Startup company

The Greek startups ecosystem saw just one corporate acquisition this year, from two in 2018, according to a report by Found.ation.

Online radio station manager Radiojar was bought out in March by US company iHeartMedia.

On the contrary in the years 2016 and 2017 a total of 10 startups had been acquired, such as Beat (Taxibeat), Quizdom and Innoetics.

Just a tiny fraction of Greek startups have managed to attract the interest of domestic investors and secure funds and breathing space. According to estimates by the venture capital funds involved in the Equifund initiative, only 1-2 percent of proposals assessed this year have secured any funding.

Some 200 investors, entrepreneurs and academics attended a special event last week at the headquarters of Workable, a Greek-owned startup, in Boston. The main speaker at the event, which was organized by Endeavor Greece and the Hellenic Innovation Network, with the support of the Greek Consulate in Boston and MIT Enterprise Forum Greece, was Workable CEO Nikos Moraitakis.

The Environment Ministry has announced it will stage a green innovation marathon on December 14-15. The Go 4.0 Green Crowdhackathon will be held at Technopolis in Gazi, central Athens.

Bulgarian Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises Promotion Agency will support the most active community of young leaders and entrepreneurs in Bulgaria. Such an arrangement was reached by Executive Director of BSMEPA, Dr. Boyko Takov and Mrs. Kremena Dervenkova, Executive Director of the Association of Bulgarian Leaders and Entrepreneurs (ABLE) at a meeting today.

The organization has been analyzing startup ecosystems around the world for ten years, this year covering over 150 cities on all continents, the Digital Serbia Initiative announced on Tuesday.

Postbank, together with Endeavor's global network, will support ten Bulgarian companies to grow. The "Dare to Scale" campaign helps over 1,000 entrepreneurs in 30 countries.

January was a good month for the team behind Greek startup Face Traveller. At least it was until their troubles with Facebook began. Up until that day, their efforts seemed to have started paying off.

The Fund of Funds has signed an operational agreement with the investment intermediary "Innovation Accelerator Bulgaria" for investment in startups.

Reload Greece has launched a global call for the submission of applications for its London-based accelerator program, RG Challenge19.
Taking place over an intense 11 days from June 25 to July 5, the program will help 15 startup teams to become investment-ready.