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Innovate in Greece by SEV & Endeavor Greece

Dimitris Georgakopoulos: He sold his company for 580 million dollars and returned to Greece!

Dimitris Georgakopoulos went to the US for studies. After working for PwC and Sapient, he launched his own startup in 2004 trying to solve a problem that was 100% his own. Although it took more than one year to land its first customer, the business grew so much that it was sold for $580 million in 2019!

Not long after, he returned permanently to Greece and started - among other things - the Helidoni Foundation, an organization that seeks to support ideas, initiatives and businesses with a social impact.

In conversation with Marco Veremis they discuss his life learnings from having built a company from the ground up, how he has been working remotely since 2009 (!) and, of course, the meaning of life.

We'd like to thank Eurobank and Grant Thornton for supporting the production of the Innovative Greeks Talks series, via Growth Awards, the leading initiative for Business Excellence.

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In the latest Tech Tour Athens Smart Capital 2023 Greek VCs, government officials, and executives of HDBI (Hellenic Development Bank of Investments) discussed the future and strategies of VC in the country. The technology sectors that are expected to attract investments are those around green technologies that support climatech such as defence, life sciences and health.

Greek startup Causaly raised $60M Series B round led by Iconiq Growth together with Index Ventures, Pentech, EBRD and others. The company’s solution aims to shorten and simplify the R&D process of finding new drugs and prep them for commercial use.

Skroutz, the #1 marketplace in Greece, and Convert Group, a leader in data & analytics in omni-channel commerce, announced the launch of the new Skroutz market intelligence service for official importers and distributors of branded products.

Mood, the Startup that provides data-driven solutions and innovative products for the music industry raised an undisclosed amount in a pre-seed funding led by Genesis Ventures, along with strategically selected angel investors. Mood is a startup that aims to redefine the way people spend their nights out based on their mood.

Greek AI Startup DeepSea was acquired by Japan-based engineering giant Nabtesco. DeepSea will operate as a centre of excellence for AI research and product development. The deal aims to further aid Nabtesco’s goal development of autonomous vessels and other AI applications in its business sectors.

Vendora, a Greek marketplace for secondhand goods, announced that it has secured a multimillion-euro funding. The exact amount has not been disclosed. The funding came from Vendora’s existing investors and was led by Dutch venture capital firm No Such Ventures alongside Bucephalus and Great Stuff Ventures.

Uni.Fund closed its second fund of EUR 50 million with the aim to invest in around 20 tech companies, startups and spin-offs from Greece and Europe. Uni.Fund II investors include the Hellenic Development Investment Bank (EATE), the European Investment Fund (EIF) and current investors/supporters of Uni.Fund I.

The first Circular Economy Impact Fund in Greece, SPOROS launched with EUR 30.5 million.

Its mission is to support the sustainable development of the real economy in Greece and the wider region, strengthening the transition of creative businesses to the Circular Economy

Aristos Doxiadis, partner in the technology investment fund Big Pi and vice-chairman at the National Research, Technology and Innovation Council discusses the opportunities for the country to become equal partner in the global innovation economy, if the country resolves bureaucracy and other obstacles.

Marco Veremis, Partner at Big Pi Ventures, chairman and co-founder of Upstream and chairman of the SEV Innovation Committee, discusses the growth of the Greek startup ecosystem, and the current difficulties in funding startups worldwide. He keeps his optimism as, in his words, the most successful companies in the world were born in crises.

MYTILINEOS has invested in sustainability startup Avokado a new and ambitious technology startup, aspiring to change the way we use, produce and interact with energy. Avokado combines AI, data Intelligence and new technologies such as Internet of Energy, Mobile, Social, Blockchain to build smart cities and smart citizens.

Public Group has invested in Bookvoice.gr and enters in the audiobooks market. Public Group is further developing its presence in the field of digital content and specifically audiobooks, announcing its investment in Bookvoice.gr, the leading audiobook platform in the country through the investment arm "Public Capital Partners".

TITAN Group has invested in Zacua Ventures and Rondo Energy, a global venture fund, aiming to promote innovation in the construction ecosystem. Through this initiative, the group aims to invest up to $40 million in the medium term and enter partnerships to strengthen its growth strategy.

HarborLab is a Greek startup based in Athens that uses a SaaS (Software-as-a-Service) solution for port cost analysis that solves an expensive ($120 billion per year) and complex problem by automatically calculating berthing costs. We talk with Antonis Malaxianakis, CEO and Founder of Harbor Lab, about the company, his journey, and the lessons learned. Here’s what he told us.

InnoHealth Forum 2023 aims at connecting investors, organizations, businesses, and public sector bodies from Greece and abroad and explore new development opportunities in the field of Electronic Health. The forum takes place on 22 - 23 September 2023 at the JOIST Innovation Park in Larissa and online.

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Tell us what you want us to cover in the next issue, and who to interview or invite to speak at one of our next events. Get in touch at info@innovativegreeks.gr

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