Startups4peace is an event, which aims to bring together entrepreneurs from the Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot communities and to encourage them to create joint innovative startups.  The event is organised in cooperation between the Embassy of Finland, the European Commission, Startup Cyprus and the Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the Turkish Cypriot Chamber of Commerce. The annual project was now held for the fifth time. On Thursday, 22nd of November, we gathered to watch the final of this year, where the two best teams will be chosen to participate in the Slush event in Helsinki on 4-5 December. Six of the best teams fought for their place in Helsinki in an intense pitch battle.

At the beginning, talks were heard from all the organising parties and then it was time for the competition itself. The pitch battle had six startups; Blendy, ColiveOil, Donti, Gnous, Planmytrip and Loacal. Each team had 5 minutes to convince the jury about their business idea’s superiority, after which the judges had 2 minutes to ask questions. The level of the competition was high, but, in the end, only one team could win. ColiveOil came second and Donti, ultimately, won the first place. These two teams will then be next seen in Helsinki in early December. We, however, wish the best of luck to all those who participated and we hope that Startups4Peace gives the opportunity for more synergies of startups from both communities in the future!