While the number of unicorns around the world is on the rise, they’re still few and far between. In fact, there are only about 1,500 unicorns in total, existing in 53 of the world’s 195 countries.
Of course, the larger and stronger the economy, the more startups and unicorns a country tends to have. Since earning the title of “unicorn” is no easy feat – companies need to be privately owned and be valued at over $1 billion – a strong economy provides businesses with the right environment in which to grow and nurture a successful company.
Greece, located on the cusp of South Eastern and South Western Europe, doesn’t have a particularly large economy, but it’s not tiny either. To be precise, Greece is ranked 54th and 55th in the world in terms of nominal and PPP (per capita at purchasing power parity) GDP respectively.
Not only that, the Greek economy has been experiencing growth year on year which is a remarkable feat considering the economic challenges the country was facing just ten years ago.
Greece’s Startup Environment
As one would expect, the growth of the economy has resulted in Greece becoming a more favourable destination for emerging startups. Of course, the recovery of the Greek economy is no accident – it’s largely a result of intentional economic reforms.
Thus, the country has become increasingly favourable for emerging startups, with plenty of factors contributing to companies enjoying relative success in Greece.
Some factors that contribute to the country’s improving startup environment include:
- English-speaking workforce
- Successful and thriving IT sector
- Strategic location, with access to European, African and Middle Eastern markets
- Government support in the form of tax incentives,
- and various funding programmes
- Growing number of accelerators and incubators in Greece
- Highly skilled workforce, especially in engineering, software development and science
- Fairly low cost of living relative to the rest of Europe
All these factors come together to make Greece a great option for startups, especially considering it’s only getting better as time goes on.
However, this doesn’t mean that there aren’t challenges to consider too.
- Complex bureaucratic system
- Economic instability and uncertainty
- Lack of access to capital – the venture capital market lacks the depth that other countries have.
While these challenges absolutely need to be considered, they shouldn’t be seen as dealbreakers in terms of deciding whether or not you’d want to launch a startup in Greece.
Greek Unicorns
As of October 2024, Greece has two companies that have achieved and maintained unicorn status – Viva Wallet, valued at $2.055 billion, and PeopleCert, valued at $1.9 billion.
Viva Wallet: $2.055 Billion
Founded in the year 2000, Viva Wallet is the developer of a cloud-based payments platform that is specifically suited to serving small and medium-sized businesses.
The platform offers a range of different value-added services to merchants to help improve operations. This includes features like tap-to-device technology, expense management, virtual debit card issuance, gift cards, merchant cash advance and more.
These services are aimed at allowing individuals, professionals and businesses to make transactions online by means of the platform’s virtual cash transactions system, withdrawing funds directly from their bank account.
Viva Wallet was founded by Haris Karonis, co-owner and current CEO, and the business is based in Marousi, Greece.
PeopleCert: $1.9 Billion
Based in Athens, Greece, PeopleCert is the operator of a certification services platform, and the company was most recently valued at $1.9 billion.
The platform facilitates assessments and certifications of skills, helping multi-national organisations and government bodies pair up. This allows the duos to develop and deliver globally recognized certifications and standardised exams, allowing students and job seekers to progress in their professional capacity and careers more generally.
PeopleCert was founded in 2000 by Byron Nicolaides who is now the company’s CEO.
