A local Greek entrepreneur who set up his own ecommerce website design business after graduating has been invited to talk on stage at a major tech conference in San Francisco, California.

Michael Kashioulis, 29, from Enfield, has been invited to the Shopify Unite International Conference, a conference that will bring together tech agencies from across the world.

Michael’s company, Smart Cookie Design, is one of just eight agencies in the UK and one of just fifteen in Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA) that has Shopify’s highest accreditation as a Plus partner. This accreditation alongside Smart Cookie Designs track record of building successful ecommerce stores on Shopify is why Michael has been invited to the event to talk about his, and Smart Cookie Design’s, growing success.

He said: “This is an extremely exciting opportunity for us as a company and for me personally. To be invited to one of the tech capitals of the world to present at an international conference is a huge honour. It is not something I ever imagined when I first started out after graduating. It will be a great chance, not only to demonstrate the success of my company, but also a unique opportunity to grow it even further.”

Michael who has lived in Enfield his entire life graduated from the University of Hertfordshire in 2010 having studied Business Economics. He then started his company, initially making websites for any clients who would pay for his services. But he and his team soon realised a better business model would be to focus on a niche area of web design and become specialists in that.

That is when they began making ecommerce websites solely for retail firms using the Shopify platform. Now Michael and his team only build sites using Shopify technology and are highly sought after for ecommerce development.

It is a relationship that has paid dividends for Smart Cookie Design, becoming one of the leading Shopify agencies in the world.

Michael added: “We have dedicated ourselves to purely building ecommerce websites for retail clients. This makes our agency very specialist and over the last few years we have seen the benefits of this and worked with clients both large and small and proven ourselves as a leading agency in this field. It has been a terrific journey.”

Michael also completed his MBA at Hertfordshire Business School as well as winning a Flare Award, the University’s entrepreneurship prize, in 2009. He said: “My time at the University of Hertfordshire has really helped me and my business. I still have a strong relationship with the University and have stayed in contact with some of the tutors. They have been really supportive and still offer me advice any time I ask for it. It is great to still be a part of the Herts community after all these years.”

Nigel Culkin, Professor of Enterprise & Entrepreneurial Development, added: “By winning the university’s Flare Award back in 2009, Michael demonstrated that he was a highly resilient individual, possessing an entrepreneurial spirit backed up with an immense drive to succeed. Possessing these graduate attributes, it is no surprise he is such a great Ambassador for UK PLC, and we at Herts will continue to support Michael in the future as he and his business continue to grow!”