It’s the type of line you might expect from a startup founder or an eager pitch deck. But this time, it came from President Nikos Christodoulides, on screen, addressing a packed opening ceremony at Reflect Festival 2025. Standing in the gardens of the Presidential Palace, he looked straight into the lens, and, in a way, into the eyes of every member of the audience. His demeanor was calm and steady as he delivered his message: Cyprus is here, not just to host, but to lead.
The energy on the grounds of the venue (the Kolla Factory in Limassol) felt different. Not forced, not flashy, just alive. People from dozens of countries wandered between stalls, pop-up stages, garden chats, workshop spaces, and informal “meeting rooms” with an air of purpose. But there was something more. Reflect didn’t feel like a typical tech conference. It felt like something growing, not just being presented.
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What REFLECT Reflects
It’s easy to roll your eyes at buzzwords. “Ecosystem.” “Innovation hub.” “Tech bridge.” But for an island with a population under a million, a complex political history, and an economy that has for decades relied almost exclusively on tourism, shipping, and professional services, a tech festival might sound like an odd fit. But in recent years, Reflect has tapped into a deeper national question: Can Cyprus be more than just a service economy?
Cyprus has recently been strategically taking steps in a different direction: offering digital nomad visas, taking early steps toward a fintech and blockchain legal framework, and efforts to position itself as an attractive landing zone for startups from nearby regions. Not to mention its recent announcement of its 2026 accession to the Schengen Zone, which will finally remove travel barriers for visitors and investors from other EU countries.
On the ground, there is also a small but growing startup scene. Companies like Malloc (cybersecurity), Magify (data for mobile games), and SOULA (women’s health AI) are developing successful products with international market demands from their bases in Limassol and Nicosia. Still, they face the same issues as many other local young companies: limited early-stage capital, a shortage of accessible support structures and mentorship, and the ongoing drain of talent that often leaves for bigger opportunities in London, Amsterdam, or Berlin.
People, Not Just Panels
Talk to enough people at Reflect, and you will pick up on an emerging theme: it’s not just about the speakers on stage, it’s the people you walk among that are just as important.
Theo Mantadelis, an AI researcher who co-founded the Cyprus-based startup KTG Research & Innovation, specializing in developing intelligent, immersive, and autonomous solutions that enhance human potential and transform industries, called Reflect “a kind of reset.” For him, it was less about the headline talks and more about the potential network. “You don’t often get founders, academics, and ministers in the same room. Here, that kind of collision just… happens,” he said. “It reminds you how small Cyprus is and how that can be an advantage.”
Amrapali Gan, founder of Hoxton and former CEO of OnlyFans, came in with no expectations. “Honestly, I wasn’t sure what to expect. But there’s a kind of raw creativity here,” she said. “It’s not over-produced. People are actually building things, and they care about where they’re building them.” What stood out to her was the energy, especially among young Cypriots trying to create something new, often for audiences that don’t see themselves in mainstream tech.
Neither of them spoke in buzzwords. Neither of them needed to. What they described, in their own way, was a kind of potential that’s hard to engineer: the kind that shows up when ideas are still messy, still forming, but undeniably brimming with potential.
Not Just About the Technology
It’s in that in-between space, not yet fully built, but too loud to ignore, that grassroots events like Reflect matter. Not because it solves every problem, but because it gives the people who might have a reason to meet.
Chief Scientist Demetris Skourides echoed this sentiment in his welcoming speech at the same Opening Ceremony. “It’s not just about the technology,” he said, describing Reflect’s innovation focus. “It’s about people, purpose, and progress.”
The government’s embrace of initiatives like Reflect matter, not because it signals a top-down shift, but because it reflects an alignment between grassroots energy and institutional movement. In Cyprus, where the public and private sectors have preferred to walk on separate tracks, this kind of agreement is unusual. It suggests a recognition that innovation doesn’t always begin in policy papers and high-blasting AC rooms. Sometimes, it begins in backyards, side streets, and rented venues, and through its persistence, becomes something louder than a five-year plan.
