by Natasha Stasinou

 

Kenotom is not a typical case of a Greek company. On the contrary. A company based in Thessaloniki has multinationals in the automotive sector as its clients and is growing steadily, creating jobs and making sure to provide training and motivation to its workforce. With its founders having received a strong taste of German business culture, but also having the will to create in their own place and utilize their own talents, it sets the bar of goals higher and higher.

 

Naftemporiki has spoken with the company's founder, Fotis Panteliadis, and partner, Panagiotis Zapartas, about the course of Kenotom and the next steps.

 

Kenotom offers services in the field of embedded systems. These are computers that are "hidden" in our mobile phones, household appliances, air conditioners, medical machines, in other words devices in every aspect of our daily lives. It specializes in automotive embedded systems, undertaking electrical engineering, electronic engineering, mechanical engineering and automation engineering work. Its customers (all abroad) are the so-called Tier 1 Automotive Suppliers, i.e. companies that provide specialized solutions, which in turn have customers of the largest car manufacturers on the planet.

 

Kenotom was self-sufficient from the beginning and did not need to ask for financing, nor did the co-founders put in large funds, since it did not have a product to develop and market, but the knowledge of its executives.

 

This is not to say that her path was without obstacles. "The big challenge is the beginning. It is almost impossible for large companies to trust a new company with minimal capital and zero track record," explains Mr. Panteliadis.  

 

Relations with the academic community

 

For a startup to take on ever larger, more important projects, it needs potential. How did a company, founded by two people, come to employ around 190 people today?

 

"The truth is that we had difficulty in the sense that the specialization we are asking for is not taught anywhere in the Greek university. However, there are very valuable people who come out of the Greek university and with the appropriate guidance and expertise that we have gathered within our team, we can train them to work with us.

 

The cooperation with the university was an important element for the headquarters to remain in Thessaloniki. “The quality of graduates coming out of the university is outstanding. The speed with which they absorb the new information that we teach them is impressive and this means that they have the right foundations", says Mr. Panteliadis.

 

The company also supports university groups as a sponsor, as it considers that work in them is an important precursor for the career of graduates in a company.