The success stories of Greek startups are increasing

2022 entered the Greek startup ecosystem with … a forum, as the acquisition or investment agreements in Greek companies continue at an increased pace, with the funds coming mainly from the other side of the Atlantic. It is no coincidence, after all, that the agreements that were concluded in the previous weeks, but also another case that is in the pipeline, concern companies that started from Greece, but moved their headquarters to the USA, while maintaining in our country a significant part of the operation. their.

Just last week, the acquisition of the Greek startup Pollfish by the American group based in California Prodege was officially announced, with the information talking about a transaction worth about 70-85 million dollars. Pollfish started its business journey in 2013 from Athens, while two years later it moved its headquarters to New York.

The Greek startup company is active in the market research industry, having created a technologically advanced research platform for mobile devices, which provides real time authentic answers. The platform enables businesses to connect with millions of customers around the world and perform fast and secure metrics in real time.

Pollfish’s clientele includes many big names, such as Apple, Spotify, Netflix and Samsung, as well as governments and international organizations around the world. The company is a business creation of Giannis Papadakis, Andreas Vourkou, Giannis Zaoudis and Zisis Bella. The platform it has created can target precise audiences within a network of 650 million respondents in 160 countries worldwide, which is available in 24 different languages. In this way, the platform offers quality data with faster integration time than competing surveys.

Today, the Greek startup maintains the Sales, Marketing and Finance departments in New York, while in Greece the departments that deal with the company’s product, customer support and the publisher acquisition remain. These departments, in fact, are expected to be further strengthened with staff after the acquisition.

The mega-deals of January

Two more important agreements for companies of Greek interests had preceded within the previous month. The biggest and by far the biggest was the investment of the American banking giant JP Morgan in Viva Wallet. In a transaction that, according to information, exceeded 1 billion euros, the largest American bank acquired about 49% of Viva Wallet and now the company is planning a new round of growth and a large number of recruitments in Greece and abroad.

In January, the acquisition of the Greek company Mantis by the German Ecovium was announced, in a transaction that reaches, according to information, worth 60 million euros. Mantis develops warehouse management systems and business software, with offices in nine countries, and is now part of the Ecovium group, which since 1999 has been developing technology equipment, infrastructure and services used in the supply chain of Germany and other German-speaking regions.

The interest remains

After the dynamic start of the year, the ecosystem factors expect that the investment barrage will continue. This was evident from the first investment roadshow recently organized by Endeavor Greece with the participation of 35 Greek and foreign start-ups and 19 investment schemes, including world-class VCs, such as Softbank Vision Fund, Prime Venture Partners, Highland Europe, General Catalyst , AXA Venture Partners and Global Founders Capital, which raise hundreds of millions of dollars and have invested in many of the world’s leading technology companies. According to Endeavor executives, the interest of investors was great, a fact that highlights the dynamics of the Greek business environment, and especially the technology sector, which, according to Endeavor estimates, is expected to present a new record this year.

The next big investment from Facebook

In the coming weeks, another large investment in a Greek company is expected to be announced, this time by one of the technology giants. If the information released a few days ago is confirmed, Meta (as Facebook has been renamed) will acquire the startup Accusonus, founded in 2013 in Patras by Alexandros Tsilfidis, Elias Kokkini and Michalis Tzanne.

The company, which is currently based in Boston but has offices in Patras and Athens, is active in the production of innovative technologies in the field of digital audio, utilizing innovative technologies such as Artificial Intelligence and Machine learning for sound correction and production of music pieces. The company has several patents, but also an impressive clientele, which includes companies such as Adobe, while the products and solutions are utilized by major music producers and film studios.

According to analysts, this move by Meta is part of the company’s strategic plan for the virtual universe (Metaverse) that it aims to create. In recent months, Mark Zuckerberg’s company has launched a barrage of acquisitions of specialized companies that develop technologies that can be used for this purpose. And, apparently, one of the target companies is Accusonus. Meta, as a regular rule, did not comment on the investment information, but the information wants the relevant announcements to be made within the next few days.

In fact, competent officials note that Meta has broader plans for our country, as it examines the possibility of creating and subsidiary in Greece, with the aim of creating a research and development center in our country. If the information is confirmed, then another large multinational will be added to the team that has an active presence with an R&D center in our country, such as Pfizer, Cisco, Microsoft, Team Viewer, etc.