Made In Cyprus | Big biz stories from a tiny island

Made in Cyprus | S3 E11 | Island Keeper on Cleaning Up Cyprus.He moved to Cyprus to escape a life he was done with. Nine months later, he and his volunteers have removed over 18,000 kg of trash from the island.In this episode of Made in Cyprus, we sit down with Niklas, better known as The Island Keeper. He’s a German marketer turned environmental advocate, building a community around cleaning up Cyprus, rescuing animals and rethinking what happens to our waste.It started with Niklas picking up litter alone at Limassol’s Power Beach at 5:30 in the morning, with no camera. When his dad told him to start filming it, and not to blame the government, his first TikTok video took off. People messaged asking to help, and the first cleanup brought together five different nationalities.We talk about why there’s so much trash in Cyprus and why blaming tourists or locals gets us nowhere, and how a bottle deposit system could change everything. We also get into the dark side of recycling and why he turns down sponsors who don’t share his values. And we hear his vision: island keepers around the world, and a movement that no longer depends on his name.This is a conversation about community, purpose, and why a problem everyone sees is still a problem worth solving.Brought to you by Factory39 and Martin Zarian.

Made in Cyprus | S3 E10 | Georgia Georgiou on Building Trust While Scaling Up.Trust is hard to build and easy to break, especially in an industry that has spent years fighting its reputation.In this episode of Made in Cyprus, we sit down with Georgia Georgiou, Managing Director and Head of Finance at XTB Cyprus. She joined when the Limassol office was just starting up and helped grow it into a key part of one of Europe's leading online investment groups.Georgia was born in Congo and came back to Limassol at the age of seven. She moved from computer science to ACCA and the Big Four, then into the forex world. She shares why the industry's bad reputation was exactly what drew her in, and why she believes regulation has been the best thing to happen to it.We talk about why compliance should help build culture instead of policing it, why brokers win on unique processes rather than unique products, and why she would turn down a highly skilled candidate who lacks accountability. We also get into her worries about AI weakening people's judgement, her "fix it first, ask why later" approach when things go wrong, and what it takes for Cyprus to be known for the quality of what it produces. This is a conversation about discipline, culture, and the long game behind building trust from the inside out.Brought to you by Factory39 and Martin Zarian.

Made in Cyprus | S3 E9 | Bringing Silicon Valley culture home with Michael Tyirimos.In the early 2010s, a handful of people started organising hackathons and putting Facebook posts out to see who would show up. Nobody made a cent. They did it for Cyprus.In this episode of Made in Cyprus, we sit down with Michael Tyirimos, Founder & Managing Director of Capacitor Partners and member of the Cyprus National Board for Research and Innovation, to trace the origin of the Cyprus startup ecosystem back to the people who quietly built it.From studying in Cambridge, spending time in Silicon Valley and getting his moment with people like Reid Hoffman, to coming home in his early 20s determined to bring that same open, collaborative culture to Cyprus, Michael shares how a Facebook post led to Cyprus Enterprise Link, how the crew behind it went on to launch Hack Cyprus, and why the community outlasted the initiatives that started it.We talk about why an island this small has two ecosystems instead of one, why the split between "local" and "foreign" companies is the wrong lens, and why cross-pollination between imported talent and local talent is the only way forward. We dig into his bet that a unicorn is coming out of Cyprus, why founders should stop chasing valuations and start solving problems, and how AI should be treated as a tool, never a decision-maker.And we end on a dream shared by both host and guest: that in ten years, Cyprus will finally be Cyprus one island, unified.This is a conversation about resilience, cross-pollination, and the quiet builders who laid the foundations everyone else is standing on.Brought to you by Factory39 and Martin Zarian.

Made in Cyprus | S3 E8 | Trading 24 years of hospitality for Cyprus with Eddy Nassar. After 24 years climbing to the top of Cyprus's hospitality world, Eddy Nassar walked away to build something of his own.In this episode of Made in Cyprus, we sit down with Eddy Nassar, founder of MICA (Mediterranean Influencer Creator Association) and the voice behind The Cyprus Insider, to unpack the leap of faith that turned a 24-year Columbia career into a fast-growing creator platform.From growing up between Beirut and Limassol, to running entertainment at Columbia Plaza, to reaching Managing Director and realising that comfort had become the problem - Eddy shares the real triggers behind the pivot, including his mother's passing and the loneliness that set in the higher he climbed.We talk about why he refuses to be paid for his Cyprus content, why every trip abroad makes him fall back in love with the island, and how MICA grew from 5 creators to 120 members in a single year. And we dig into the harder conversations too - is Limassol becoming a city locals can no longer afford, is the government keeping pace with the growth, and can Cyprus really become the biggest creators hub in ten years?This is a conversation about ambition, authenticity, and finding the courage to leave the safe seat behind.Brought to you by Factory39 and Martin Zarian.

Everyone talks about networking. Lilly Pavlou thinks half the industry might not survive without the word.In this episode of Made in Cyprus, we sit down with Lilly Pavlou, Executive Director at QUBE Events, to unpack what it actually takes to run global events from a small island - beyond the conference stages and the sponsor decks.From last-minute cancellations and entire delegations failing to show, to the moment she realised events could be a serious global business, Lilly breaks down why running events today means being part business leader, part crisis manager. We talk about the difference between events that build real community and ones that are just expensive networking theatre, and why bigger isn't always better.We explore what it means to build a predominantly female team, whether the industry has become too commercialised, and what actually separates a good event from a great one.This is a conversation about events, but more importantly, about credibility, community, and building something worth people's time.Brought to you by Factory39 and Martin Zarian.