Digital investment in islands

Foreign investment funds discern significant investment prospects in Greece’s digital economy in terms of the further digitization of services and the property market.

Julie Meyer, chief executive officer at Swiss investment platform Viva Investment Partners, tells Kathimerini that Greece constitutes a key opportunity for the creation of investment ecosystems where digital technology is the main feature. The US entrepreneur, who has sewn up deals worth tens of millions of dollars, has already set in motion Viva’s business plan for Greece.

“For the next 10 years our annual investment conference, ‘Follow the Entrepreneur,’” which took place yesterday and Monday, “will be held on Mykonos,” she announced. “Risk and uncertainty have abandoned Mykonos, and, combined with a particularly friendly investment climate in Greece in the last few years, institutional investors are interested in investing in Mykonos,” she explains.

Meyer’s ambitious plan provides for the creation of a 50-million-euro investment fund on the island investing in the local property market and mainly in eco-living, experiential tourism, e-mobility, the minimization of the environmental footprint and the development of digital applications.

Technological innovations were the focus of the conference held on Mykonos, with the participation also of Bill Barhydt, founder and CEO of the Abra startup (a digital cash payments app), Tal Eliashiv, CEO of Netot venture capital, and Robert Gorby, chief commercial officer at Drive Software Solutions, which has developed an app for the smart management of vehicle fleets that could also by adopted in Greece, he told Kathimerini.

Mykonos, says Meyer, has significant funding requirements for the improvement of its infrastructure, while her aim is to turn the island into a year-round destination. She has a similar plan for the island of Kea, where she spends many months every year: “Through our Keanaissance plan we intend to invest in Kea for the development of necessary infrastructure, so that the island becomes even more enjoyable for families and children, as well as strengthening eco-living there,” explains Meyer: “We intend to turn Mykonos and Kea into islands where one can live year-round as a digital nomad.”