These two major events took place under the auspices of the Region of Crete, on Thursday 28 and Friday 29 March 2024, in Heraklion, Crete, at the Heraklion Chamber of Commerce & Industry and on the premises of the Foundation for Research and Technology - Hellas (FORTH).

The first event was a two-day Conference on Innovation, entitled “Innovation Crete 5.0: Innovation in Crete today and the institutions that support it", which was organized for the 5th time this year, on 28 & 29 March at 17:00 at the Heraklion Chamber of Commerce & Industry.

The Conference was an opportunity for all interested parties to be informed about existing initiatives in the field of innovation in Crete and includes 11 panels, 9 workshops and 96 speakers, out of which 37 are central bodies and Funds.

The topics discussed included funding in the early stages and funding bodies, Innovation window funds, the early stage innovation support structures, the innovation hub of Crete and its contribution to the regional ecosystem, the activities of international companies in the ecosystem of Crete, the institutional bodies supporting entrepreneurship, innovation in agri-food, growth opportunities for Research Groups and Start-ups in the Health sector, European digital innovation hubs and the position of women in business leadership.

In parallel with the conference, 9 Workshops were held at the Karouzos Hall of the Heraklion Chamber, including the following topics: fundraising, intellectual property, smartHEALTH: Innovative Digital Health Services, communication with Web professionals for successful digital activities, the results of Policy Workshops, innovation in circular economy, innovation in tourism, commercialization strategies for research results and sustainable entrepreneurship in Crete.

The second event was the Bootcamp "Match & Develop a startup Heraklion 5.0.", which took place on the premises of FORTH (KEEK building, Vassilika Vouton, Heraklion) on March 28^th and 29^th from 10:00- 14:00 with the participation of research teams and start-ups.

During the Bootcamp, the participating teams had the opportunity to discuss their ideas with local entrepreneurs, attend seminars on how to pitch their research result to funders, and receive guidance from Fund Managers. Executives from Uni.fund, Metavallon, Big Pi, L-Stone and NBG Business Seeds joined the workshop.

On Friday there were presentations to a committee (jury panel). A company was selected to proceed to the second phase of the 15th Innovation & Technology Competition of the NBG Business Seeds program, while prizes were awarded by partner companies and institutions.

The Conference and Bootcamp were organized within the framework of the Smart Attica EDIH activities. They were co-organized by the NBG Business Seeds program of the National Bank of Greece, the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Heraklion, the PRAXI Network/FORTH, the Science and Technology Park of Crete (STEP-C) /FORTH, the H2B HUB of the Chamber of Heraklion, the Bizrupt Organization, the Hellenic Chamber of Commerce, Athens Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation (ACEin) of the Athens University of Economics and Business, Uni.fund, Metavallon, the American-Hellenic Chamber of Commerce and Bayer Hellas.

The Conference was supported by NBG Pay and Phaistos Networks SA.