TORONTO, September 23, 2026
The Hellenic Initiative Canada (THI Canada), together with Ergo Capital, welcomed entrepreneurs, investors, mentors and members of Toronto’s business community on Monday, September 21, for the Accelerate Greece 2026 Welcome Reception, sponsored by egg | Eurobank, officially kicking off a week of mentorship, connections and international growth.
Taking place in Toronto from September 21–25, Accelerate Greece is an intensive accelerator program designed to help growth-stage companies from Greece and Cyprus explore opportunities in the North American market.
Under the guiding principle “Build it in Greece. Sell it to the world,” participating companies spend the week meeting with experienced entrepreneurs, investors and industry leaders, refining their strategies and building relationships within Canada’s business and innovation ecosystem. The program concludes with participation in the NRTH Festival (formerly Elevate Festival), one of Canada’s leading technology and innovation gatherings.
Meet the 2026 Companies
This year’s Toronto cohort welcomed DROPS Smart Hubs from Greece and MammoCheck from Cyprus.
DROPS Smart Hubs develops droneports that form a distributed infrastructure network for autonomous drone operations. DROPS integrates physical infrastructure with connectivity, charging, operational management, fleet coordination and the digital ecosystem around the aircraft, enabling different drones, operators and use cases to deploy safely and scale across multiple locations.
MammoCheck empowers women to monitor their breast health at home by combining thermal imaging with AI to track changes over time and flag them for clinician review. The technology is non-invasive, radiation-free and requires no compression.
During its week in Toronto, MammoCheck also had the opportunity to pitch on the main stage during the NRTH Festival’s opening night on Tuesday, introducing the company and its technology to the broader Canadian innovation and investment community.
An Evening of Innovation and Connection
Accelerate Greece founder Peter Polydor opened Monday evening’s reception, reflecting on the program’s beginnings in California and its expansion into Canada, supported by The Hellenic Initiative Canada and a growing network of mentors, partners and supporters. To date, including this year’s cohort, Accelerate Greece has brought 15 companies from Greece and Cyprus to North America, connecting their founders with the people, expertise and networks needed to explore international growth.
Representing THI Canada, Steven Makrinos spoke about the organization’s commitment to strengthening connections between Canada and Greece through entrepreneurship, philanthropy, education and community initiatives. He also highlighted THI Canada’s upcoming Oloi Mazi Gala, celebrating 10 years of impact.
The evening was sponsored by egg | Eurobank, marking the third consecutive year of its partnership with and support for Accelerate Greece and its mission to help innovative Greek companies grow beyond their home market.
Speaking at the reception, Aretaios L. Chourdakis of Eurobank highlighted the importance of bringing together talent, capital, expertise and international networks to support innovation.
“Accelerate Greece embodies a philosophy that is very much aligned with Eurobank’s own vision that innovation grows faster when talent, capital, expertise and international networks come together.”
Chourdakis noted that supporting innovation and entrepreneurship has been a strategic priority for Eurobank for many years. Through egg, Eurobank has supported entrepreneurs in building innovative businesses for more than a decade, while the establishment of Venture Banking
extends that support to high-growth companies seeking to scale, enter new markets and pursue international expansion.
“Eurobank remains committed to supporting this journey and to helping build the next generation of internationally competitive companies.”
Leading with Trust: A Conversation with George Stroumboulis
A highlight of the evening was a fireside conversation with keynote speaker and global entrepreneur George Stroumboulis, CEO of Ideoli Group, moderated by Yonida Koukio, Corporate & Technology Lawyer at Oziel Law. Stroumboulis shared lessons from building and scaling a business internationally.
At the heart of his message was a simple principle: lead with trust.
“Trust will get you invited to the table, but execution will get you invited back.”
Drawing on the work ethic of his immigrant parents and his own entrepreneurial journey, Stroumboulis spoke about building a global business through consistency, discipline, personal relationships and exceptional customer service.
His experience also offered an important lesson for companies looking beyond their home markets: successful global expansion depends on finding the right partners in each jurisdiction, understanding the local market and continuing to deliver on the fundamentals that built the business in the first place.
Stroumboulis also spent time with the participating companies during the week, sharing his experience directly as one of the program’s mentors.
Mentorship at the Heart of Accelerate Greece
Mentorship remains a central part of the Accelerate Greece experience. Over five days, participating companies meet with entrepreneurs, executives, investors and advisors across business strategy, finance, technology, sales and international expansion.
The 2026 mentor network includes John Mavriyannakis, Elliott Schwartz, Xavier Tang, Marc Weiner, Panagiota Dafniotis, Alex Seimanidis, Nagar Rahmani, Steve Kriaris, George Gretes, Sam Coleman-Shapiro, Morty Soley and Alexandros Sklavounos, among others.
Behind the program is a dedicated organizing team working throughout the year to bring together the companies, mentors, partners and opportunities that make the week possible. The 2026 team includes Peter Polydor, Yonida Koukio, Heather Travis, Irene Anargyrou, Michael Coulouras, Romanos Byrilis, Steven Makrinos, Kostas Poulakidas and Evan Mamas.
Accelerate Greece gratefully acknowledges the sponsors and supporters who made the 2026 program possible: Ergo Capital, the Polydor Foundation, THI Canada, egg | Eurobank, RBC, Konstantinos Antonopoulos, Ideoli Group, Panopticon and the Makrinos Family.
Through mentorship, access to industry leaders and participation in Toronto’s broader innovation ecosystem, Accelerate Greece continues its mission of helping promising companies from Greece and Cyprus think beyond borders:
Build it in Greece. Sell it to the world.
Media Contact
Irene Anargyrou
The Hellenic Initiative Canada
irene@thehellenicinitiative.ca
416-572-7324
Main Photo Caption: Starting from the right: THI Canada Co-President John Sotos, Steven and Brynn Makrinos, Aretaios Chourdakis of Eurobank, Irene Anargyrou, Yonida Koukio, Kostas Poulakidas,Alexandros Sklavounos, Heather Travis,Peter Polydor.
