Investment in startups remains at last year’s levels
“Stagnation” is the term used by several representatives of investment funds in Greece to describe the trajectory of the Greek startup ecosystem at the end of the first quarter of this year compared to the corresponding period last year.
“So far, a total of 15 investments have been made in startups with a presence in Greece. If the number of investment rounds continues at these rates in the next quarters of the year, then we will reach the levels of 2023,” an official told Kathimerini, although there are also cases of financing that are not announced.
According to data from Greek investment fund Marathon Venture Capital, from the beginning of the year until today, all the startups that have a presence in the country (head office or branch) or are made up of Greek founders, without however having a presence here, raised $174 million in 25 funding rounds from 22 international investors.
In particular, startups with Greek roots and a presence in Greece raised $78 million from a total of 13 investors, while the rest of the capital, i.e. $96 million, was granted to foreign startups with a Greek founding team.
Sluggish
For some investors, the funds raised by purely Greek startups are moving, for now, at quite sluggish levels. In fact, the list of Marathon Venture Capital also includes the recent investment of $32 million in insurance company Hellas Direct, which, however, is not a startup since the company is in quite mature stages of development. Therefore, the total funding amount is even lower.
“Although investment funds have been created with resources from the Hellenic Development Bank of Investments, the investment activity is not particularly intense. Maybe because some of them were recently introduced. However, the truth is that most inventive ideas are found abroad and not in Greece. That’s why when we set up our fund, I will start making trips to hubs where there is a Greek element,” said an investor who is expected to launch his own fund for investments in startups within the year.
However, over the past year, inflation, rising borrowing costs and geopolitical turmoil have adversely affected the technology industry, with investment globally set to decline by 40% in 2023.
Greek startups have not been unscathed by the upheaval in the investment climate. market, as funding for new ideas fell by roughly the same percentage, following the general trend observed worldwide.
Standout investments so far, according to Marathon Venture Capital data, besides Hellas Direct, are Greek startup Kinvent, which raised $17.3 million from French investment fund Eurazeo, and Greek investors Brite Solar etc.
