack{cyprus} summit

hack{cyprus} summit is that year's major tech event hosted at the University of Cyprus.

September 2018

hack{cyprus} Hackathon

hack{cyprus} Hackathon introduces and organizes an open data Hackathon.

January 2019

LEAD Cyprus initiative kickoff in the buffer zone

March 2019

Two Jump on the Bus rounds of Cyprus take place

Jump on the Bus the south-west and north-east routes.

July 2019

LEAD Cyprus week kicks off

The week kicks off on the 15th of July with parallel events in every city.

July 2019

First simultaneous hack{cyprus} Hackathon

Taking place in all 6 cities in Cyprus in a virtual way.

April 2020

Hack the Crisis Hackathon

Hack the Crisis Hackathon kicks off virtually during the COVID-19 pandemic aiming to create solutions on tangible pandemic problems.

May 2020

EU vs VIRUS

CEL team undertakes the task to facilitate a pan-European Hackathon.

January 2021

Cyprus Mapping Project kick off

The project kicks off as a 2-year mapping project of the audience of Cyprus.

Join our team of Volunteers

The Cypriot Enterprise Link is a grassroot-led organization, owing its foundation and development to the tireless efforts of its volunteers. All of our work is carried out on a pro-bono basis and we are proud to have accomplished all of our milestones in that manner.

Volunteer Now