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Marathon Venture Capital , a venture house in Athens that prides itself on being “ Clarence Shepard Day Jr. one partners to Greek tech partners , ” just closed its newest store with € 75 million in capital commitment , allot to partner Panos Papadopoulos .
The vehicle brings the firm ’s entire assets under management to € 175 million — a meaningful amount for an 8 - twelvemonth - old , come - stage investor in Greece and a reflection , too , of some sizeable exits . Among them was the sale last twelvemonth of Marathon ’s portfolio company Augmenta to CNH , a maker of farm machinery and expression equipment in acash dealthat valued Augmenta at $ 110 million . Marathon also sold some of its shares in Hack the Box , a cybersecurity upskilling and talent assessment political platform , to the investment funds house Carlyle in asecondary transaction .
We chatted with Papadopoulos ahead of an in - person sit - down with him as part of TechCrunch ’s first StrictlyVC eve in Athens on Thursday , May 8 , a Nox that will also include adeep divewith Greece ’s prime diplomatic minister , Kyriakos Mitsotakis .
What we want to know — and what the central enquiry will be Thursday nighttime — is why Greece , and why now ?
Greece has historically seen less venture investing than other European countries . What , if anything , has changed locally that enabled you to raise a € 75 million fund when global fundraising has become more challenging ?
For appetiser , Marathon I is a top percentile performing artist globally in [ bring in returns ] ; we build a portfolio that capture the current zeitgeist well before , for example , AI - assisted scientific research , robotics , or defence became the average .
What is your firm ’s dissertation and how does this new fund ’s dissertation differ given the lengthened timeline we ’re seeing for exits globally ?
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We are backing founders who do something firmly in important marketplace . It can be hard because it requires unparalleled cognition , like a research PhD , or high federal agency , meaning understanding of a regulated or look out on diligence like world power power system management . And we ’re going to continue double down on our fast - arise community , which has been accumulating experience and expertise , along with aspiration .
Greek startups have traditionally faced challenge scaling beyond the domesticated market . How are you evaluate a company ’s external growth potential in this environment where capital efficiency count more than rapid expansion ?
I beg to disagree . Greek startups leverage local talent to serve go global client and markets from day one . Across our portfolio there is virtually no revenue coming from the domesticated market . But they are dish out the best part of Fortune 500 .
At the same clip , capital efficiency and squad grit are 2d nature to our community .
We ’re seeing few IPOs globally and extended holding period for venture - backed company . How did this affect your conversation with your limited partners about expected timeline and returns ?
We do n’t need decacorns for our fund economic science to work . We enthrone betimes on , uphold material fairness positions , and keep our fund size small . These provide for various opportunity for meaningful returns , include secondary and strategical M&A , well before an IPO . We did secondaries back in 2021 when most of the market was anticipate innumerous guard time . In our cultivation , cash is Billie Jean Moffitt King . It seems that many others forget it .
Many European VCs are emphasizing inscrutable technical school and AI . Is Marathon take a similar glide path , or do you see unlike opportunity specific to the Greek ecosystem ?
Of course we all are , but the definition of deep tech is stretched and intend many unlike affair to dissimilar masses . We are not rivet on any specific sector per se — or else , we are concenter on people changing their sectors . We were perhaps the first Renaissance man VC to invest in defense before the Ukraine warfare .
Greek founders have historically received less funding than twin in Berlin , Paris , or Stockholm . Are you seeing valuations for Greek startups that reflect this discount , and does this create chance for good returns ?
In our experience , this is not about geography or Mary Leontyne Price . We are backing founders in nonconsensus chance that most VCs would ignore . We move fast with judgment of conviction and we do n’t ask who else is empower . These might vocalize like table wager ; they still are not .
leave the challenging global exit surround , how are you notify your portfolio fellowship about strategical alternative like lower-ranking sale or acqui - hire ?
We run with our portfolio company toward default live scenario . Starting from there , all options are on the table . We see founders truly want to course their companies for the farsighted full term . We believe a secondary sale can actually help towards that , and most often we are supportive of such scenarios .
The EU has emphasized supporting startups through various funding mechanisms . How important is nondilutive capital from these sources to your portfolio company compared to five age ago ?
We welcome any such first step . We counsel , however , our portfolio father not to waste clock time on non - market - related activities .
How has Greece ’s amend macroeconomic situation involve both your fundraising process and the quality of startups you ’re seeing ?
It ’s always beneficial when you are not making the press newspaper headline , but what we do is less relevant to local macro . When it come to the talent front , I would say truly free-base on naive quackery that , if there is any correlation , that is reverse . Adversity is the female parent of all invention .
Many American VCs have draw back from European investments . Has this create more chance for local funds like Marathon , or has it made syndicating deals more ambitious ?
It is definitely a different market but also creates increased chance for European investors . I do not conceive the flood of capital in 2021 truly change the opportunity for European companies . We must always reckon on ourselves and be aligned with founders for the long terminal figure .
