Marathon Venture Partners, the foremost venture capital firm in Athens, just recently closed their latest fund. They did it — locked in €75 million in capital commitments! This successful fundraising effort represents a crowning achievement of a collaborative, particularly for the seed-stage investor that has been in business eight years. It now has total assets under management of €175 million. The firm takes pride in being “day one partners to Greek tech companies,” emphasizing its commitment to supporting local startups from their inception.
The successful round happens during a period in which most American venture capitalists have scaled back their investments into European markets. Marathon Venture Partners has clearly found considerable interest and received successful large commitments. This is a huge vote of confidence in the potential of the Greek startup ecosystem. Partner Panos Papadopoulos highlighted the importance of their new fund. It will foster the most creative Greek enterprises that best leverage local human resources to become the best suppliers to the world’s best customers and markets.
Recently, Marathon Venture Partners has claimed its place as a notable player in the Greek technology ecosystem. It was early compared to other generalist venture capital firms in investing in defense technology, even before the Ukraine war. This strategic shift further underscored its vision and flexibility in identifying new market trends. As the rest of the market absolutely clamored for long-hold periods in 2021, Marathon Venture Partners took a contrarian approach. They made a smart choice to invest in secondaries, which is evidence of their investment strategy.
The firm boasts a diverse portfolio of companies, including Augmenta, which was sold to CNH for $110 million, underscoring the successful exits that have characterized Marathon’s investment strategy. Its portfolio companies are proven value creators and proud suppliers to the largest members of the Fortune 500. Or they manage to avoid the essential pain points of scaling past their home domestic market.
As Greek startups continue to face hurdles in expanding internationally, Marathon Venture Partners remains optimistic about the opportunities within the local ecosystem. The firm feels that these startups will be able to bust through conventional silos. With the right support and strategic oversight, their potential growth will be tremendous.
In a related event, Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis is set to be a special guest at TechCrunch’s StrictlyVC evening in Athens. As part of this event, Panos Papadopoulos will participate in a deep dive session. He’ll speak about the venture capital landscape in Greece today and share what makes his firm a key player in helping startups grow and deliver innovation.
Marathon Venture Partners has had an extraordinary run of fundraising success! This achievement demonstrates their tremendous resiliency and commitment to helping the Greek tech ecosystem. By prioritizing investments at the seed stage and tapping into local talent, the firm hopes to develop a thriving ecosystem for entrepreneurs to thrive. This method is doubly essential with each passing day, as the global fundraising climate becomes more and more difficult.
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