Draft:Reflect Festival

Reflect Festival is a technology and entrepreneurship event taking place annually in Limassol, Cyprus. The festival aims to gather founders, investors, startups, and decision-makers, focusing on matters related to networking, business opportunities, and educational initiatives within the technology and entrepreneurship sectors.

Its objective is to generate new business between the regions of Europe, the Middle East and North Africa, operating Cyprus' geographical location at the crossroads of three continents.

Reflect Festival has grown from 300 attendees in 2018 to 8000 in 2023, transforming from a local regional event into an international assembly for Europe and MENA, under the tagline “doers united”.

History
Reflect was founded in 2018 by Cambridge classmates, entrepreneurs and investors Stylianos Lambrou and Dusan Duffek, along with Andria Lambrou. Initially, it was a spontaneous small-scale meeting of Cypriot and Slovak startups.

In 2019, Reflect focused on the topic of future-casting, with speakers such as Sophia (robot), Sujay Tyle (Frontier Car Group, Balderton Capital, Merama) and Chris Duffey (Adobe). 1500 people attended the event, located in Limassol's Carob Mill.

The 2020 edition was influenced by the outbreak of COVID-19. It was postponed from May to October and transformed into a hybrid event. Speakers included Niklas Jansen (Blinkist), Claude Silver (VaynerMedia), and John Vervaeke (University of Toronto).

Through 2021 and 2022, Reflect Festival reached 5000 attendees and the initial location in Carob Mill became too small. The event gradually expanded to the Old Town of Limassol, with stages, booths and activities located both indoors and outdoors. Speakers included Bryan Johnson (Braintree, Kernel, Blueprint), Douglas Stark (Voi), and Jessikka Aro.

In 2023, Reflect expanded its venue. Four stages were built around the city, with more than 20 educational and networking side events spread throughout. Ankur Nagpal (Teachable), Ida Tin (Clue) and the bestselling author and entrepreneur Derek Sivers (CD Baby) were among the presenters.

Mission
Reflect Festival has supported Cyprus' effort towards becoming a central Mediterranean tech hub. The event has hosted the TechIsland Summit since 2021. This assembly connects policymakers and entrepreneurs intending to turn Cyprus into a main destination for technology enterprises and new businesses. Reflect has also partnered with the governmental organization The Cyprus Chamber of Commerce and Industry, and has been catalogued by the Enterprise Europe Network as an event with a direct impact on the growth of the startup ecosystem on the island.