● Vassilis Papakonstantinou
Vice Chairman, StartSmart SEE
Vassilis is a technology entrepreneur and investor with a solid engineering and business background. He co-founded COGNITOR AI, a technology startup developing a passive authentication platform using machine learning and behavioral biometrics. He is the managing partner of P Square Ventures, a boutique technology consulting firm focusing on the digital transformation of businesses, primarily through the use of advanced AI systems. He is the partner responsible for technology at Blue Dome Capital, an investment manager seeking to capture emerging investment opportunities in technology transfer and innovation-driven ventures in Central and South-Eastern Europe. He led investments in various startups and achieved already two multi-X exits.
He sits on the Boards of Directors of various deep technology companies. He co-founded the StartSmart South-Eastern Europe (formerly MIT Enterprise Forum Greece) and the Boston-based Hellenic Innovation Network. He is a research affiliate at MIT, teaches entrepreneurship at the National Technical University of Athens, and serves as an Entrepreneur In Residence (EIR) at NCSR Demokritos. He holds degrees in Mechanical Engineering from the National Technical University of Athens and Ocean Systems Management from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He lives in Greece with his family and enjoys running and windsurfing.