Launch for the company managing the 5G applications’ Venture Fund
The exclusive purpose of the Company is the establishment and the management of the Venture Fund (A.K.E.S.) “Phaistos Fund” of article 94 of Law 4727/2020.
The Board of Directors of HCAP, the sole shareholder of the Company, as per their authority, have unanimously decided upon the appointment of the following members of the Board of Directors of the 5G Ventures S.A.:
1. George Polychronopoulos, Chairman of the Board, Independent Non-Executive Member of the Board of Directors
2. Antonios Tzortzakakis, Chief Executive Officer, Executive Member of the Board of Directors
3. Salvator Levis, Executive Member of the Board of Directors
4. Sotirios (Akis) Markatos, Executive Member of the Board of Directors
5. Nikolaos Karapanagou, Executive Member of the Board of Directors
6. Despina Magdalini (Diana) Markaki, Independent Non-Executive Member of the Board of Directors
7. Konstantinos Meimetis, Independent Non-Executive Member of the Board of Directors
The Phaistos Fund mission is to invest in businesses conducting research and/or developing products and services operating on 5G infrastructures, indicatively in the sectors of transport & logistics, processing, manufacturing, tourism, healthcare, information technologies, media and utilities.
This innovative Greek initiative has already been recognized as best investment practice at European level and is expected to make a decisive contribution to the creation of the Greek 5G digital ecosystem, which will timely introduce Greece to the 4th Industrial Revolution and will substantially enhance the competitiveness of the Greek economy.
The Board of Directors of HCAP wishes to the first Board of Directors of 5G Ventures S.A. strength and success, taking into account the challenges of the Company and its importance for the Greek economy.
See Appendix A’ for the short CVs of the Board members.
APPENDIX Α’
Short CVs of the Members of the Board of Directors of 5G Ventures S.A.
1. George Polychronopoulos, Chairman of the Board, Independent Non-Executive Member
He was born in 1963. Earned a BS in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science from Princeton University, a MS and PhD in Operations Research from M.I.T. Has an extensive career in financial services having worked in investment banking in London, starting his career at Salomon Brothers Intl, then Deutsche Bank AG and most recently at J.P. Morgan, as a Managing Director, CIO EMEA. He has also extensive and successful experience in the alternative investment management business as a Partner and Investment Manager at Endeavour Capital LLP, a $3bn Fixed Income Relative Value Hedge Fund, at Element Capital Partners, a $18bn Global Macro Hedge Fund, and currently at Capula Investment Management, a $20bn Hedge fund specialising in Fixed Income Relative Value and Volatility Strategies. He is also a member of the M.I.T. Cooperation Development Committee, the Princeton Alumni Schools Committee (UK), and was a Principal and Co-Founder of the Hellenic Hope charity.
2. Antonios Tzortzakakis, Chief Executive Officer, Executive Member of the Board of Directors
He was born in 1973. He holds an Electrical Engineering & Computer Technology diploma from the Technical University of Patras, and an International MBA from the Athens University of Economics and Business. He has worked for 23 years, in multinational technology and telecommunications companies abroad (Siemens AG) and in Greece (Wind Hellas, Vodafone Hellas, Tellas, Forthnet). As Chief Commercial Officer (CCO) and Chief Strategy Officer (CSO) in Wind Hellas, he played a decisive role in the company’s growth, broadening customer base and leading the investments in next-generation networks. As Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) in Tellas and Hellas On Line he designed and implemented successful Marketing & Brand strategies. As an executive in the Research & Development department of Siemens AG in Austria and Germany, he actively participated in the development of innovative mobile network services at a global level. During his service as the Secretary General for Telecommunications & Post of the Ministry of Digital Governance, he strongly contributed to the acceleration of the digital transformation of Greece. Among others, the preparation of the auction for the 5G licenses was completed, while at the same time, the 13033 SMS service design & implementation during the covid-19 pandemic has received international recognition by the EC and the OECD. He has served as a BoD member of the Association of Greek Information Technology and Telecommunications Companies (SEPE) and as a BoD member & Treasurer of the European Competitive Telecommunications Association (ECTA) in Brussels.
3. Salvator Levis, Executive Member of the Board of Directors
He was born in 1957. He studied business administration at the University of Piraeus and the Stanford Executive Program (SEP) at the Stanford Graduate School of Business. For more than 14 years he held in sales and management position in Banking Information systems. From 1995 to 2003 he was executive director for investments at Commercial Capital, responsible for private equity investments in Greece and abroad with emphasis on telecommunications. From 2003 he is a founding partner of 7LCapital Partners, a private equity fund manager investing in Emerging Europe. He has participated in more than 10 Venture Capital & Private Equity investments in the telecommunications sector and was a member of the board of the investee companies. He is a member of the board of the Hellenic Venture Capital Association.
4. Sotirios (Akis) Markatos, Executive Member of the Board of Directors
He was born in 1958. He is a graduate of the Physics Department of the University of Athens and holds a M.Sc. in Modern and Applied Optics from Reading University. He was the General Director at National Cadastre & Mapping Agency S.A., advisor to the CEO at Forthnet Group, Investments Director at Attica Ventures, a large Venture Capital fund in Greece, and Managing Director of Eurocom Expertise S.A. He has also served as Head of the research programs at Telecommunications Department of the University of Athens and Director of the Wolfson Unit at University College London working on technology transfer from the university to industry in the optical fiber communications sector. He has served as a consultant to the European Commission on issues of telecom market deregulation, an Elected Member of the Board of Directors in ECTA (European Competitive Telecommunications Association) and has more than 40 publications on telecom issues and in particular on telecommunications techno-economics and investments. Until today, Mr. Markatos held the position of Executive Director of ETAD SA.
5. Nikolaos Karapanagou, Executive Member of the Board of Directors
He was born in 1971. He graduated from the School of Electronics and Information Systems Engineers at the National Technical University of Athens. He graduated in 1995 and his Bachelor Thesis was in Parallel Computing and Transputer systems. He has extensive experience in ICT and Business Management. During his career, he has held senior positions in startups up to large enterprises within the Greek ecosystem, including the Digital Transformation and Innovation Director at PriceWaterhouseCoopers and the Executive Chairman at Motivian SA, and he is highly experienced in running a business from all different aspects. He is key expert / advisor covering fintech & blockchain technologies of the 35 M Euro European Investment Fund (EIF) backed Metavallon Venture Capital Fund. He also serves in the BoDs of various startups in the areas of Motivational Learning, Gaming and Sensor Management. Mr. Karapanagou has been twice honoured by Hellenic Mathematical Society and was ranked first in National Technical University of Athens.
6. Despina Magdalini (Diana) Markaki, Independent Non-Executive Member of the Board of Directors
She was born in 1981. She holds a Law Degree and LLM in International Law from the University of Athens, School of Law, and an Executive MBA from Harvard Business School. She is a lawyer by trade with more than 15 years’ experience at international law firms and as corporate General Counsel in leading companies in Greece and abroad, specialized in the energy and infrastructure sectors. Over the course of her career, she has advised major international companies on debt and equity raising, IPOs & rights issues, mergers, acquisitions and disposals, project financing and corporate restructuring. She also held leadership positions at the Trans Adriatic Pipeline (TAP), a project of significant geopolitical importance, at the company’s headquarters in Switzerland, with particular focus on Environmental, Social and corporate Governance (ESG) matters, and served as Programme Consultant at the United Nations Development Programme (UDP) in New York. She is currently based in Switzerland, where she is Global Director at Gategroup, the global leader in airline services, where she is responsible for $1 billion worth of fixed assets in more than 60 countries, leading cross-functional and multi-cultural teams. She is also on the Board of Directors of ELLAKTOR SA, company listed on the Athens Stock Exchange, where she serves as an independent non-executive director and member of the Board Nomination and Remuneration Committee. She Swiss Chair of the ‘50/50 Women on Boards’ global campaign and member of the Women Corporate Directors global foundation. Her areas of expertise include regulatory and compliance, asset management, Environmental Social and corporate Governance (ESG), restructuring and M&A.
7. Konstantinos Meimetis, Independent Non-Executive Member of the Board of Directors
He was born in 1978. He holds a BSc in Physics and MSc in embedded systems from the University of Patras. He is the Director of Corporate Strategy at u-blox AG (Switzerland), driving technology M&As, investments and Joint Ventures. He has long experience in technology company acquisitions, investments and joint ventures. Since 2019 he is the non-executive Chairman of Sapcorda GmbH, a joint venture backed by leading technology companies including BOSCH and Mitsubishi Electric. From 2004 to 2014 he was the founding CEO of Antcor S.A where he spearheaded its development strategy, negotiated licensing deals with Fortune-100 companies, secured funding from financial and strategic investors and finally successfully structured the company acquisition in 2014. From 2013 to 2016 he has been elected as Chairman of the Hellenic Semiconductor Industry Association, while he often participates as mentor in technology accelerators and incubators.
