Our Story

The inception of InstaLevel

Like most innovative ideas, InstaLevel was created out of passion, creative thinking and a bit of pondering. The goal was to address an ever-growing modern day need.

The story goes like this:

We are a group of aspiring professionals, with accumulated experience in languages, technology, algorithms as well as in the job hunting and job hiring sides of business. One of the initial questions we asked ourselves was :

“Ηow safe is it to hire someone based only on their CV and on degrees they may have acquired years and years ago?”

Then, we looked back at the time we were starting our careers:

“Wasn’t it hard when we applied for jobs, to prove through our CV that we actually had the skills mentioned in our CVs?”

We then came up with the idea:

“Wouldn’t it be cool if we could instantly find out whether the certificates that candidates have acquired match their actual skills?”

The creation of InstaLevel

We started working on implementing our idea, by capitalising on each other’s unique skills. The result?

An innovative idea that puts an end to the inability of businesses to instantly assess candidates’ actual language skills. Relying on relevant language certificates typically acquired many years ago that fail to reflect the current knowledge of the candidate and elicit insecurity as to whether they depict the actual proficiency, suddenly becomes a reminisce of the past!

At InstaLevel, we created tests that are short (based on sampling) while our proprietary dynamic algorithm is the driving force behind the validity of the results. It is essentially the feature that safeguards both companies and candidates with regards to the accuracy of the candidates’ reported language skill level.

In other words:

Candidates make their CV stand out, increasing their potential to claim their spot in the global workplace.

Companies pick the right person for the right job, saving money, time and resources along the way.

Candidates make their CV stand out, increasing their potential to claim their spot in the global workplace.

Companies pick the right person for the right job, saving money, time and resources along the way.

We call that win-win!

Demetrios Siountris

“Ultimately, InstaLevel is about empowering growth. Business and personal.”

Le capitaine

Co-Founder,

Managing Director

Demetrios Siountris

Le capitaine

Co-Founder,

Managing Director

Demetrios has more than 20 years of experience in the education and consulting industries. His unofficial job description would probably be a restless spirit, constantly exploring innovative ideas and new opportunities night and day. His official job description is Co-Founder and Managing Director of InstaLevel and Director of Siountri School, a chain of foreign languages schools located in Athens, Greece, founded by Dimitri’s family more than 40 years ago and grown into an established educational institution with hundreds of students.

Demetrios is a business thinker and a problem solver at heart, he leads day in, day out a group of exceptional native speaking teachers at Siountri School, but also leads the InstaLevel team in this innovative endeavor- because what’s 24 hours if you can’t make use of all of them! Before starting his career, he made a stop to gain a BSc in Business Administration from the University of Piraeus and an MBA at SIMON Business School at the University of Rochester.

His official job description is Co-Founder and Managing Director of InstaLevel and Director of Siountri School, a chain of foreign languages schools located in Athens, Greece, founded by Dimitri's family more than 40 years ago and grown into an established educational institution with hundreds of students. Demetrios is a business thinker and a problem solver at heart, he leads day in, day out a group of exceptional native speaking teachers at Siountri School, but also leads the InstaLevel team in this innovative endeavor- because what’s 24 hours if you can’t make use of all of them! Before starting his career, he made a stop to gain a BSc in Business Administration from the University of Piraeus and an MBA at SIMON Business School at the University of Rochester.

Christos Karnezis

“InstaLevel has been meticulously built to effectively assist both job hunters and job seekers.”

El conquistador

Co-Founder,

Algorithm & Data Analysis

Christos Karnezis

El conquistador

Co-Founder,

Algorithm & Data Analysis

Christos has been roaming the business world for the past 18 years, in the quest to conquer new business development aspirations. In plain resume language, he has worked for international commodities trading firms in both the UK and the US holding analyst, trading and managerial positions. His experience spans from global physical and derivatives energy trading to business development –gained with some of the largest global commodities trading companies.

Christos describes himself as numerical with attention to detail, always intrigued by algorithmic models. In his free time he enjoys outdoors activities with his family, reading a nice book and will never say no to a dram of a good Scotch malt. He is a dual US and Greek citizen permanently residing in the UK and holds an MSc in Finance from the University of Southampton in the UK.

Christos has been roaming the business world for the past 18 years, in the quest to conquer new business development aspirations.

In plain resume language, he has worked for international commodities trading firms in both the UK and the US holding analyst, trading and managerial positions. His experience spans from global physical and derivatives energy trading to business development –gained with some of the largest global commodities trading companies. Christos describes himself as numerical with attention to detail, always intrigued by algorithmic models. In his free time he enjoys outdoors activities with his family, reading a nice book and will never say no to a dram of a good Scotch malt. He is a dual US and Greek citizen permanently residing in the UK and holds an MSc in Finance from the University of Southampton in the UK.

Yiannis Giannikos

“We created a technologically sophisticated, yet human-centric experience.”

Il Elaboratore

Co-Founder,

Technology

Yiannis Giannikos

Il Elaboratore

Co-Founder,

Technology

If there is one person at InstaLevel that can so effectively joggle design, content, web technological requirements, it’s Yiannis. He has been exposed to Content Management Systems since 2004, a great experience that proved crucial when trying to put together all these innovative ideas for our product. His latest hobbies include the dark arts of online marketing. Working closely with a number of established creative teams and designers, he spends most of his time ironing out design details and mapping business processes to web applications.

When not elbow deep in any of the above activities, you will find Yiannis DIYing at home, snowboarding, troll fishing in the coasts of Sifnos, cooking and listening to Nick Cave. Yiannis holds a BEng degree from UMIST and an MSc from the University of Manchester in the UK.

If there is one person at InstaLevel that can so effectively joggle design, content, web technological requirements, it’s Yiannis.

He has been exposed to Content Management Systems since 2004, a great experience that proved crucial when trying to put together all these innovative ideas for our product. His latest hobbies include the dark arts of online marketing. Working closely with a number of established creative teams and designers, he spends most of his time ironing out design details and mapping business processes to web applications. When not elbow deep in any of the above activities, you will find Yiannis DIYing at home, snowboarding, troll fishing in the coasts of Sifnos, cooking and listening to Nick Cave. Yiannis holds a BEng degree from UMIST and an MSc from the University of Manchester in the UK.

Christos Giannakopoulos

“We brought together our complementary skills and our out-of-the-box thinking and created a service that offers tangible value to those who give it a shot.”

The headquarter

Co-Founder,

Product & Strategic Partnerships

Christos Giannakopoulos

The headquarter

Co-Founder,

Product & Strategic Partnerships

Chris is our newest team member. He started his career at PwC in 1997, even before completing his Bachelor’s in Business. While advancing his education with postgraduate studies in Finance & Banking, he was leading project teams at PwC in the areas of management consulting and corporate finance.

In 2003, Chris ventured into entrepreneurship with friends, founding, acquiring, and selling fintech startups over the past two decades. His expertise spans business analysis, process improvement, strategic planning, and product design. Beyond work, Chris, based in Frankfurt since 2014, is a hobby drummer and successfully runs an e-shop selling vintage drums.

Chris is our newest team member. He started his career at PwC in 1997, even before completing his Bachelor's in Business. While advancing his education with postgraduate studies in Finance & Banking, he was leading project teams at PwC in the areas of management consulting and corporate finance.