For a tech and startup ecosystem to mature, scaleups need to unlock a multiplier effect where successful startups create capital and talent which is reinvested in the next generation of companies.
Silicon Valley had PayPal, Tallinn had Skype, London had Monzo.
Greece — which was 24th in terms of VC investment raised by European countries in 2023 — wants to be the next big ecosystem success story. And with more investors and corporates betting on emerging Greek companies and more Greek-founded companies scaling up, the ecosystem is ready for the catalyst that can push it into the big leagues.
In March, New York apartment rental startup Blueground raised a chunky $45m Series D, putting its valuation at just over $1bn. The company is based in the US and founded by a Greek entrepreneur. It follows the success of Viva Wallet, which was part-acquired by JP Morgan for €700m in 2022 — and joins other rising stars, in and out of Greece, which are scaling up and feeding talent, capital and inspiration back into the ecosystem.
Holiday rental platform Hosthub, fintech startup Woli and gaming startup Petita Demas are all founded by former Viva Wallet cofounders and employees.
As well as setting up new companies, successful entrepreneurs have started angel investing in Greece. In 2023, angels participated in 42% of funding rounds in Greek startups.
The Greek tech ecosystem now consists of 1k+ startups that have a combined value of more than $12bn.
Could a new crop of Greek-founded success stories and international interest kickstart a startup growth spurt in Greece? We spoke to some rising stars who are choosing Greece about their plans and how the ecosystem stays connected.
A supportive community
As more scaleups and success stories are directly creating new jobs and angel investors through a new generation of startups, they also educate the public at large on the success that fast-growing companies can achieve.
“An example of how somebody made it really influences young people and creates opportunities for new jobs and even international careers,” says Panos Karagiannis, cofounder of Moveo.AI, a startup that provides generative AI (GenAI) services to enterprises.
“[Success stories] educate everybody in Greek society on the tech and entrepreneurial ecosystem and set an example for people to actually believe in what’s possible,” Karagiannis adds.
Moveo.AI has raised $3m since launching in 2022 and Karagiannis is a member of Scale Up by Endeavor, a programme run by non-profit Endeavor Greece to support early-stage fast-growing tech companies and stimulate the multiplier effect.
[Success stories] educate everybody in Greek society on the tech and entrepreneurial ecosystem.
Scale Up connects early-stage founders to investors, as well as other founders, who have gone or are going through similar challenges and hurdles. Endeavor selects two cohorts of startups each year to join an international community of founders that have collectively raised over $710m in funding to date.
Karagiannis says that Scale Up is important to build good relationships with other Greek companies, who share not just the expertise of building a business, but also know what it’s like to do that in a country where the ecosystem hasn’t yet fully developed. Otherwise “Greece is left without those bright minds,” he says.
The seventh batch of startups was recently announced in June, including the CEO and cofounder of Canada-based AI startup ODAIA Intelligence Philip Poulidis and CEO and cofounder of France-based healthtech KINVENT Athanase Kollias.
Connecting to the world
A growing ecosystem in Greece also brings foreigners knocking — in the hopes of hiring some competitively priced talent, or getting in early on funding the next big thing. For every startup founded in Greece, it’s estimated that five or six others are set up by Greek founders abroad. It’s a unique characteristic of this founder community — and it means that once success has been found, many are ready to support aspiring entrepreneurs at home.
The cost of talent, the cost of marketing, it’s a lot cheaper.
Greek-founded Instashop, for example, is headquartered in Dubai. Its founders, who are both Greek, told Sifted they turned to their home country to hire product and development talent. Meanwhile, giant corporates like Pfizer and Microsoft are opening locations in Greece, and foreign investors are starting to hunt out opportunities. In 2023, 78% of investment dollars into startups came from outside of Greece, with a big chunk of those VCs coming from the US.
More non-Greek founders, with no prior connection to the country, are also choosing Greece for their operations. Vehicles like Scale Up can be used as a launchpad.
For example, London-based payments tech startup ZealPay, another Scale Up programme member, is currently gearing up to launch in Greece. Founder Omar Ebeid says it’s more cost effective to go to market here — and hire the team members he needs — than it would be in London.
“The cost of talent, the cost of marketing, it’s a lot cheaper than what we get in the UK. For us it makes a lot of sense to invest [in Greece],” he says.
As well as helping international startups launch in Greece, Scale Up creates opportunities for founders to sit at the same table through events in countries where large numbers of Greek founders are setting up businesses. For example, at a recent ‘Greeking Out’ event in London, founders based in Germany, the UK, Greece, Cyprus, Spain and Egypt shared their stories with the hopes of finding new partners and friends.
Adrian Johnston, the cofounder of building decarbonisation platform Elyos Energy, says he regularly attends Endeavor-run dinners in London with the company’s cofounder Panos Stravopodis. Having raised €3m since launching just last year, the startup is part of the Scale Up programme.
“Panos is keenly part of the ecosystem in London and he knows a lot of people in the space,” Johnston says, adding that the company has been introduced to mentors and prospective Greek partners this way, including large municipalities and real estate managers.
“[Endeavor] have also been helpful in putting us in touch with Greek companies who are potential customers,” he says. “They have a network of very experienced founders and senior business people, and they’ve set us up with five of those now for conversations on different topics.”
Perhaps one of Endeavor’s scaleups — or part of its network — will be the PayPal, Skype or Monzo of Greece.
Endeavor thinks Greece could become the next big ecosystem success story in Europe — and the new generation of international entrepreneurs building up Greece’s tech could be partly the way to achieve it. For more information about the selected companies in this year’s Scale Up by Endeavor cohort — which have collectively raised over $90m and span eight countries across Europe, Africa and North America — click here.
Read the orginal article: https://sifted.eu/articles/greece-ecosystem-international-founders-brnd/
