On December 8, 2023, the winners of the Forbes Cyprus Innovation Awards 2023 were announced during the Forbes Cyprus The Future of Fintech Summit.
Winners were presented in the following categories:
- Innovation of the Year – Vidby, Alexandre Konovalov Co-founder and CEO of Vidby,
- Fintech Breakthrough of the Year – PickTheBank, Alexander Gromov Founder and CEO of PickTheBank,
- Best Digital Platform – DISPL, Serge Gale Co-founder and CEO of DISPL,
- Innovation in Sales Technology – Sample Box Marathon, Rovshan Rasulov Founder and CEO of Rgand.
Selection Criteria
Applications to the contest were submitted exclusively online via the Forbes / The Future website. The deadline for submissions was October 18, and the finalists were announced on November 14.
- Evaluation Process:
In each category, 12 applications were received. Forbes journalists conducted the initial verification and submitted the data to the jury. The evaluation was then conducted by a jury consisting of proven experts with experience in various sectors of the economy and strong reputations. Each jury member independently evaluated the applications and sent their assessments to the Forbes editorial team. Forbes compiled the information and ranked the applications in each category to determine the finalists. - Conflict of Interest:
In cases of conflict of interest, jury members did not assign scores to the respective applications. The missing scores were replaced with the average marks given by the other jury members for those applications. Additionally, the lowest and highest scores for each individual application were excluded from the final ranking to ensure impartiality. - Insufficient Candidates:
If there were not enough candidates in a given category, the Forbes editorial board reserved the right not to announce a winner in that category. - Integrity and Finalization:
The awards ceremony took place on December 8, 2023. After the ceremony, the Forbes editors sent the jury members all the information, including the ratings and calculations, allowing them to verify the accuracy of the final ranking. This process ensured the integrity of the competition and prevented any manipulation.
Rovshan Rasulov, Founder and CEO of Rgand, received a winner’s diploma and commemorative awards for his significant contribution to advancing cutting-edge sales technologies. His project, Sample Box Marathon (SBM), was highly rated by the jury for its innovative approach to revolutionizing supply chains in the restaurant industry. By enabling producers to directly enter the market without intermediaries, the SBM project significantly reduces costs and time, while increasing brand recognition and expanding the customer base. This achievement has earned international recognition, further establishing Rovshan Rasulov as an expert in technological entrepreneurship and innovative business solutions.
