Reflect Cyprus is a leading Mediterranean tech festival, transforming Limassol into a vibrant hub of innovation, investment, and networking.

This year's event, held on May 30-31, brought together a diverse array of trading companies, venture capital funds, tech enthusiasts, startups, investors and more. There were over 1,000 companies represented, investors in their droves, and some of the largest VCs in the MENA region were also present. Between 8,000 and 10,000 attendees were expected.

Set in Kolla Culture Factory, a multipurpose space that wears different hats to host a wide range of events over the course of the year, Reflect felt like what it was, a diverse gathering of people and companies all set in a charming little location that sat juxtaposed with the often high-tech offerings inside its main hall and littering Kolla’s streets.

The Lounges

VCs including Global 500, Souq Ventures, Aramco’s Waed and more where present, though they were often secluded in the exclusive Investor Lounge. No doubt they were enjoying cakes and the AC on what was a warmish day. Alongside the Investor Lounge there were also spaces for startups (named “Doers”), co-working spaces, a relaxation lounge with massages on offer and a lowly media lounge with a working AC. Thank God for small mercies.

The Main Event

The Chairman of Invest Cyprus Evgenios Evgeniou was a keynote speaker at the Country Partner session of Reflect Festival 2023 organized by the High Commission of #India in Cyprus, welcoming India startups and businesses to #cyprus pic.twitter.com/H8a29rQmVe

— Invest Cyprus (@InvestCyprus) September 20, 2023

In any case, the main hall – home to the Big Picture Stage – was host to the leading speakers, with all sorts of interesting people sharing their wisdom. It was also the biggest indoor space and home to the largest number of stalls. Everyone from trading tech firms to recruitment companies, to AI firms, kid’s video games, and more, they were all present, startups and established names alike. Think EY, but then also think of a small direct email startup Startup A company operating within its first stage of investing is known as a startup. While startups may give the impression that the company must be new, that is not always the case.Many companies can have this designation after nearly three years of existence. Typically, a company exits the startup status after a period between 3 to 5 years or after successful funding rounds where capital is acquired. Startups tend to derive out of the belief that there is a demand for a service or product which is c A company operating within its first stage of investing is known as a startup. While startups may give the impression that the company must be new, that is not always the case.Many companies can have this designation after nearly three years of existence. Typically, a company exits the startup status after a period between 3 to 5 years or after successful funding rounds where capital is acquired. Startups tend to derive out of the belief that there is a demand for a service or product which is c Read this Term. In any case, it was nicely AC’d and a good escape from the heat.

In terms of trading, Exness and Pepperstone were there, and big tech names included Microsoft and Cloudflare along with a load of smaller tech support and infrastructure firms. There were a series of companies from India, offering everything from real estate CRMs to biofuels.

The Chairman of Invest Cyprus Evgenios Evgeniou was a keynote speaker at the Country Partner session of Reflect Festival 2023 organized by the High Commission of #India in Cyprus, welcoming India startups and businesses to #cyprus pic.twitter.com/H8a29rQmVe

— Invest Cyprus (@InvestCyprus) September 20, 2023

Trends

AI was everywhere. From automatic email sales systems to office assistants, to AI-driven trading algorithms. There was even an AI-powered cosmetics offering, though I must admit I didn’t check that one out.

Blockchain and cryptocurrency were the focal points for many of the discussions on the Money Stage. Topics such as decentralized finance (DeFi), the future of payments Payments One of the bases of mediums of exchange in the modern world, a payment constitutes the transfer of a legal currency or equivalent from one party in exchange for goods or services to another entity. The payments industry has become a fixture of modern commerce, though the players involved and means of exchange have dramatically shifted over time.In particular, a party making a payment is referred to as a payer, with the payee reflecting the individual or entity receiving the payment. Most commonl One of the bases of mediums of exchange in the modern world, a payment constitutes the transfer of a legal currency or equivalent from one party in exchange for goods or services to another entity. The payments industry has become a fixture of modern commerce, though the players involved and means of exchange have dramatically shifted over time.In particular, a party making a payment is referred to as a payer, with the payee reflecting the individual or entity receiving the payment. Most commonl Read this Term, and crypto regulations were on the agenda. E-commerce and AI dominated the talk on the Tech Stage, with good inputs from a delegation from the Indian government.

The Future Stage featured talks on education, how to seek funding and how to grow in a digital age. Beyond finance and digital, interesting topics also included cultivated meat and living with chronic disease. The Tech Island and Inventors Stage focused very much on Cyprus, questioning how to avoid talent drain, how to foster innovation and more.

Over the two days, workshops included How to Get the Most Out of Networking, Revenue Revolution: Elevate Your Sales Game, Startup to Stock Exchange: Mastering the Micro Cap IPO and others. There was no clear theme, rather detailed sessions that aimed to focus in on one or two issues.

Christophoros Anayiotos, Board Member, led the panel discussion “The Tech Effect: Transforming Cyprus’ Economic Landscape” at the Reflect Festival. The panel analysed the current tech environment, highlighted key challenges & proposed areas for enhancement https://t.co/Ggav1W67eh pic.twitter.com/Yk0FJ0grbo

— KPMG Cyprus (@KPMGCyprus) May 30, 2024

Walking and Talking

From walking the event, it became clear that AI is on everyone’s lips. From how to create marketing materials and content to how it can help you trade, organize your work life and elevate your sales. The clear takeaway is that AI is the future. How it will be leveraged effectively is the question. Are today’s applications the answer? Probably not. That’s not to say that they’re bad products, but they’re evolving so quickly that anyone who says they can see the future of AI is either badly misinformed, or lying.

Another issue that came up – though nobody flat out said it – is that everyone is struggling with sales. It’s tough, for almost every company out there. The talks on the various stages often covered it, and any chat about marketing or conversion quickly turned to a (desperate?) need to make sales. Yes, this is normal, it’s always a problem, but there was a distinct focus among many companies I spoke to about closing deals. As a content creator, it was abundantly clear that there was a lot of interest in driving traffic.

So, those are the main takeaways from Reflect 2024. It was a great event, with the organizers claiming over 10,000 attendees at the time of writing. It was certainly busy and there was a distinct international feel to the event. AI was prominent, talk was all about closing.

It’s definitely worth a visit next year.

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