Page 24 - COMPASS - COMPETITIVENESS REPORT 2022 - COUNCIL OF COMPETITIVENESS IN GREECE

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Graph 4. Number of startups (%) and corresponding funding
(%) (Source: Startups in Greece – Venture Financing Report
2021/2022 by Found.ation)

NUMBER OF STARTUPS (%) FUNDING (%)
43 PREE-SEED 1

33 SEED 6

17 SERIES A 39

7 SERIE B-D 55

More specifically, with regard to funding level, in 2021, Support from public agencies for the development of the
pre-seed companies received less than approximately 1% of Greek startup ecosystem has also grown in recent years.
the total available funds; this is because at the initial stage One example is the launch of the National Startup Registry,
of launching a startup, VCs, angel investors and the state the official record of startups in Greece, by Elevate Greece.
(through grants) offer smaller amounts of money, while the The registry aims at tracking the progress of startups based
capital needs of the companies are also quite low. Seed- on specific KPIs, supporting them (promoting their business
stage startups received approximately 6% of total funding, ideas, giving them access to special benefits offered by the
and companies at the next level received that largest share state, facilitating talent recruitment, creating funding oppor-
of total funding (approx. 94%), as they are larger and, there- tunities), and serving as a pole of attraction for investors.
fore, have larger capital needs to further their growth.

Furthermore, Series A-D investments in startups also offer R&D expenditure is limited, with just €2.3 billion spent in
greater stability and lower risk for investors, as the compa- 2019, whereas countries with a comparable population to
nies have already developed a stable (and, often, already Greece spend five times as much (Belgium and Austria).
profit-making) business model. It should be noted that the Greece also does not attract many foreign researchers, with
participation of non-Greek investors in the funding rounds only 1.4% of PhD candidates coming from abroad, com-
of Greek startups came to approximately 85%, pointing to pared to an EU average of 21.4%. As a result, the number
the development of the local ecosystem and paving the of patent applications is limited, not exceeding nine ap-
way for enhanced extroversion (Startups in Greece Venture plications per 100 residents, compared to more than 106
Financing Report 2021/2022). applications per 100 residents in the EU. The NSRF’s Erevno–
Kainotomo [Research-Innovate] initiative is offering more
than €300 million to research projects and collaborations
between universities, research centres and businesses in the
period 2022–2023. EquiFund is financing six venture funds
and three funds aiming at investing in startups and more
mature companies, respectively. Not least, the Competitive-
ness, Entrepreneurship and Innovation (EPAnEK) operational
program, with €5 billion, aims to develop entrepreneurship
and support companies in hiring young employees.