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🙌 Celebrating Greek wins
Recurrent readers probably know that “Celebrating Greek wins” is a regular section in this newsletter.
I find it very important to highlight successful outcomes and positive news. These are typically bypassed by the press and social media hype. Negative news, dramatic stories and constant problems allow for “spicier” takes and raise more eyeballs.
Success needs to be embraced, understood and replicated. This is a hard muscle to train for most Greeks. Society teaches us from a young age that successful outcomes are not the result of hard work, but rather some other devious constellation of events.
In many situations that’s true. But that’s not always the case. And it definitely should not be the status quo we want normalized in the country.
Changing Greece requires bringing our positive elements together and reinforcing them. It also demands creating role models that get us to the next level (in their own unique ways), have solid principles and can help inspire change.
For this issue, I decided I will dedicate the main article to five recent Greek wins that I believe deserve to be celebrated.
Let’s jump straight in!
The story of a small biotech spin-off turned big company
BIOEMTECH is a Greek biotech spin-off that makes medical imaging systems.
It created and commercialized the first desktop cameras capable of imaging PET and SPECT isotopes in mice in real-time. It now dabbles as both manufacturer of novel breakthrough devices (the “eyes”) and a top-level preclinical CRO.
Could not be happier reading their CEO’s recent post:
And now, BIOEMTECH is a Public Limited Company.
Yesterday, we took another step and completed the transformation of BIOEMTECH into a registered S.A., ten years after we started the romantic idea of setting up a company that will do molecular imaging in Greece.
The starting 3 people are now 33. And the 65 sq.m apartment-office in Alexandras Street gives way to a 600sq.m jewel building in Gerakas and a 120sq.m workshop in NCSR "DEMOKRITOS". And the European Programs gave way to sales of systems to leading universities and research centers and in collaboration with the largest radiopharmaceutical companies on the planet. And along with the numbers, people seem to be prospering and having a good time too...
The little architectural studio at the edge of Greece that was voted best in the country
Etsi Architects is based in the beautiful town of Kardamyli in the Peloponesse, at the faraway Southern end of the country. This did not stop it from becoming the best architectural agency of the year, according to the annual Grail Awards.
Etsi focuses on restoring existing old homes in the region as well as creating new, complementary structures that reflect, respect and highlight the area's rich architectural heritage.
The two Greek scientists now leading AI hubs in Edinburgh
The University of Edinburgh recently won a large £24M grant to boost AI innovation from the UK Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC).
The funding secured will go towards the creation of the AI Hub for Productive Research and Innovation in Electronics (APRIL) and the EPSRC AI Hub for Causality in Healthcare AI with Real Data (CHAI).
APRIL will be led by Edinburgh’s Regius Chair of Engineering, Professor Themis Prodromakis and CHAI by Edinburgh’s Professor Sotirios Tsaftaris, Canon Medical/RAEng Chair in Healthcare AI.
The old tobacco factory transformed into one of the most amazing modern office buildings in Northern Greece
In the words of Costas Malamas:
Exactly ten years ago, our team moved to new offices. The building that has hosted us since then is an old tobacco factory from the 1960s, built at the height of tobacco cultivation and processing in Thessaloniki.
In 2014, amid the Greek crisis, GA Allamanis SA at its own expense, without subsidies, announcements or any publicity, turned it into a modern office building, our beloved Phoenix Centre. From 2000+ tobacco workers in the 60s, the building today houses 1000 workers from 22 companies, mostly technology and IT, with contemporary spaces and infrastructure -- fiber optics, microwave connections, server rooms, automatic generators.
Just a thank you to Mr. Nikos Allamani for investing and taking a risk when very few did.
The research center doing top work in life sciences
BSRC Alexander Fleming’s cutting-edge work in the life sciences has won it a number of large European research grants. According to Vasiliki Michopoulou, who recently wrote an amazing article highlighting A. Fleming’s contributions:
In the last 12 years, scientists at A. Fleming in Vari have received "excellence" funding of €14M from the highly competitive program of the ERC. In Greece, in the field of life sciences, 7 research institutes are active and it is worth mentioning that, so far, of the 24 projects that have received ERC funding, 7 have been given to researchers of "A. Fleming".
By the end of today’s issue, I hope you got a renewed sense of (cautious) optimism about the good things happening by Greeks, in and out of Greece.
In case that didn’t happen just yet, here are another five Greek wins to get there.
Greece now leads the EU in solar penetration. In 2023, Greece emerged as the leader in Europe in terms of its % share of electricity that came from solar.
The first large-scale AI hackathon in Greece was a great success. There are more coming, such as the student-led Makeathon in 19-21 April.
George Pappas to lead first undergraduate degree in AI at an Ivy League school. The Prof will be in charge of one of the most sought after programs in the world.
Shipping heiress Marina Hadjipateras gets rare full profile at Wired Mag. Interesting how many women play a key role in Greek shipping (including Athina “Nounou” Martinou, Angeliki Frangou, Melina Travlos, Maria Angelicoussis).
The marvelous Journey of Giannis Antetokounmpo. In this new documentary, the NBA champion traces his journey from deep poverty to international stardom.
💰 Greek founders raising
Athos raised $35M Series B funding to innovate drug discovery.
StiQ raised €10M funding to build cloud kitchens in Greece.
Sentify raised $1.1M pre-seed to unlock insights from LLM products.
Finloup raised €1M+ seed round to innovate the device leasing space.
Didimi raised €0.9M pre-seed to bring interoperability in construction industry.
Upbound completed pre-seed round to empower outbound growth teams with AI.
Future BrAIn completed pre-seed round to redefine metrics of corporate culture.
gMendel is actively raising seed round to transform diagnosis of genetic disorders.
Nuuro is actively raising pre-seed round to create your personalized AI nutritionist.
🤖 Tech & Startups
VentureFriends raising new €100M fund. The seasoned Greek VC team will actively start fundraising for its fourth fund in early March.
Loggerhead Venture Fund launches new $10M fund. The new VC firm will be focusing its investments in the areas of deeptech and green-tech.
Eleven Ventures is betting on Greek startups. The early-stage VC is investing tickets up to $300k in tech companies across Southeast Europe.
How good is the Greek tech ecosystem in Athens and Greece? The Mikri Kouventa duo share their experience and discuss how things can improve.
Digital commerce: A growth opportunity for Greece. New McKinsey report on how digitization can help the country’s retail and hospitality industries.
The future of Greek e-commerce is parcel lockers. Skroutz, Greece’s leading e-commerce platform, shares evidence from its own successful roll-out.
Deloitte eyeing Volos and Thraki as new hub spots. Deloitte’s regional innovation footprint already includes Thessaloniki, Patra, Heraklion and Ioannina.
The Greek scientific community at ETH Zurich is very strong. Students, researchers, Professors and entrepreneurs working at the cutting edge of science.
🏭 Economy & Business
New 850MW power generation unit in Alexandroupolis under way. The unit is expected to become the most efficient in Greece (63% efficiency factor).
New €300M+ logistics hub at Aspropyrgos to begin construction. The massive project is expected to create almost 4k new jobs once completed.
A Greek company at the top of the list of small-cap software returns. Epsilon Net seems to have amassed an 188x return over the past decade.
Manufacturing production index on positive trajectory. Average rate over the past 4 years is the fastest in over a decade.
Disposable income going up but still eaten by inflation. Gross disposable income in 9M 2023 rose faster than inflation, however overall gap remains.
Qualitative unemployment numbers improve. Gender gap down from 8.4% in 2018 to 4.6% in 2023; youth unemployment down from 41.3% to 22.3%.
🤯 Did you know?
The heat risk in Athens is going up. The average temperature across the city is rising fast. According to a research project led by University of Piraeus students Pantazis Alexandros & Vlachou Eleni, the Heat Risk Index of Athens has risen dramatically between 2021 and 2023. This is true for many regions in Attica, but more so in areas within the Athens city center. We need more green spaces and less burning concrete!
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With agape,
The Greek Analyst
India’s largest private shipping company Great Eastern Shipping Co. Ltd. has joined forces with Greece-based maritime software company Harbor Lab in a digitalization partnership aimed at optimizing port cost management.
Long FETA & OLIO (Olive Oil) ;), bravo!