Dr. Yorgos Koutsoyannopoulos - Chairman of the Board and CEO

Dr. Koutsoyannopoulos, a Helic co-founder, is responsible for corporate strategy and business development. His vision of a cutting-edge RFIC company with a global reach has largely defined Helic's corporate identity and has contributed to a successful first round of financing from a consortium of institutional investors and VCs. Prior to founding Helic he has worked as an engineering consultant in technology development projects for European corporations such as ST Microelectronics, Atmel-ES2 and Infineon. Dr. Koutsoyannopoulos received his Ph.D. and Diploma in Electrical Engineering from the National Technical University of Athens and his MBA from the Athens University of Economics and Business.
 

Dr. Sotiris Bantas - Vice Chairman of the Board and VP, Technology

Dr. Bantas, a Helic co-founder, is in charge of the company's strategic planning and IC innovation. An inventor of key wireless IP, he has brought Helic's passive component integration activity to a technical and commercial maturity. Prior to founding Helic, he worked as an R&D engineer in the field of analog & RF ICs. He has coordinated EU research and technology development projects in analog VLSI design and low power IC design for telecom systems. Sotiris Bantas holds a Ph.D. and Diploma in Electrical Engineering, both from the National Technical University of Athens.
 

Nikolas Provatas - Vice President, Operations

Mr. Provatas has been with Helic since September 2000 and he is in charge of the company's international and domestic operations. Before joining Helic, he was with Citibank International plc. at the Treasury department in Athens. Previously, he had worked for various Greek companies in the areas of business administration and sales. He holds a B.Sc. in Mathematics from the University of the Aegean and an MBA from the Athens University of Economics and Business.
 

Apostolos Liapis - EDA Manager

Mr. Liapis is the manager of EDA products for Helic and a company co-founder. He has been leading the development of VeloceRF EDA tool and is the main driving force behind Helic's EDA-related R&D and Product Development. Prior to founding Helic, he worked as an IT technical consultant on EDA applications for private organizations and the Institute of Computer and Communication Systems of NTUA in Athens. Mr. Liapis studied Electrical and Computer Engineering at the National Technical University of Athens.
 

Marios Argyris - Director 

Mr. Argyris is the Managing Director of First Elements Ventures, the VC management company of Sharelink Financial Services ( www.sfsnet.com ). He is also a director of CyVenture Capital and has been in charge of the design and management of the first for-profit, technology Incubator in Cyprus, Athena High Technology Incubator Ltd. ( AHTI Ltd., www.athenatech.com.cy ). Prior to SFS, he spent five years as an Improvement Board Engineer with the Nicosia Improvement Boards (Cyprus), three years as Project Management Consultant and Project Analyst with Lundgren Management and Henkle-Schueler Group of Companies in the US and seven years with Hellenic Bank in Cyprus. Mr Argyris holds a Bachelor's degree with honours in Engineering from Salford University of Technology, Salford U.K. and an MBA from the Freeman School of Business, Tulane University, New Orleans, Louisiana.
 

George Christofides - Director

Mr. Christofides is the Director - Investment Management of the SFS Group wholly owned subsidiary First Elements Ventures Ltd. He has been with the SFS Group since February 2000. Prior to joining the SFS Group, he worked as a Financial Engineer at Chase Manhattan Bank recording and analyzing the financial structure of bank processes. He earned his MBA from Baruch College (CUNY) in New York and his BBA (Magna Cum Laude) from Hofstra University, also in New York.
 

Evangelos Raptis - Director

Mr. Raptis is a Director at Alpha Ventures, the private equity arm of Alpha Bank, the largest non-state-owned financial institution in Greece. He joined Alpha in 1999 and is spearheading its foray in the regional high-tech sector, sitting on the boards of a number of public and private technology companies. Between 1993 and 1998 Mr. Raptis held various positions with Chase Investment Bank in Milan and London. Mr. Raptis holds a BA degree from Swarthmore College and an MA in International Economics and Finance from Brandeis University.