Policymakers, technology leaders, entrepreneurs and investors gathered at an investors’ roundtable hosted by Invest Cyprus in the presence of Cyprus President Nikos Christodoulides to discuss stronger India-Europe collaboration, with a focus on innovation, investment and new opportunities for Indian businesses expanding into European markets.
Representing HT Labs, the innovation and technology arm of HT Media Group, Avinash Mudaliar, Co-Founder and CEO, participated in discussions that traversed artificial intelligence, digital infrastructure, startup ecosystems, media-tech, intellectual property frameworks, and the strategic evolution of Cyprus into a gateway for ambitious Indian enterprises entering Europe.
The engagement reflected the increasingly vigorous India-Cyprus Strategic Partnership, which is now extending well beyond diplomacy into investment, entrepreneurship, AI, digital transformation, media-tech, and innovation-led economic collaboration.
The session opened with remarks from Invest Cyprus Chairman Evgenios Evgeniou, who highlighted India’s growth in technology-led businesses, startup ecosystems, digital public infrastructure and large-scale innovation, setting the stage for discussions between both sides.
By invoking Indian success stories, the rise of technology-led enterprises, startup dynamism, digital public infrastructure, and innovation at scale, he immediately established intellectual common ground between Cyprus and India.
Evgenios Evgeniou, Chairman of Invest Cyprus, remarked: “During the investors’ roundtable, leading Indian companies and entrepreneurs had the opportunity to hear directly from His Excellency President Nikos Christodoulides about the prospects Cyprus offers as a springboard for growth into the European Union, a regional business hub for the wider Middle East, and an emerging investment destination across sectors ranging from technology and financial services to education, logistics, pharmaceuticals, and advanced innovation ecosystems.
We are extremely encouraged by the response and the depth of interest demonstrated by several major Indian enterprises. A number of companies expressed serious intent towards exploring investments and long-term strategic partnerships in Cyprus. We will now undertake systematic follow-up with participating organisations and entrepreneurs to facilitate deeper engagement, provide the necessary support frameworks, and explore tangible co-building opportunities in the near future.”
A major part of the discussions centred on Cyprus’s rise as a business-friendly and innovation-focused destination for Indian companies planning expansion into European Union markets.
Demetris Skourides, Chief Scientist of the Republic of Cyprus, who has been actively engaging with the Indian technology and startup ecosystem since 2024, reiterated Cyprus’s ambition to emerge as a regional innovation hub and a strategic gateway into Europe for Indian enterprises. He highlighted the country’s globally competitive IP Box regime, which offers an effective tax rate as low as 3% on qualifying intellectual property income, alongside a 120% deduction on eligible R&D expenditure.
Indian companies already operating from Cyprus reinforced the country’s growing reputation as an intelligent European operating base for AI firms, SaaS enterprises, startups, digital platforms, and media-tech organisations seeking global scale.
HT Labs, widely recognised for its strengths across product engineering, artificial intelligence, consumer technology ecosystems, digital platforms, recommendation systems, content intelligence, and large-scale media-tech innovation, shared perspectives on the future of AI-led infrastructure and scalable technology systems.
Mudaliar’s participation drew particular interest due to his long-standing experience across product, media, technology, and consumer internet businesses. Over the years, he has been associated with building and scaling several digital ecosystems and innovation-led products across media, entertainment, content discovery, and platform businesses. His experience in navigating the intersection of technology, AI, user behaviour, and digital transformation positioned him as one of the principal voices from the Indian delegation during the strategic discussions.
HT Labs also expressed a strong interest in leveraging Cyprus’s sandbox environments and innovation-friendly regulatory frameworks to test and scale its emerging Technology-as-a-Service (TaaS) initiatives. Discussions explored the possibility of co-building opportunities across AI-led media systems, digital infrastructure, recommendation engines, content intelligence frameworks, and next-generation consumer engagement platforms, using Cyprus as an agile experimentation and deployment base in Europe.
Speaking during the engagement, Avinash Mudaliar observed: “Cyprus is fast emerging as a strategic innovation bridge connecting India to Europe. What distinguishes the country is its ability to combine European market access with agile policymaking, startup-friendly thinking, and a deeply collaborative innovation ecosystem. The passion, consistency, and commitment exhibited by Cyprus towards building future-facing technology infrastructure is extraordinary. For Indian businesses seeking global scale in AI, media-tech, and digital infrastructure, Cyprus presents a compelling opportunity.”
Special mention must also be made of Stavros Stavrou, President of the Cyprus-India Business Association, whose stewardship of the wider engagement ecosystem ensured that discussions retained both strategic seriousness and uncommon warmth. His efforts to strengthen India-Cyprus commercial and innovation relationships were evident throughout the proceedings, particularly in fostering an environment where governments, investors, startups, and technology leaders could engage with unusual candour and intellectual openness.
Following the formal roundtable discussions, both Stavros Stavrou and Demetris Skourides spent additional time in detailed post-session conversations around long-term India-Cyprus collaboration opportunities, AI ecosystems, innovation sandboxes, and the future of technology-led partnerships between Indian enterprises and Cyprus. These interactions went beyond protocol and reflected a genuine intent to sustain engagement, co-build possibilities, and forge strategic technology partnerships.
Their acknowledgement and appreciation of HT Labs’ participation reflected the seriousness with which the Cyprus ecosystem is approaching long-term collaboration with Indian innovation leaders.
By the conclusion of the roundtable, one truth had become abundantly clear: Cyprus no longer seeks merely to participate in the European innovation conversation. It seeks to shape it.
And for Indian enterprises standing at the threshold of global expansion, Cyprus is making an increasingly persuasive case that the road into Europe may well pass through Nicosia.
