The Greek startup ecosystem is claiming a share of international funding, with 2024 having better returns despite losses compared to previous years. It is encouraging that Athens, Thessaloniki, Heraklion, Patras are included in the international map of startup ecosystems, albeit with a drop in the final ranking.
According to Marathon VC data, after two consecutive years of contraction, 2024 was a year of returning confidence in the Greek startup ecosystem with top-tier investors leading rounds and supporting teams.
The total amount of funding raised by Greek-based startups worldwide in 2024 reached 1.3 billion dollars, exceeding the corresponding figure in 2023 by 200 million but far behind the landmark years of 2021 and 2022 (4.5 billion and 3 billion dollars respectively). Despite the significant drop from the peak a few years ago, the percentage of funding in Greek startups appears to be increasing within long-term trends.
Although the total amount of funding appears to be following a long-term upward trend, the number of funding rounds has remained relatively stable, averaging around 150 rounds per year. In particular, in 2024, startups in Greece raised around 60 rounds of funding.
About a third of these rounds were in AI companies, making AI the top sector for investment. Other prominent sectors were healthcare, fintech, and climate technology. The average size of Seed and Growth funding rounds of the former in 2024 was 2.1 million and 27.8 million dollars, while the corresponding one for the latter rounds was 5.1 million and 53.3 million dollars, respectively. This can also be attributed to the different levels of staff costs, given that most startups outside Greece have operations in technology hubs such as London, New York, San Francisco, etc. Analysts believe that there is an opportunity for the number of funding rounds to increase significantly in the future.
In a year of limited global liquidity, 2024 saw the largest acquisition of a tech company in Greece ever for 1.2 billion dollars. BETA CAE’s acquisition by Cadence also made the list as one of the largest M&A transactions for tech companies across Europe this year.
It’s exciting to see some of the top investors globally continuing to invest in Greek-founded startups. In 2024, the list included the likes of Sequoia (Reflection AI), Andreessen Horowitz (Kaedim, Pantheon AI, and others), General Catalyst (Dealops), Alibaba (Connectly), NATO Innovation Fund (iCOMAT), Point Nine (BlueLayer), Atomico (Harbor Lab), Eurazeo (Kinvent), and more.
According to the Global Startup Ecosystem Index 2024 by StartupBlink, the startup ecosystem in Greece ranks 49th globally, dropping three places from its previous position.
