Byron Nicolaides

Founder & CEO; Member of the Greek Community of Istanbul, dual citizen

PeopleCert Group, Greece

Byron has always been passionate about having a positive impact on the lives of others.

Starting out as a top performer at Merrill Lynch, he later ignited his entrepreneurial journey
in 1992, remaining loyal to his core values of Quality, Innovation, Passion, and Integrity.
Those values have always underpinned his personal and professional life.

Byron founded PeopleCert in 2000. Under Byron’s leadership, PeopleCert evolved from a
Greek player to the global leader in the certification of professional and language skills. To
date, the company has delivered millions of exams and certified millions of people across
220 countries, helping them to enhance their lives and careers. Following the acquisition of
Axelos in 2021 for €450 million (the highest ever acquisition abroad from the Greek private
sector), PeopleCert became the first unicorn of Greek origin (valuation exceeding USD1bn).

In 2019, Byron won the title of the Entrepreneur of the Year, at the European Business
Awards, representing the United Kingdom, putting PeopleCert in the elite group of Europe's
top 1% most successful companies (from a list of 120.000 enterprises). In 2020, Byron was
named “Self-Made” Entrepreneur of the Year” by EY in Greece, in recognition of his positive
contributions to society and outstanding global business performance.

Willing to share this experience and inspire other entrepreneurs, Byron holds several Board
Member roles.