HDBI: Strategic partnership with Mubadala – Investments
Mubadala and HDBI completed their first co-investment under the terms of the new expanded agreement in VentureFriends Fund III
During the official visit of the Greek Prime Minister Mr. Kyriakos Mitsotakis to the United Arab Emirates, the Mubadala Investment Company (“Mubadala”), the state-owned investment arm based in Abu Dhabi and the Hellenic Development Bank of Investments (HDBI), the state fund of Greece, signed the expansion of the existing co-investment cooperation amounting to 400 million euros, so that this includes investments in Greek venture capital (“VC”) and private equity (“PE”) high-yield funds, which focus on investments in fast-growing sectors. The Mubadala-HDBI partnership began in 2018 with an initial focus on minority direct investments in Greek companies.
In addition, Mubadala and HDBI completed their first co-investment under the terms of the new expanded agreement in VentureFriends Fund III, a fund based in Athens, which invests in the early stages of technological enterprises.
“Over the years, the Greek economy has not only proven its resilience, but has managed to demonstrate very interesting growth opportunities. Our expanded partnership with HDBI will enable Mubadala to accelerate its investments in Greece, capitalizing on the increasingly active landscape of innovation and entrepreneurship in many fields.We look forward to continuing our cooperation with HDBI in the coming months and years, as we collectively seek to exploit Greece’s growing industries with technology in mind.”, stated the Deputy CEO of Mubadala Group, Mr Waleed Al Mokarrab Al Muhairi.
“Our partnership with Mubadala is based on mutual trust and understanding. The expansion of our strategic co-investment cooperation is the beginning of a new era, in full alignment with the investment principles and values of our organizations. It also provides a unique opportunity to further promote our bilateral relations, building on the dynamism of the Greek economy and its resilience in the face of global challenges and uncertainties.”, said the President of HDBI, Dr. Harris Lambropoulos.
“Our co-investment approach has yielded consistent results by promoting the Greek investment ecosystem, which focuses on talent and innovative entrepreneurship.”, noted the Managing Director of HDBI, Mrs. Antigoni Lyberopoulou.
The VentureFriends investment fund focuses on B2C and B2B Startups that can both achieve rapid growth and have the potential to develop a sustainable embankment over time, while it has already demonstrated a track record of successful investments in the fields of PropTech (technologies for real estate), Fintech (technologies for finance), Marketplaces and SaaS (software as a service).VentureFriends aims to invest in Greece, Europe and selectively outside Europe, including the UAE, which was one of the first investors in Instashop since 2016 and most recently one of the first investors in Huspy.
“We are excited to welcome Mubadala and HDBI as investors (LPs) to VentureFriends III. We look forward to building on this partnership and with the help of these two organizations, to continue to support founders and companies that will become leaders in their respective fields, including Blueground (Proptech), Belvo (Fintech) and Instashop (B2C).”, commented Mr. George Dimopoulos, founding member of VentureFriends.
Through the co-investment partnership, over the past four years, Mubadala and HDBI have jointly considered a number of investment opportunities, with further opportunities for direct investment and investments in funds already under consideration.
