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Who we are

VentureGarden was born out of the need for an inclusive and accessible entrepreneurship education program that would cater to individuals and teams with early-stage business ideas. It was established in 2014 by AHEAD- Alba Hub for Entrepreneurship and Development and the Entrepreneurship Hub at ACT, with the support of the program's Founding Donor, The Hellenic Initiative.

Alpha Bank , as the National Donor, has recognized VentureGarden's contribution to supporting entrepreneurship in Greece and has been the program's National Donor since 2024. With its support, VentureGarden is able to create even more opportunities for young entrepreneurs and further develop the dynamic entrepreneurial community of VentureGardeners.

With the significant support of its donors, VentureGarden is offered free of charge and fills a significant gap in the entrepreneurship ecosystem by empowering individuals in the early stages of their entrepreneurial journey. Upon completion of the program, entrepreneurs are ready to implement their business ideas.

​​​​​​VentureGarden launched in February 2014. Having worked with over 1000 ideas so far, it has been designed to become your personal guide to entrepreneurship.

We provide training and support that helps develop knowledge, skills and networking to build your business. VentureGarden runs in Athens, Thessaloniki and Heraklion and is free of charge.

Our team

Southern Greece

Alexis Komselis.

Alexis is the director and co-founder of AHEAD-Alba Hub for Entrepreneurship and Development at Alba Graduate Business School, The American College of Greece. He designs and implements programs to support entrepreneurs and family business members. He regularly participates in judging committees of awards and entrepreneurship competitions, or as a mentor supporting teams that take part in such events. He teaches entrepreneurship courses for Alba's MSc in Entrepreneurship and The Alba MBA, and seminars on the Business Model Canvas at Incubators and Accelerators. His academic research focuses on business models, and family business sustainability and governance. He studied business administration at Deree – The American College of Greece and entrepreneurship at postgraduate level at the University of Aberdeen.

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Ellie Spengou

Ellie is a Project Coordinator at AHEAD - Alba Hub for Entrepreneurship and Development at the Alba Graduate Business School, The American College of Greece. Previously she has held a variety of roles in media, art and communications in medium-sized and listed organizations. Ellie studied Communication, Media and Culture at Panteion University and holds an MSc in Arts, Policy and Cultural Entrepreneurship from the University of Groningen. She is responsible for the delivery of VentureGarden in Southern Greece.

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Northern Greece

Dr Nikos Hourvouliades

Nikolas is the Director of the Entrepreneurship Hub, at ACT – American College of Thessaloniki, the post-secondary division of Anatolia College. He is a professor of Finance and Chair of the Business School at ACT. His research work focuses in investments and portfolio management. He has more than 30 years of experience in both academia and the business industry, having taught at private and public universities. In the past he has served at top managerial positions and in Board of Directors in various firms as well as public orgranizations, while he also serves as an advisor to companies. He has been a mentor at the Entrepreneurship Hub since it started, supporting participants grow their ideas. He is a graduate of YALE University, USA and the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki.

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