There are undoubtedly many talents of Greek origin, part of which constitute the Greek ecosystem of technology start-ups, which have been identified by technology talent hunters.
However, the bet of its exploration has not yet been won. This depends on many factors, national and international, involving capital investors who can act as the ‘Midas Touch’, creating wealth and goodwill for themselves, but mainly for the startup ecosystem and the country.
According to Startup Blink, 76% of Greek start-ups are based in Athens. Thessaloniki is the second largest city in Greece and is best known abroad as a cultural center. StartupBlink estimates that 12% of the country’s startups are based in Thessaloniki, which is an important talent center as the city has 11 universities, with a total of 150,000 students and 5,000 researchers.
It is estimated that Ellinikon could also become a center of attraction for start-up companies, starting in 2026.
Ioannina was included in the technology start-up location map, where German multinationals P&I and TeamViewer have built R&D bases. Next comes Patras, which has strong technological institutes and universities.
2022 was the peak year for tech startup ecosystems, while 2023 saw performance drop considerably. 2024 sees dynamic high-value inflows, albeit a small number of companies, meaning fewer exits but high valuations.
The Greek technology ecosystem is growing, Endeavor emphasized in its recent report entitled “Greeking Out 2.0”, sifted through Reports 2024. In Greece, the technology start-up ecosystem in 2021 counted 6 exits worth 200 million dollars ( including Moosend and Lenses), 17 exits worth $300 million in 2022 including Accusonus, Pollfish, Transifex, while 2023 saw 10 exits worth $300 million including MarineTraffic, Augmenta, DeepSea. So far, 2024 has seen two exits with a total valuation of 1.24 billion, including InAccel and BETA CAE. Over time, major exits include InstaShop, Pollfish, Augmenta, inaccel, ThinkSillicon, Accusonus, MarineTraffic, deepsea, BETA.