Mindspace

What Mindspace does

Mindspace is a Greek nonprofit entrepreneurial education initiative founded in 2011 at the National Technical University of Athens (NTUA). It designs and delivers programs that connect ambitious young Greeks with entrepreneurship education, international innovation ecosystems, and a curated mentor and investor network. The portfolio centers on the flagship Mindspace Trip — an annual 7-day paid educational trip to San Francisco and Silicon Valley (priced at €1,700 per participant: €250 deposit plus €1,450 balance via Stripe) — alongside the Mindspace Challenge national student competition, the Erasmus+ Young & Smart cross-border project (Greece, Spain, Italy), and the Skillbox 'Entrepreneurship 101' open educational platform. A physical co-working space inside NTUA, awarded to Mindspace in August 2015 and operated with volunteer labor, historically anchored on-the-ground community building.

The organization serves students, aspiring student entrepreneurs, early-stage teams, and young professionals aged roughly 18–39, primarily in Greece and increasingly across the Balkans and Southern Europe. It is not a technology product company: its core capability is the curation and orchestration of in-person experiences (university and corporate visits, investor and founder conversations, structured challenges) and the maintenance of a 14-year alumni and partner network. Mindspace does not sell software, has no app or API, and discloses no AI or data components in its product surface.

Mindspace's business model is fee-for-participation (Trip deposits and balances), supplemented by episodic grants (Angelopoulos CGIU Fellowship €10,000 in 2016; U.S. Department of State AEIF grant in 2019; Hellenic Initiative Venture Impact Award $25,000 in 2021), ongoing donations via Donorbox, and EU program funding through Erasmus+. The organization is volunteer-led and governed by a Board of Partners drawn from Greek venture capital (VentureFriends, UniFund), technology leadership (Meta, Google), banking (Alpha Bank CDO), and academia (AUEB, Harvard), with no institutional private-equity ownership disclosed.

Name

Mindspace

Legal name

Mindspace

Website

https://mindspace.gr

Company type

Private

Founded year

2011

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Mindspace is a Greek nonprofit founded in 2011 that runs entrepreneurial education programs for students and young professionals, centered on an annual paid trip to Silicon Valley with visits to Google, Meta, Netflix, MIT, and Stanford.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Entrepreneurship Education

NAICS

All Other Schools and Instruction (61169), Professional and Management Development Training (611430)

SIC

Services-Educational Services (8200)

akta.pro primary industry

Entrepreneurship Foundations & Startup Basics (EDAMAHAA)

akta.pro secondary industries

Business Planning, Pitching & Competitions (Pitch Decks, Demo Days) (EDAMAHAB), Career Exploration & Industry Exposure (Guest Speakers, Company Visits) (EDAMAHAJ), Youth Business Incubators & Accelerators (EDAMAHAC)

Keywords

• Entrepreneurship education programs
• Student entrepreneurship trips
• Innovation ecosystem immersion
• Youth entrepreneurship development
• Educational travel programs

Headquarters

HQ city

Zográfou

HQ country

Greece

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Operations, Personnel, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D

Revenue model

1. Trip Participation Fees: Mindspace generates revenue through participation fees for the Mindspace Trip program. The trip is priced at €1,700 per participant with a €250 deposit required at booking and the remaining €1,450 balance due by July 3, 2026. The fee covers round-trip flights from Athens to San Francisco, 7 nights accommodation, daily breakfast, company visits, program meetings, participant materials, and group leader support.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Mindspace designs and runs entrepreneurial education experiences for ambitious young people, anchored by the annual Mindspace Trip to San Francisco/Silicon Valley — a 7-day program including company visits (Google, Netflix, Meta, Salesforce), university meetings (MIT, Stanford, Harvard), and conversations with investors and founders — priced at €1,700 per participant. The portfolio also includes the Mindspace Challenge national competition, the Young & Smart Erasmus+ project with partners in Spain and Italy, and the Skillbox Entrepreneurship 101 open educational platform.

Product overview

Mindspace is an entrepreneurial education organization that operates a portfolio of programs connecting ambitious young people with innovation, mentorship, and international exposure. The core offering is the Mindspace Trip — an annual educational trip to San Francisco and Silicon Valley — complemented by structured programs like Mindspace Challenge (national business competitions) and the Young & Smart Erasmus+ project (cross-border entrepreneurship education with the Skillbox platform). Historically, Mindspace also maintained a physical co-working space at NTUA. The organization functions as an educational initiative, not a software product company.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Mindspace Trip: An annual entrepreneurial trip designed for aspiring student entrepreneurs, early-stage teams, and ambitious young people who want to experience innovation ecosystems up close, including visits to top universities, startups, leading companies, and conversations with investors and entrepreneurs.
• Mindspace Challenge
• Young & Smart
• Skillbox Entrepreneurship 101

Products and services

• Mindspace Trip An annual entrepreneurial educational trip to San Francisco and Silicon Valley designed for students, aspiring founders, and early-stage builders. The 7-day program includes company visits (Google, Netflix, Meta, Salesforce), meetings with top universities (MIT, Stanford, Harvard), conversations with investors and entrepreneurs, daily breakfast, 7 nights accommodation, round-trip flights from Athens, participant materials, and group leader support. Priced at €1,700 per participant.
• Mindspace Challenge A structured national competition and training program that brings presentation skills and business planning training to selected student teams in multiple Greek cities, with top teams earning the chance to travel to the United States. The 2017 edition produced five new companies and 30 jobs.
• Young & Smart (Erasmus+ Project) An Erasmus+ coordinated project bringing together partners in Greece, Spain, and Italy, focused on entrepreneurship education for young people aged 16–25 with fewer opportunities and on equipping their educators with new digital and emotional-intelligence tools. The main output was the Skillbox Entrepreneurship 101 open educational platform.
• Skillbox Entrepreneurship 101 An open educational platform developed as part of the Young & Smart Erasmus+ project, combining a good practices guide, thematic training units, and short training-pill videos for entrepreneurship education.
• Mindspace Space A physical co-working and collaboration space inside the National Technical University of Athens (NTUA), opened in August 2015, serving as a home for entrepreneurial community-building activities for students and young entrepreneurs.

Quantifiable outcome

• 5 new companies and 30 jobs created from 2017 Mindspace Challenge
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers9 records

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Four partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Neotalentway (Granada, Spain)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2024Erasmus+ Young & Smart project partner focused on entrepreneurship education for young people aged 16–25 with fewer opportunities.
• Saffex (Rome, Italy)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2024Erasmus+ Young & Smart project partner focused on entrepreneurship education and equipping educators with digital and emotional-intelligence tools.
• MIT Enterprise ForumminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerMindspace supported the first MIT Enterprise Forum annual conference in Greece in 2014, deepening ecosystem links and connecting student energy with established entrepreneurial organizations.
• U.S. Embassy in AthenscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerProvided support for Mindspace Challenge national programming, bringing training in presentation skills and business planning to student teams in multiple cities.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• Enactus: Global nonprofit running university-based student teams that develop entrepreneurial projects with social impact. Highly comparable to Mindspace's university chapter model, business competitions (Mindspace Challenge), and youth entrepreneurship focus.
• AIESEC: Global youth-led organization providing leadership and cross-cultural development experiences for students and recent graduates. Comparable in youth-segment focus, international experiential programming, and volunteer-driven chapter network model.
• Founder Institute: Global pre-seed startup accelerator and training program for aspiring and early-stage founders. Comparable in providing structured entrepreneurship education, mentorship, and founder network access, though for a more general founder audience.
• JA Worldwide (Junior Achievement): The largest global nonprofit focused on youth entrepreneurship, work readiness, and financial literacy education for K-12 and university students. Directly comparable in mission to Mindspace's entrepreneurship education for young people, though at vastly larger scale and geographic reach.
• European Innovation Academy (EIA): Runs intensive entrepreneurship summer programs in Europe for international university students, with mentorship from founders and VCs. Comparable to Mindspace Trip in delivering cross-border, immersive startup education experiences.
• Startup Weekend (Techstars): 54-hour entrepreneurship events where aspiring founders build startups and pitch to judges. Closely comparable to the Mindspace Challenge program format of business planning, team building, and pitching competitions for students and aspiring founders.

Regional players

• Erasmus Student Network (ESN): European-wide student network supporting international student exchange experiences. Comparable in audience (European university students), experiential learning orientation, and Erasmus+ funding familiarity, though focused on exchange rather than entrepreneurship specifically.

Others

• The Hellenic Initiative: Global nonprofit mobilizing the Greek diaspora to support recovery and innovation in Greece; awarded Mindspace its $25,000 Venture Impact Award in 2021. Adjacent rather than competitive, as a funder and ecosystem supporter of Greek innovation.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/mindspace_ntua
• Facebookfacebook.com/mstratinakis
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/mindspace-npo

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles8 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Mindspace