By Letta Kalamara

The performance of the Greek startup ecosystem in terms of funding rounds and investment interest is currently close to last year's levels.

According to data from the Greek Marathon Venture Capital, since the beginning of the year, startups with a presence in Greece have raised 191 million dollars from 41 international and Greek investors in 54 funding rounds. Despite eight exits, the records set in 2019 for the number of funding rounds and in 2021 for total invested capital remain broken.

There were 13 funding rounds in Q1 2025, 22 rounds in Q2, 13 rounds in Q3 and Q4 is still ongoing. The data shows that Q2 of this year was the most productive so far, with the largest volume of investments channeled since the beginning of 2025 to early-stage (seed) startups.

Comparing Greece’s performance to previous years, 64 rounds of financing were recorded in startups in 2023 and 59 rounds were recorded in 2024. Both 2023 and 2024, as well as previous years, fell short compared to 2019, which was the most productive year so far with 75 rounds of financing. In 2020, there were 52 funding rounds, 61 rounds in 2021 and 65 in 2022.

However, in terms of capital, the most productive year was 2021 with investments in Greek startups reaching 979 million dollars. Specifically, in 2019, funding amounted to 251 million, in 2020 to 336 million, in 2021 to 979 million, in 2022 to 720 million, in 2023 to 298 million, in 2024 to 393 million and so far in 2025 to 191 million

Strong momentum for foreign direct investment in Greece

Foreign direct investment (FDI) in Greece stood at high levels, according to the latest data announced by the OECD, indicating confidence in the Greek economy.

Specifically, in 2024, foreign direct investment in Greece amounted to 7.6 billion euros, which is the second highest amount recorded in the last 15 years after 8.4 billion euros in 2022.

In the first half of 2025, foreign investment inflows continued at a high pace, reaching 3.1 billion euros from 2.5 billion euros in the corresponding period last year.

The increased flows resulted in the stock of FDI in Greece approaching 72 billion euros in 2024 from 66 billion euros a year earlier.

Foreign direct investment by Greek companies abroad amounted to three billion euros in 2024, while in the first half of 2025 it amounted to 1.8 billion euros.