Since 2010, start-up activity in Greece has boosted employment, particularly among the younger generations, while serving as an incentive for the country’s productive working force to remain at home, reversing a massive brain-drain wave over the last decade.
In the meantime, the talent is there. Greece ranks 47th in innovation capability among 140 counties on the World Economic Forum’s 2019 listing but holds the 76th spot in business dynamism and 120th in venture capital availability.
2019 was a transitional year for the Greek start-up ecosystem. Some 24 months after the EquiFund mechanism was rolled out, Greek startuppers are actively seeking opportunities. Indicatively, pre-seed stage activity increased by 11.2% year-on-year, demonstrating a flow of newly established companies trying their luck with investors. At the same time, there was also a 6.4% increase in the number of companies in Series A deal stage.
Meanwhile, demonstrating the government’s commitment to tap into innovation, in September 2019, Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis announced the creation of the “Thess Intec”, an innovation park in northern Greece. Set to be backed by private funding, the park will serve as a hub for the development of high-tech products as well as research and development. Plans are also being made for a similar innovation park in Athens this year (2020).
And it appears the government has also taken heed of the need to address challenges within the start-up environment. “With regards to start-ups, we acknowledge their existing track record in the country and their tremendous potential,” says Digital Governance Minister Kyriakos Pierrakakis. “We want to adopt international best practices which have enabled the creation of ecosystems. Currently, we’re mapping the ecosystem in order to see where and how we can assist tech entrepreneurs,” he adds.
Add to this the deployment of new generation access (NGA) network infrastructure, including fibre optics, and a new day for Greece’s start-up scene is about to dawn.
“The challenge for Greece is to become a benchmark in the broader European technological market and a role model on how a country can reposition and enhance its economic footprint in the international sphere while transforming itself,” says Dimitris Kalavros-Gousiou, investor, Co-Founder, and Partner of Velocity.Partners Venture Capital, Founder of TEDxAthens and Found.ation.