Antonis Polemitis

CEO

University of Nicosia

Mr. Polemitis has two decades of experience in higher education, private equity, and software development.  He has a deep understanding of global higher education, having served as a CEO, investor, board member, instructor and technology developer in the field.  He has been a principal or advisor for a broad range of corporate financings in the United States, Europe, Latin America and India, ranging from multi-billion dollar industrial buyouts to early stage venture capital.  He has also led the development of high-scale cloud-based technology platforms in multiple industries.

Mr. Polemitis currently serves as the Chief Executive Officer of the University of Nicosia and EDEX, as a Board member of EDEX and UNICAF, and as a member of the Council of the University of Nicosia.  The University of Nicosia (UNIC) serves over 13,000 students, along with over 15,000 additional students in its affiliated academic institutions.  UNIC is the largest university in Cyprus, by number of students, and is the largest English language university in southern Europe.  As CEO, he is responsible for the administrative and economic activities of the University. He previously led the strategic initiatives at EDEX that led to the financing and development of UNIC’s Medical School and online learning unit.

Mr. Polemitis helped found the world-leading Digital Currency / Blockchain Initiative at the University of Nicosia, co-taught the first university cryptocurrency course in the world, and is regularly quoted in the Wall Street Journal, USA Today, Wired and other publications as an expert on cryptocurrency issues.  He was a member of the national committee that designed the blockchain strategy for Cyprus.  He was also the founding CEO of Global Semesters, a study abroad organization affiliated with the University of Nicosia that has served students from over 700 universities in the United States and Canada.

Mr. Polemitis is the managing partner of Ledra Capital, where he led early-stage investments in, or software development of, Software-as-a-Service platforms in the areas of higher education, cryptocurrency, online video publishing and legal research.  Mr. Polemitis was previously a principal at ACG Capital, a privately held multi-billion dollar investment firm focused on buying and building businesses in financial services, business services, education and oil and gas.   At ACG, Mr. Polemitis led the investment efforts in the fields of higher education and business process outsourcing (BPO).

Prior to joining ACG Capital, Mr. Polemitis was a partner based in New York and London in the private equity practice of Mercer Management Consulting (now Oliver Wyman), one of the world’s leading strategy consultancies. At Mercer, Mr. Polemitis helped top-tier private equity firms and merchant banks improve their performance across the whole investment cycle from investment selection to portfolio optimization to exit strategy.  His research at Mercer on optimal financing strategy in private equity has been published in Buyouts and cited in the Financial Times.   At Mercer, he also consulted on growth strategy and customer relationship management to, among others, a top three information technology firm, a top three oil and gas major and two of the five largest investment banks.

Mr. Polemitis holds an MBA from Harvard Business School, where he graduated with highest distinction as a Baker Scholar (top 5%), and a B.S. in International Studies, Accounting and Computer Information Systems from Indiana University, where he graduated with highest distinction as a Wells and Chancellor’s Scholar (top 21 students). Mr. Polemitis also studied at the University of Paris IV (Sorbonne) in Paris as an undergraduate.   Mr. Polemitis is an Eagle Scout and Friend of The Explorers Club, the world’s premier scientific exploration society.