Golden Visa opportunity via investing in startups
The government is about to boost Greece’s startup environment through a series of measures included in a new National Economy and Finance Ministry bill.
The draft law will offer tax incentives for research and development of up to 315%, further incentives for investment in startups by “angel investors” (i.e. private investors who finance small innovative companies) as well as incentives for the commercial utilization of patents.
The bill is meant to strengthen the ecosystem of innovators and domestic startups, whose capitalization exceeds 8 billion euros.
In addition to the above, incentives are now also given through the Golden Visa program, which – apart from real estate – now also enters startups. As Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis announced from the stage of the Thessaloniki International Fair on Saturday, it will now be possible to grant the five-year residence permit to those who invest funds of at least €250,000 in Greek startups.
According to Kathimerini’s information, the specific measure is expected to apply from January 1, 2025 and will be specified soon. So far, the granting of the Golden Visa is primarily linked to the real estate market, however, due to both saturation and the phenomena of the explosive increase in real estate prices in popular areas of Greece, a new “parallel” system will be introduced, where the residence permit will be granted to those foreign investors who invest at least €250,000 in Greek start-up companies. These are technology companies, registered in the national register of startups, Elevate Greece, which already numbers over 800 companies in various sectors (edtech, agrotech, enterprise software, fintech).
In previous years, when the investment climate was more favorable for high-risk investments, Greek startup companies were on the radar of leading foreign venture capitals. For example, the Greek Hack the Box received funding of $55 million from American private equity Carlyle Group, while Augmenta, a company from Volos, came under the control of CNH Industrial, the second largest tractor manufacturer in the world.
In the meantime, several foreign “angel” investors have provided funds to Greek startups, with Lars Rasmussen, co-founder of the popular Google Maps application, who is originally from Denmark but has been a permanent resident of Greece for the last few years. He has invested in the Greek Phos Print, which through the technology it has developed is able to print 3D cells, as well as in the Greek biotechnology company ResQ Biotech.
“It is not enough to attract only talent – something that can be achieved with the launch of the Talent Visa and the Tech Visa – but people from the entire spectrum of startup entrepreneurship, such as the founders of startups as well as investors,” a Greek startup market executive told Kathimerini.
