Greece a laggard in venture capital funds too
Greece has a very poor record as far as the amounts invested in startups by venture capital funds are concerned: Since 2013, no more than 220 million euros has been invested in local startups, placing Greece in 23rd place among 34 European countries, according to Atomico’s annual report presented this week, titled “The State of Europe Tech 2018.”
Britain is top of the table, having attracted a total of 23 billion euros in the last five years. Germany is a distant second with 12 billion and France is third with 10 billion. Greece ranks just below Cyprus, which is 22nd with 244 million, and above Malta, which is 24th with 144 million euros.
The Atomico study found that from 2013 to September 2018, 138 startup funding agreements were reached in Greece. Last year saw relatively few funding deals (just 16) but accounted for a five-year high of over 127 million euros, drive higher by the sales of local startups including Beat, Innoetics and Quizdom, among others.
Atomico data show Greece is a long way from being seen as a startup development hub, and Athens is the only region of the country cited as a hub for startups. In the period from 2013 to 2018, the Greek capital was home to just 37 enterprises that had received at least one round of funding from venture capital funds, ranking 35th among 55 European cities.
