The Greek startup ecosystem is set for a new record

A new record for the Greek start-up ecosystem is foreseen in 2021. Only in the first five months of the year, the investment funds had already reached 50% of the total amount raised in 2020, according to Endeavor Impact Report 2020-2021. All signs indicate that this year will create new peaks, after the record year 2020.

Despite the adversity created by the pandemic, Greek startups in 2020 raised more funds than ever before, reaching 455 million euros and recording an increase of more than 71% compared to 2019. However, the records were broken, with agreements that exceeded the 470 million euros, the highest amount historically for Greek data. These exits had 10 times higher value than their 2019 counterparts.

The acquisitions of InstaShop by Delivery Hero, Softomotive by Microsoft and Think Silicon by Applied Materials stood out. All of the above resulted in an impressive increase in jobs in Greek start-ups that reached 30%. In one of the most difficult years for employment due to the pandemic, Greek start-ups from 5,400 employees in 2019, reached 7,000 at the end of 2020.

Taking the baton from the impressive results of 2020, two in three Greek start ups stated that in their immediate planning for 2021 was new funding. Based on all the data, as noted in Endeavor’s ImpactReport, it is predicted that “2021 will be a year in which we will have a new record in almost all key indicators: growth rates, job creation, fundraising, acquisitions both in value and in number.”

Blueground, Epignosis, Hellas Direct, NetData, Persado, Pollfish, Omilia, Orfium, Viva Wallet and Workable are at the top of the list of Endeavor, an international nonprofit that supports fast-growing companies, with companies expected to bring together strings of success this year. These companies are the outliers, ie they are already international players and continue to grow.

At the forefront, however, are companies that are now building their success story, for which great growth is expected, and even remarkable rounds of funding for next year. Rising Stars, as they are called, can be Arrikto, Augmenta, Causaly, Hack the Box, Intelligencia, Lenses, Learn Worlds, Manual, Panther Labs, Plum, Saphetor, Spotawheel and TileDB.

The hidden aspects of 2020 success

2020 was a year of great success for the “family” of Greek startups, attracting among the funds that invested for the first time so many new top investors. One of the elements of interest in the 2020 landscape is that, despite the fact that the total amount of funding has increased significantly, there has been a 17% decrease in funding rounds. While in 2019 there were 79 rounds, they dropped to 65 in 2020.

At the same time, however, there are higher amounts per round of financing, as well as larger companies in terms of their time of existence, which continue to raise funds to boost their growth rates. It is noted that the largest round of funding in 2020, based on the amounts that have been officially announced, is that of Viva Wallet, amounting to 75 million euros.

The Fintech and e-commerce sectors emerged first in the 2020 race, recording the highest rates of capital increase of 600% and 300% respectively. On the other hand, the sectors of education, agriculture and travel have dropped significantly by almost 100%. Overall, the e-commerce sector raised the most funds in 2020 with 27%, followed by Fintech with 21% and the health sector with 10% of the funds.

An element of particular interest is that the 2020 record was based mostly on companies that had been established before 2010, ie they were already over 10 years old, at a rate of 53.01%. Also, 33.47% of the funds were directed to newer companies with operation less than 4 years, while only 13.5% were invested in companies with 5 to 10 years of operation.

Signs of maturation for the Greek ecosystem

The signs of maturation of the Greek ecosystem are many, as noted in the Impact Report 2020-2021. The capitalization of more and more companies is approaching $ 1 billion, for instance: Aisera, Beat, Blueground, Epignosis, Hellas Direct, Omilia, Persado, Skroutz, Viva Wallet, Workable etc.

The growth rate of a series of startups is such that it seems that in the coming years they will be at similar or even higher levels. These, according to this Endeavor Reporter, are: Arrikto, Augmenta, Causaly, Hack The Box, Intelligencia, Learn Worlds, Lenses, Manual, Netdata, Omilia, Orfium, Pollfish, Plum, Safesize, Saphetor, Spotawheel, Tile DB and .a.

Greek entrepreneurs from the Diaspora are also achieving significant successes, attracting the interest of leading investors and supporters, as well as creating collaborations with technology giants around the world. Among others are Action IQ, Cameo, DNA nexus, Instabox, Matternet, Miroculus, Moonfare, Moula, Nova Credit, Number AI, Stradigi AI, Trouva, Workato and ZOE.