About us
We are a multidisciplinary research group working on the project “Decision Support System for Predicting the Financing of Greek Startups“. Our mission is to develop an intelligent, data-driven tool that supports informed decision-making in startup evaluation and funding, tailored to the needs of the Greek entrepreneurial ecosystem. Our team combines expertise in data science, entrepreneurship, economics, and software engineering. Through our collaborative effort, we aim to enhance the transparency and effectiveness of financing decisions for startups in Greece, promoting innovation and sustainable growth.
Each member contributes a unique perspective and skillset that drives the project forward:
About us
We are a multidisciplinary research group working on the project “Decision Support System for Predicting the Financing of Greek Startups“. Our mission is to develop an intelligent, data-driven tool that supports informed decision-making in startup evaluation and funding, tailored to the needs of the Greek entrepreneurial ecosystem. Our team combines expertise in data science, entrepreneurship, economics, and software engineering. Through our collaborative effort, we aim to enhance the transparency and effectiveness of financing decisions for startups in Greece, promoting innovation and sustainable growth.
Each member contributes a unique perspective and skillset that drives the project forward:
Assoc. Prof. Christina Diakaki
Christina Diakaki (https://www.eap.gr/en/diakaki/) is Associate Professor with the School of Social Sciences of the Hellenic Open University with specialty “Quantitative Methods in Management”. She holds Diploma in Production and Management Engineering from the Technical University of Crete, Greece (1991), M.Sc. in Operations Management from the Victoria University of Manchester, UK (1993), and PhD in Decision Science and Operations Research from the Technical University of Crete, Greece (2000). She has over 25 years of teaching experience in undergraduate and postgraduate study programs, while she has participated in many research projects funded by the European Commission and other national and international, public and private bodies. She is Deputy Editor-in-Chief of the Intelligent Transport Systems scientific journal of the Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET-ITS), UK, she acts as reviewer for numerous scientific journals and conferences, and she is the author or co-author of numerous research reports, collective volume chapters, and papers in scientific and technical journals and conferences. Her research interests include decision analysis and operations research, optimization, modeling and simulation of dynamic and other systems, and statistical data analysis with applications to management problems in the fields of: Transport, Energy and Environment and Business/Organizations.
Prof. Augustinos Dimitras
Augustinos Dimitras (https://www.eap.gr/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/Βιογραφικό-Δημητρά.pdf) is Professor with the School of Social Sciences of the Hellenic Open University with specialty «Finance and Accounting». He holds a Diploma in Production and Management Engineering from the Technical University of Crete, Greece (1990), and PhD from the Technical University of Crete, Greece (1995). He has nearly 30 years of teaching experience in undergraduate and postgraduate study programs, during which he has taught courses related to accounting and finance at several Universities in Greece and Cyprus. He has participated in several projects funded by national and international, public authorities and private organizations. His research interests include, among others, company evaluation, business failure prediction, financial reporting standards application, auditing and environmental accounting. He has received more than 1000 citations according to Scopus and 2650 according to Google Scholar database (last access date: 30.12.2023).
Dr. George Peppas
Dr. Peppas has a PhD in Accounting and Finance. His research is focused on the quality of financial statements of firms and banks, capital structure and firm performance. He has extensive experience in project management and has overseen several European projects. Apart from his academic experience, he is a certified accountant with A class signatory rights and working experience as a chief financial officer in one of the largest companies in Achaia. His profound knowledge of accounting will help interpret the results.
Dr. Antonios Sarantidis
Dr. Antonios Sarantidis is an Adjunct Assistant Professor in Economics with the Department of Management Science and Technology of the University of Peloponnese with specialty «Financial Econometrics» since March 2023. He holds a BSc in Economics from the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece (2007), MSc in Economic Analysis, Greece (20212), and PhD in Financial Econometrics from the Hellenic Open University, Greece (2021). His research interests include econometrics, macroeconomics, and financial and economic crises. He has participated in several projects funded by national and international, public authorities and private organizations. His participation in these projects involves activities related to data collection and econometric analysis.
Dr. Chrysavgi Mitsi
Chryssavgi Mitsi is a postdoctoral researcher at the Hellenic Open University. She holds a Bachelor’s degree in Mathematics from the University of the Aegean, a Master’s degree in Applied Statistics (with a specialization in Finance) from the University of Piraeus, and a PhD in Finance and Accounting from the Hellenic Open University. Her research interests focus on Environmental Accounting, Sustainable Finance, and Corporate Finance.
Mr. Stavros Triantafyllopoulos
Stavros Triantafyllopoulos holds a BSc with integrated MSc in Computer Engineering (2005) and MSc in Distance Teaching and Learning Systems (2022). He is a highly competent user of Linux, Microsoft Windows Server, RDBMS (Oracle, MySQL, Microsoft SQLServer, PostgreSQL) and Web Technologies (PHP, Javascript, HTML & CSS, Java). He is specialized in Data Structures and Algorithms in Web Development and has also been a software tester and debugger for many years. Additionally, he has extensive experience in creating web applications and is a certified Moodle Educator. Currently, he is a member of the software team of the Hellenic Open University.
Assoc. Prof. Christina Diakaki
Christina Diakaki (https://www.eap.gr/en/diakaki/) is Associate Professor with the School of Social Sciences of the Hellenic Open University with specialty “Quantitative Methods in Management”. She holds Diploma in Production and Management Engineering from the Technical University of Crete, Greece (1991), M.Sc. in Operations Management from the Victoria University of Manchester, UK (1993), and PhD in Decision Science and Operations Research from the Technical University of Crete, Greece (2000). She has over 25 years of teaching experience in undergraduate and postgraduate study programs, while she has participated in many research projects funded by the European Commission and other national and international, public and private bodies. She is Deputy Editor-in-Chief of the Intelligent Transport Systems scientific journal of the Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET-ITS), UK, she acts as reviewer for numerous scientific journals and conferences, and she is the author or co-author of numerous research reports, collective volume chapters, and papers in scientific and technical journals and conferences. Her research interests include decision analysis and operations research, optimization, modeling and simulation of dynamic and other systems, and statistical data analysis with applications to management problems in the fields of: Transport, Energy and Environment and Business/Organizations.
Prof. Augustinos Dimitras
Augustinos Dimitras (https://www.eap.gr/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/Βιογραφικό-Δημητρά.pdf) is Professor with the School of Social Sciences of the Hellenic Open University with specialty «Finance and Accounting». He holds a Diploma in Production and Management Engineering from the Technical University of Crete, Greece (1990), and PhD from the Technical University of Crete, Greece (1995). He has nearly 30 years of teaching experience in undergraduate and postgraduate study programs, during which he has taught courses related to accounting and finance at several Universities in Greece and Cyprus. He has participated in several projects funded by national and international, public authorities and private organizations. His research interests include, among others, company evaluation, business failure prediction, financial reporting standards application, auditing and environmental accounting. He has received more than 1000 citations according to Scopus and 2650 according to Google Scholar database (last access date: 30.12.2023).
Dr. George Peppas
Dr. Peppas has a PhD in Accounting and Finance. His research is focused on the quality of financial statements of firms and banks, capital structure and firm performance. He has extensive experience in project management and has overseen several European projects. Apart from his academic experience, he is a certified accountant with A class signatory rights and working experience as a chief financial officer in one of the largest companies in Achaia. His profound knowledge of accounting will help interpret the results.
Dr. Antonios Sarantidis
Dr. Antonios Sarantidis is an Adjunct Assistant Professor in Economics with the Department of Management Science and Technology of the University of Peloponnese with specialty «Financial Econometrics» since March 2023. He holds a BSc in Economics from the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece (2007), MSc in Economic Analysis, Greece (20212), and PhD in Financial Econometrics from the Hellenic Open University, Greece (2021). His research interests include econometrics, macroeconomics, and financial and economic crises. He has participated in several projects funded by national and international, public authorities and private organizations. His participation in these projects involves activities related to data collection and econometric analysis.
Dr. Chrysavgi Mitsi
Chryssavgi Mitsi is a postdoctoral researcher at the Hellenic Open University. She holds a Bachelor’s degree in Mathematics from the University of the Aegean, a Master’s degree in Applied Statistics (with a specialization in Finance) from the University of Piraeus, and a PhD in Finance and Accounting from the Hellenic Open University. Her research interests focus on Environmental Accounting, Sustainable Finance, and Corporate Finance.
Mr. Stavros Triantafyllopoulos
Stavros Triantafyllopoulos holds a BSc with integrated MSc in Computer Engineering (2005) and MSc in Distance Teaching and Learning Systems (2022). He is a highly competent user of Linux, Microsoft Windows Server, RDBMS (Oracle, MySQL, Microsoft SQLServer, PostgreSQL) and Web Technologies (PHP, Javascript, HTML & CSS, Java). He is specialized in Data Structures and Algorithms in Web Development and has also been a software tester and debugger for many years. Additionally, he has extensive experience in creating web applications and is a certified Moodle Educator. Currently, he is a member of the software team of the Hellenic Open University.