Maria Nikolou

Maria Nikolou has a diverse and extensive work experience in business development, entrepreneurship, and innovation. Maria currently works as the Head of Business Development at Swisspod Technologies, where they lead the business teams and supports fundraising and recruiting activities. Prior to this, they worked as a Senior Business Development Consultant at the same company. Maria also has experience working in the academic sector, specifically at the University of Oxford, where they held various roles such as Entrepreneurship Lead and Associate Director at the Saïd Business School. Maria was responsible for mentoring founders and start-up teams, identifying potential partners, and leading innovative initiatives. Maria also founded and chaired the Advisory Board at the Oxford Seed Fund, a student-led fund that invests in early-stage ventures and provides support for their growth. In addition to their academic and industry experience, Maria has also worked as a LiF Coach at the Royal Academy of Engineering and held strategy consultant roles at PrimeTrading Management and project coordinator and senior research scientist positions at Air Products and Chemicals. Maria holds a doctoral degree in Materials Science and Engineering and has conducted research in nanobiotechnology and flexible organic electronics at Cornell University.

Maria Nikolou has a diverse education history. In 1999, they participated in material research and optical characterization under the Erasmus-Socrates program at Radboud University. Later, they pursued a Bachelor's degree in Physics and Microelectronics at the University of Crete before completing their Ph.D. in Experimental Solid State Physics at the University of Florida from 2000 to 2005.

Maria then continued their education at Cornell University, where they obtained a certificate in a PostDoctoral Leadership Program in 2006. In 2010 and 2011, they attended Bayes Business School, earning an MBA degree.

From 2020 to 2020, Maria specialized in Artificial Intelligence at Saïd Business School, University of Oxford, through their Oxford Executive program. In 2021, they further enhanced their knowledge in Venture Capital Investing as a Venture Fellow Scholar in the Newton Venture Program at the London Business School. That same year, they also pursued executive leadership training at Saïd Business School, University of Oxford.

Most recently, in 2023, Maria attended a program focused on Winning Sustainability Strategies at IMD.