Vasilis Papanikolaou

Innovation Hacker & Enabler ✱ Horizon Europe ✱ COO @AUSTRALO

Athens, Attiki, Greece

About

I am an experienced professional with over 18 years in the innovation sector, working from various perspectives. I have extensive experience managing and participating in both internationally and nationally funded R&D projects, having worked on over 45 different projects funded by instruments such as FP7, Horizon Europe, Horizon2020, COSME, Eureka, Eurostars, and others. Additionally, I possess significant hands-on experience collaborating with start-ups, SMEs, and large technology companies on innovation, internationalization, market development, and digital transformation. I have successfully developed and introduced innovative technological products to the market and applied innovation strategies within corporations. My core expertise includes managing R&D activities, new product development, digital transformation, knowledge and technology transfer, innovation management, design thinking, innovation policy, and the commercial exploitation of research results. I have also served as an external evaluator for the EIC Accelerator on behalf of the European Commission.

Experience

  • AUSTRALO (5 yrs 10 mos)
    • COO
      Sep 2022 - Present · 3 yrs 11 mos

      AUSTRALO is a marketing agency based in Spain and Estonia specializing in growth hacking for research and innovation. Our team delivers professional digital marketing campaigns, innovation management plans and custom-made exploitation roadmaps to jump-start the potential of science and technology. Among other things, I also deal with: ▪Coordination/Management activities for EU or commercial Research and Innovation Projects; ▪Managing cross-discipline and co-located project teams for internal (technical and management team) or project (multi-disciplinary) level activities; ▪Leading day-to-day project management (delivery deadlines, reporting, communication with consortium, contracts and amendments, etc.); ▪Planning and Tracking project schedule and major outcomes (incl. deliverables and milestones); ▪Supervision, coordination and/or execution of project or non-project related technical tasks; ▪Handling of communication both within the group and with external partners (academia/research, industrial, public authorities); ▪Reporting on both technical and management level on the projects on the level of deliverables, technical and management reports; ▪Undertaking and/or supporting authoring of management and technical deliverables; ▪Involvement in the conceptualisation and drafting process for new research proposals (e.g. Horizon Europe); ▪Create network and business leads;

    • Innovation Manager
      Oct 2020 - Jan 2023 · 2 yrs 4 mos

      ▪Coordination/Management activities for EU or commercial Research and Innovation Projects; ▪Managing cross-discipline and co-located project teams for internal (technical and management team) or project (multi-disciplinary) level activities; ▪Leading day-to-day project management (delivery deadlines, reporting, communication with consortium, contracts and amendments, etc.); ▪Planning and Tracking project schedule and major outcomes (incl. deliverables and milestones); ▪Supervision, coordination and/or execution of project or non-project related technical tasks; ▪Handling of communication both within the group and with external partners (academia/research, industrial, public authorities); ▪Reporting on both technical and management level on the projects on the level of deliverables, technical and management reports; ▪Undertaking and/or supporting authoring of management and technical deliverables; ▪Involvement in the conceptualisation and drafting process for new research proposals (e.g. Horizon 2020); ▪Create network and business leads; ▪Design and executive business innovation related activities for the company;

  • Innovation Hacker & Enabler at Freelancer
    Oct 2008 - Present · 17 yrs 10 mos

    Help mature corporations to: ▫regain their inner entrepreneurial spirit; ▫reveal and fix broken processes; ▫digitally transform their way of doing business; ▫identify new growth strategies; ▫explore new ways of doing business; ▫uncover opportunities to build new business; ▫develop and launch new product prototypes and testing; ▫set up, monitor and implement their innovation strategy; ▫enable people to be more innovative; ▫discover alternative sources of funding; Help Start-ups to: ▫refine their vision; ▫define the right market for their product; ▫identify the most prominent business model and monetisation strategy; ▫shape, implement and monitor the product development roadmap; ▫explore funding opportunities for product development; ▫network with the overall funding ecosystem; ▫setup the right operational environment and procedures;

  • EIC Accelerator (ex SME Instrument) Reviewer at European Commission (External)
    Jan 2016 - Sep 2021 · 5 yrs 9 mos

    ▪Technological and Investment Evaluation of ICT related proposals requesting funding for developing and launching innovative products in the market – over 400 proposals evaluated from all over Europe and technology fields (i.e. Big Data, Blockchain, Analytics, IoT)

  • Senior Innovation Manager at ATC SA
    Oct 2014 - Oct 2020 · 6 yrs 1 mo

    ▪Innovative product conceptualisation and specifications design (IT): market analysis, definition of market opportunities, market foresight, etc. ▪Responsible for the Commercial Exploitation of R&D Results: defining possible markets to tackle/enter, turning R&D into real products ▪Business Plan elaboration and Innovative Monetization Strategy development for New Innovative Products and Spin-Offs ▪Project Management of Development Teams during New Product Development activities: working with ends users, stakeholders or internal working teams for defining/generating user stories, user requirements, etc. ▪Launching New Products to the Market: preparatory activities and actions (marketing, final system tests, etc.) ▪Product Management of the whole product team (from engineering to marketing) on a day to day basis ▪Business Development and Networking Activities with Investors (i.e. VCIs, Business Angels, Banks, etc.), the Greek Funding Ecosystem, EU agencies, Governmental Agencies and RTOs ▪Representation of the company in the Global Investment ecosystem and community. Co-organisation of Hackathons, participation in “Showcase to Investors” and Pitching Events ▪Co-design, execute, monitor and evaluate the company’s Innovation Strategy ▪Development, Project Management & Execution of EU Funded R&D Projects (i.e. H2020, COSME, Eureka, etc.) (International teams of at least 20 people from more than 6 different organisations) – Over 15 International Projects of approximately 7,5 million euros in total.

  • KiNNO Consultants LTD. ()
    • Senior Innovation Project Manager & Business Designer
      Jan 2012 - Oct 2014 · 2 yrs 10 mos

      ▪Support Corporations during designing and shaping their Innovation Strategy ▪Technology Transfer and Innovation Management Support to Large Corporations, SMEs, Spin Offs and Public RTOs ▪Consulting on Entrepreneurship, Internationalization, Marketing and Investment Readiness to SMEs and Spin Offs ▪Provision of Training to Research Support Infrastructures (i.e Science Parks, TTOs etc) on internationalization, networking, funding mechanisms and innovation ▪New Product Development & Innovation Support to SMEs ▪Project Management & Development of EU Funded R&D Projects (FP7, Interreg, ENPI, Programme MED, ESPON, etc.)

    • Innovation Project Manager
      Jan 2010 - Dec 2011 · 2 yrs

      ▪Technology Transfer and Innovation Management Support to Large Corporations, SMEs, Spin Offs and Public RTOs ▪Consulting on Entrepreneurship, Internationalization, Marketing and Investment Readiness to SMEs and Spin Offs ▪Project Management & Development of EU Funded R&D Projects (FP7, Interreg, ENPI, Programme MED, ESPON, etc.)

    • Junior Innovation Project Manager
      Oct 2008 - Dec 2009 · 1 yr 3 mos

      ▪Technology Transfer and Innovation Management Support to SMEs, Spin Offs and Public RTOs ▪Project Management of EU Funded R&D Projects (FP7, Interreg, ENPI, Programme MED, ESPON, etc.) ▪Proposals and partnership development