The Equity Fund-of-Funds – EquiFund is an investment initiative created by the Hellenic Republic in cooperation with the European Investment Fund.  It is co-funded by the EU – ERDF through the programme EPAnEK 2014 – 2020, the European Investment Fund and private investors.  It aims to facilitate access of small and medium enterprises to funding through the development of the Venture Capital/Private Equity market in Greece, in collaboration with specialised Financial Intermediaries (funds).

EquiFund began operation with capital amounting to €200 million from EU and national resources as well as €60 million from the EIF, a member of the European Investment Bank (EIB) Group, which also provided support for the initiative amounting to €36 million. Together with leverage of private investors, the initiative raised close to €500 million.

Already from its initial stages of planning, the objective of EquiFund was to enable access to funding through venture capital to Greek enterprises or enterprises with a strong presence in Greece. EquiFund has maintained a steady presence in EU-wide events as an example of best practices since the supported funds started their investment activities in early 2018.

The results have exceeded expectations: The most recent unofficial data, covering up to the 3rd quarter of 2023, show that 137 enterprises have been supported through the initiative, receiving seed, startup or development funding corresponding to their capital needs and depending on the stage of each enterprise. The overall funding made available to these enterprises currently amounts to €340 million (OP participation: 138 million).

The private sector is already a major player in the money invested by EquiFund – private investors contribute roughly €2.9 for every €1 invested in the funded enterprises through the initiative from EU Structural and Investment Funds (as for the overall OP: every 1 euro invested from OP funds through the initiative corresponds to roughly €2.3 in overall investment in these enterprises). Furthermore, with each investment they make, the funds send positive messages to the markets and other private investors, with the result that every 1 euro invested from EU Structural and Investment Funds through the initiative corresponds to roughly €7.9 in total investments in these enterprises (as for the overall OP: every €1 invested from OP funds through the initiative corresponds to roughly €6.3 in overall investment in these enterprises).

Beyond this leverage, thanks to EquiFund support numerous enterprises attracted additional funding at later stages, through the participation of major foreign investors, concurrently increasing their valuation.

As a result, the overall benefit for the local financial ecosystem and the Greek economy is orders of magnitude greater than the directly recordable results.

Crucially, the initiative’s investment portfolio has included business ventures from various Greek academic and research Institutions, such as the Patras Science Park, the University of Thessaly, the University of Ioannina, the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, the Foundation for Research and Technology – Hellas (FORTH), the Technical Educational Institutions of Crete and Athens, the Athens University of Economics and Business, and the Demokritos National Centre for Scientific Research and its Lekfippos Tech Park.

From 2020 onwards, a total of ten enterprises supported by EquiFund announced their exit prom the programme, drawing the interest of major global players in their sectors (a few examples include Meta Platforms Inc., Applied Materials, Delivery Hero, CNH Industrial, etc.). It’s also important to note that, even after their exit, these companies continue to maintain a presence in Greece, employing personnel in Athens, Thessaloniki, Patras and Crete. As a result, the return on investment for the Greek State as a participant in the individual funds already amounts to €30.9 million, and within a timeframe far shorter than the norm in comparable markets – further proof of the exponential growth of the Greek newly established enterprise ecosystem and the positive synergy generated by the EquiFund initiative in Greece.

The ecosystem is clearly expanding and maturing: And the European Investment Fund is in direct communication with the market and the services of the Ministry of National Economy and Finance, the General Secretariat of Research and Innovation and the Managing Authority of the Operational Programme Competitiveness, developing further financial instruments in the new programming period of the Structural and Investment Funds 2021 – 2027.

Athens, 10 October 2023

Source: EIF

The Equity Fund-of-Funds – EquiFund is an investment initiative created by the Hellenic Republic in cooperation with the European Investment Fund.  It is co-funded by the EU – European Regional Development Fund through the programme EPAnEK, the European Investment Fund and private investors.  It aims to facilitate access of small and medium enterprises to funding through the development of the Venture Capital/Private Equity market in Greece, in collaboration with specialised Financial Intermediaries.

See examples of projects funded through EquiFund

• MyJobNow: the platform for employers and employees
• Pushme Bikes: a successful “exit” for a flexible electromobility startup
• Tekmon, innovative software for distance cooperation and emergency management
• PEBBLE (formerly Iris): An innovative portable COVID-19 detection device
• Innovative labs-on-a-chip in service of public Health
• The Bespot application rewards consumers and informs enterprises
• Hacking on a global scale! The story of “Hack the box”
• Αugmenta – the road to the 110 million dollar buyout
• Creation of high-tech hydrogen compressors in Greece
• The success of an EquiFund startup that produces “smart” coffee machines
• EquiFund funds Flexcar, an innovative vehicle lease startup