EquiFund: Review of results for the third quarter of 2023

The Business Participation Fund – EquiFund is an investment initiative of the Greek state and the European TamInvestment Center. It is financed by resources of the European Union – ERDF through the EPANEK 2014 – 2020 program, the European Investment Fund and private investors. Its aim is to facilitate access to financing for small and medium businesses mainly through the development of purchase of venture capital (“Venture Capital/Private Equity”) in Greece, in cooperation with specialized Intermediary Financial Organizations (funds).

The EquiFund started its operation with 200 million euros from European and national resources and 60 million euros from the EIF, a member of the European Bank group Investments (EIB) which co-supports the initiative with the amount of 36 million euros. Together with leveraging private investors, the size of the initiative approached €500 million.

Purpose of EquiFund

From the initial planning stages, the purpose of the EquiFund initiative has been to facilitate the access of Greek businesses or businesses with a strong Greek footprint to financing with venture capital. Since the start of the investment activity of the supported funds, at the beginning of 2018,EquiFund has been presented at pan-European events as an example of best practice.

The results

The results are outstanding: based on the latest unofficial figures covering up to Q3 2023, it appears that 137 businesses have been supported by the initiative and have received seed, start-up or growth capital matching their capital needs depending on the stage each business is at. The total amount allocated to these companies has reached 340 million euros (OP participation: 138 million).

In the money invested by the EquiFund funds, there is already the participation of the private sector – it has been calculated that every 1 euro invested from the resources of the ESET through the initiative, corresponds to approximately 2.9 euros of total investments towards these companies (respectively, for the entire OP: every 1 euro invested from the resources of OP through the initiative, corresponds to approximately 2.3 euros of total investments towards these companies). In addition, every investment made by any of the funds usually attracts, due to the positive message it sends to the markets, other private investors as well – therefore, every 1 euro invested from the resources of the ESET through the initiative, corresponds to approximately 7.9 euros of total investments towards these companies (respectively, for the entire OP: every 1 euro invested is invested from the resources of the OP through the initiative, corresponds to approximately 6.3 euros of total investments towards these companies).

Multiplicative benefit

Beyond this leverage, there are examples of many businesses that after the support of EquiFund succeeded in raising additional capital at a later stage with the participation of important foreign investors increasing at the same time the valuation them.

The total multiplier benefit, therefore, for the domestic ecosystem and the Greek economy is greater than the directly measurable results.

It is extremely important that the initiative’s portfolio of investments has included in its ranks business ventures of scientists from a multiple Greek academic and research Institutions, such as:

  • the Technological Park of Patras
  • the University of Thessaly
  • the University of Ioannina
  • the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
  • the Technology and Research Foundation (ITE)
  • the TEI of Crete
  • the TEI of Athens
  • the Athens University of Economics
  • the Democritus Research Center and its business park, Leucippos

From 2020 until today, a total of ten exits of companies supported by EquiFund have been announced, attracting the investment interest of globally renowned companies in their field (indicatively Meta Platforms, Applied Materials, Delivery Hero, CNH Industrial, etc.). It is also important that, even after the disinvestment, the companies in question continue part of their activities in Greece, maintaining their staff in Athens, Thessaloniki, Patras and Crete. As a result, the amount that has been returned to the Greek state in its role as an investor in the individual funds already amounts to 30.9 million euros in a time frame much shorter than the returns usually expected in corresponding markets – another proof of the exponential growth of the Greek start-up ecosystem and the positive synergies created by the EquiFund initiative in Greece.

The ecosystem, therefore, expands and matures. And the European Investment Fund is constantly in contact with the market and the services of the Ministry of National Economy and Finance, the General Secretariat for Research and Technology and the Administrative Authority of the Competitiveness Operational Program for the development of additional financial tools in the new programming period of ESET 2021/27.