Launch of startup register
Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis is expected on Tuesday to announce the launch of the Elevate Greece online platform that will serve as a register for startups active in this country. In the context of the platform’s presentation, sources say an additional funding tool will also be announced, concerning the salary costs of startups.
The main mission of this platform is to map out the so-called domestic ecosystem, monitor how the startups develop, attract human resources for staffing them, and woo investors. This register will only include companies that fulfill certain criteria.
Those criteria concern the legal form of companies, their age (that should not be any more than eight years), a staff of up to 250 workers, and their annual turnover, which must not exceed 50 million euros.
If those conditions are fulfilled, each startup will be probed by a committee that will assess and monitor the register; it will focus on whether each company meets the two basic quality characteristics, those of innovation and scalability.
Fast-track procedures for inclusion in the register are provided for any enterprises already funded by venture capital or startups that constitute spin-offs of research centers and academic foundations. The same will apply to any startups financed by the Horizon 2020 program or those that have secured a patent certificate.
Regulations already provide for incentives for investors and “business angels.” They practically constitute tax incentives to “angel investors,” exempting from the taxable income of those investing in the startups registered with Elevate Greece 50% of their contribution toward the companies.
Incentives will also be granted to the startups themselves for investing in research and development, raising the current exemption rate of 30% for investments in R&D to 100%.
These carrots are expected to further strengthen the startups in a period when many of them have managed to secure significant amounts of capital from domestic and foreign funds. Despite the pandemic and the blow to the technological companies involved in tourism, six startups managed to raise $82.2 million from March to September.
