SeedBlink: Greece ‘milestone’ in its expansion plans
The investment platform accelerates its expansion in Europe and announces the establishment of an office in Athens with the aim of working with local innovation groups, investment angels, VC and private investors
SeedBlink, the European investment platform for Startups in the technology sector, is also opening offices in Athens, thus implementing its expansion plans in the context of growth acceleration.
Expanding the Startup investment ecosystem in Greece, the Athens office will work with local teams of investment angels, VC and private investors to help diversify their portfolio and support local Startups in accessing finance.
Seedblink is a platform that specializes exclusively in European technology Startups, from the early stage (pre-seed stage) to the “B” phase. So far it has attracted 11,000 investors from 50 countries. The platform was launched in early 2020 as a solution for investing in equities and now combines private equity and capital raising using technology, expertise and building strong communities.
More than 1,700 Startups have been evaluated and 60 of them, from eight countries, have made funding rounds at SeedBlink. Among the largest funding rounds is FlowX with 1,6 million euros (round of 7,3 million euros), the Dronamics with 950 thousand euros (round of 3 million euros) and self-listing SeedBlink with 1,1 million euros ( round of 3 million euros).
After supporting the Startups which managed to raise 70 million euros in the first two and a half years of its operation, SeedBlink aims to accelerate its growth in Europe for 2022.Led by George Platanas, the newly appointed Country Director in Greece will offer a range of investment tools (such as equity, convertible loans, SAFE, ASA), opportunities for tech Startups and market access to local investors, partners and other Startups, creating the right ground for their further development.
“We are trying to leverage Greece’s growing industries with innovation in mind, in an economy that has not only proven its resilience but now also offers some very exciting growth opportunities,” said Andrei Dudoiu, Managing Partner and Co-Founder at SeedBlink.
George Platanas, the new Country Manager for Greece, has more than 25 years of international business experience. He began his career as an economist and asset manager for 17 years and made a series of business moves involving the development of ideas, the raising of capital and the exit to the markets.Prior to joining SeedBlink, George was Head of Incubation and later a Regional Manager at Demium Greece, where he managed to lead the company to the top as an incubator/accelerator for the region. George’s contribution to Demium SL is also translated through the funding of 24,5 million euros secured by the Hellenic Development Bank of Investments.
“Our expansion through the offices in Athens is expected to accelerate investments in Greece and take advantage of the increasingly attractive environment of innovation and entrepreneurship in a number of technology sectors.It also provides a unique opportunity for further cooperation with local VC, business angel groups and smaller businesses to harness the dynamism of the Greek economy and its resilience in the face of global challenges and uncertainties”, stated Laurențiu Ghenciu, SeedBlink’s Chief Business Officer.
With two already funded companies in SeedBlink’s portfolio coming from Greece and partnerships with local VC, George Platanas believes that the office in the country is an important milestone in SeedBlink’s growth strategy.
“Together, we will now ensure that technology Startups from Greece can raise capital, expand, innovate and create jobs more easily in the coming years, while local investors will have access to promising European Startups and diversify their portfolios with VC-type agreements,” George said.
The representatives of Venture Friends, Protio and Dimitris Matsakis (TechAngels) expressed their enthusiasm for the valuable support of SeedBlink.
“SeedBlink is an excellent platform in the sense that it “democratizes” investments and introduces the general public to Startups, providing them with access to investment opportunities led by institutional investors. We look forward to the launch of the office’s activities in Greece that will support and supply the local technological ecosystem,” said Pavlos Pavlakis, Principal of Venture Friends.
