egg Investor Day | "Bridge to Growth" for 41 start-up companies from 7 countries

egg - enter grow go, Eurobank’s business accelerator, organized an Investment Day, which gave 41 start-up teams from Greece and 6 more countries, namely Cyprus, Bulgaria, Switzerland, Turkey, Germany and Ukraine, the opportunity to present their ideas and seek funding and commercial contacts before a wide audience of 200 VCs, corporate investors and angel investors from Europe, Canada, USA and Israel.

The event, which took place today at the egg Hub in Moschato, was addressed by the Deputy Minister of National Economy and Finance and the Deputy Minister of Development and Investment, Christos Dimas and Zoe Rapti respectively, and the Deputy CEO of Eurobank, Konstantinos Vassiliou. The event was launched by the Group Chief Marketing Officer of Eurobank & the Chairman of the egg Steering Committee, Michael Vlastarakis, who welcomed the distinguished guests who honoured the event with their presence, including the CEO of the Athens Stock Exchange Group, Yianos Kontopoulos, the General Secretary for Research and Innovation, Dr. Tassos Gaitanis and the President at Hellenic Development Bank of Investments S.A., Haris Lambropoulos.

egg is continuously strengthening its position as a growth accelerator and startup Hub in the wider region, enriching its value-added services and the range of growth tools it provides to the ecosystem, reinforcing its 12-year positive market footprint as a strong ally of new entrepreneurship. egg's strategy aims to facilitate start-ups and investors to build two-way "bridges" of funding and growth, transforming ideas into business successes, both within and beyond its borders, creating value and jobs in cutting-edge sectors for the Greek and international economy. In this context, egg also supports foreign startups proposed by investors to participate in its acceleration programmes.

With the integration of egg - enter grow go into the Venture Banking division, Eurobank is now able to offer financing, advisory and personalised banking services to fast-growing and innovative companies - from Greece and abroad - as well as VCs, private investors, start-up founders and business clusters, in a sector that is expected to play an important role in the future of the economy.

At a time when innovation, and in particular technological innovation, is an international development priority, the strong interest shown at the event is indicative of the momentum developing in this direction. More than 200 investment fund representatives from Greece and abroad attended the egg Investor Day and explored investment opportunities in 30 innovative startup/scaleup companies presented from Greece, Switzerland, Germany, Cyprus, Bulgaria, Turkey and Ukraine. In addition, 11 scaleup companies made presentations, all of them from the 1st official Innovation Cluster in Tourism/Culture, an institutional initiative of the General Secretariat for Research & Innovation that has been dynamically supported by egg since its inception. It contributes to the strengthening and development of the tourism and culture sector, which is a central pillar of growth and employment for the country. egg Investor Day companies addressed a wider investor audience, covering almost all sectors of activity, with a particular focus on competitive areas of the new economy, such as the broader health sciences sector, innovative technologies in tourism, defence, food and agri-food, green economy, information and communication technologies.

Deputy Minister of National Economy and Finance, Christos Dimas stated: “The egg Investor Day event is an outstanding initiative that promotes innovation and entrepreneurship, both in Greece and internationally. The State supports actions that enhance extroversion by providing the necessary tools and expertise to talented Greek scientists and entrepreneurs, in order to enable them to compete internationally from Greece. Through this collaboration with egg - enter grow go, startups are empowered, contributing at the same time to the sustainable economic growth of the country and the creation of new well-paid jobs.”.

Deputy Development Minister Zoi Rapti commented in her welcome address: “Eurobank and Egg were selected by the General Secretariat of Research and Innovation of the Ministry of Development after a relevant competition, for the creation of the first Greek Innovation Cluster in Digital Technologies in Tourism and Culture. The Ministry of Development financed the projects developed by 11 companies with over 2 million euros, contributing to the formation of innovative products. With investment and tax incentives, such as the extension of Golden Visa for investments in startups registered in Elevate Greece, our country strengthens its competitiveness and becomes an investment-friendly destination.”.

Eurobank’s Deputy Chief Executive Officer & Head of Corporate & Investment Banking, Konstantinos Vassiliou pointed out: “This unique event brings together some of the most brilliant minds and innovators eager to shape the future for groundbreaking advancements in new entrepreneurship. Today we welcome startup companies from Greece and abroad, unlocking new growth opportunities and potential collaborations for the startup ecosystem and proving that Greece has a potential of becoming an innovation hub in the wider region. With the support of Eurobank’s business accelerator for all investment stages, egg – enter grow go, and the newly established Venture Banking Unit, we wish to foster development opportunities for high potential innovative businesses, providing them with the tools necessary for achieving significant milestones and thriving in a competitive market.”.

In her opening remarks, Eurobank’s Head of Venture Banking, Roula Bachtalia outlined egg's priorities as it transitions into a growth accelerator, describing the emerging growth opportunities for the domestic startup ecosystem in an international context characterized by high volatility and rapid change in cutting-edge technologies such as AI. A panel discussion followed with Yianos Kontopoulos and Tasos Gaitanis, Stefanos Capsaskis, Fund Partner Corallia Ventures, Panagiotis Karampinis, Managing Director of Endeavor Greece, Ioannis Kostopoulos, Founder and CEO of SaMMY, hosted by egg, and Audra Elena Shallal, EBAN Board & VP of Corenvest, Finland/France.

During the discussion, two key challenges for the next day of the ecosystem were highlighted: scaling up and expanding inter-regional, transnational and/or pan-European collaborations, and incentivising mergers and acquisitions of start-ups to accelerate the growth of new companies. It was also discussed how the ecosystem and institutions can increase the chances of success for fast-growing start-ups by setting measurable growth targets, facilitating contact with customers, connecting them with the right financiers, attracting and retaining talent in companies. These are also strategic objectives in the new era of egg, following its integration into the Venture Banking unit, where it is accelerating its transformation into a growth accelerator, focusing on the development of its relationship with start-ups on the one hand, and with domestic and foreign investors on the other, encouraging and supporting the transfer and transmission of know-how, and accelerating the financing and overall development of new companies. It is worth mentioning that egg’s new priorities include extending its cooperation with start-ups and research groups/spin-offs for a longer period than the established annual acceleration cycle.

Notably, a Memorandum of Understanding was signed during the event between Corallia Ventures Management and the Eurobank (egg accelerator) for the exchange of know-how and the mutual use of infrastructure, services, experience and good practices in innovation and entrepreneurship in areas of common interest.

Since Eurobank launched egg - enter grow go in 2013, the results have been significant and measurable. Indicatively, 460 business groups and 1,600 young entrepreneurs have joined the egg platforms. 360 have been hired on a part-time and/or permanent basis, while 230 business groups are now in legal form. At the same time, the turnover of 159 egg alumni companies amounted to €49.2 million, while 76 egg companies raised €55.7 million in private equity.

More information on egg - enter grow go, here.