2025
Year in Review

Endeavor Greece hosted the second Athens Innovation Summit, co-organized with Google Greece, bringing together global leaders to discuss the future of AI, ethics, and democracy. The highlight of the evening was a powerful conversation between Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis and Demis Hassabis, Co-founder & CEO of Google DeepMind and 2024 Nobel Laureate, moderated by Linda Rottenberg. Their dialogue explored AI’s impact on democracy, healthcare, energy, education, and the future of work - capturing both the promise and responsibility of this technological shift.

We partnered with TechCrunch to bring StrictlyVC to Athens for the first time, hosting the event at the SNFCC Lighthouse, led by Connie Loizos and moderated by Mike Butcher. The evening opened with a fireside conversation between Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis and Connie Loizos, followed by three panels featuring leading VCs and founders: Apostolos Apostolakis (VentureFriends), Myrto Papathanou (Metavallon VC), Panos Papadopoulos (Marathon VC), Marco Veremis (Big Pi Ventures), and Dimitris Kottas (Delian) discussing the evolution of Greece’s venture capital landscape; Haris Pylarinos (Hack The Box, Endeavor Entrepreneur), Konstantina Psoma (Kaedim), and Simon Schaefer (Factory) on building global-first companies from Europe; and John Tsioris (Revotech, ex-InstaShop, Endeavor Entrepreneur) with Nate Clarke (GoTyme Bank) on scaling businesses in emerging markets. TechCrunch’s editorial team also met with Greek founders, investors, and ecosystem leaders, reflecting the depth and activity of the Greek tech ecosystem and its increasing integration into international networks.

Endeavor Greece returned to Slush with its largest mission yet - 145+ founders, investors, corporates, academics, and policymakers - placing Greece among the top five delegations worldwide. Our booth became a central hub for meetings, partner sessions, and scaleup spotlights, while a high-energy Side Event, two international dinners, and deep-tech visits to ICEYE, CSC, and Sitra brought the ecosystem together throughout the week. Powered by the support of AEGEAN Airlines, HDBI, and the National Bank of Greece. See the official aftermovie

This year marked major momentum for Endeavor Catalyst, which continues to strengthen its global footprint while remaining deeply connected to Greece. Catalyst backed 12 Greek founders and has invested $18M to date, but its impact extends far beyond national borders. In 2025, the fund participated in headline-making AI rounds for Reflection AI, Runway, and ElevenLabs - financings led by Nvidia, General Atlantic, and other tier-one global investors-highlighting Catalyst’s growing role in supporting the world’s most promising AI companies. At the same time, Catalyst is raising its new global fund, with Greece ranking as the #1 local office worldwide in fundraising, a milestone that reinforces both the strength of our network and the trust of global LPs. Together, these achievements underline Catalyst’s position as a powerful engine unlocking capital, opportunity, and global connectivity for high-impact entrepreneurs everywhere.

In 2025, Ioannis Antonoglou, founder & CTO of Reflection AI, joined the Endeavor network as an Endeavor Entrepreneur. His selection comes in a landmark year for Reflection, which raised a $2B funding round led by Nvidia, propelling the company to a valuation of over $8B and positioning it among the most influential frontier AI labs globally. This achievement is a defining moment for Greece’s deep tech community- reflecting the caliber of world-class Greek AI researchers who are shaping the future of global technology. Ioannis represents the new wave of Greek founders pushing boundaries in machine learning, and his addition strengthens our community of innovators who operate with global ambition and impact.

In 2025, Anastasis Germanidis, co-founder and CTO of Runway, joined the Endeavor network as an Endeavor Entrepreneur. Founded in 2018 and headquartered in New York, Runway develops generative AI tools for image and video creation that are used by creative professionals in film, television and media production worldwide. Runway has raised $545M from leading global investors, including General Atlantic, Google, NVIDIA, exceeding $3B in valuation , with our own Endeavor Catalyst joining their latest round. Anastasis represents a new generation of Greek founders building AI companies with global reach.

We partner with OpenAI and the Government of the Hellenic Republic to co-lead the Greek AI Startup Accelerator, the Innovation Pillar of the national “OpenAI for Greece” initiative. The Accelerator supports Greek startups developing AI-native solutions, providing access to OpenAI technology and credits, structured mentorship, and international exposure opportunities. The program focuses on responsible AI development and supports founders scaling globally.

An initiative led by the Columbia Global Center in Athens, Columbia University’s Fu Foundation School of Engineering and Applied Science (Columbia Engineering) and the National Technical University of Athens (NTUA), with the support of Columbia Business School, Endeavor Greece and the Hellenic Institute for Advanced Studies (HIAS), and generously supported by the Blavatnik Family Foundation. Lab to Market introduces a new pathway for turning Greece’s world-class research and STEM talent into deep-tech ventures with global impact.

We convened a series of private, high-level roundtables and leadership discussions with global technology leaders and partners. Following the announcement of Mistral AI—one of Europe’s leading frontier AI companies-entering a strategic partnership with the Hellenic Government, we hosted a closed roundtable with CEO Arthur Mensch and Greek ecosystem leaders to discuss Europe’s AI direction, sovereign AI models, and the implications of this partnership for Greece’s role in the European innovation landscape.
We also hosted a leadership dinner with Revolut’s Chief Growth & Marketing Officer & Partner, Antoine Le Nel, alongside Annastasia Seebohm Giacomini, CEO of Brilliant Minds Foundation, focusing on Revolut’s evolution into a product-first, lifestyle-driven fintech serving over 50 million users and key lessons for global scaling, user-centric design, and long-term brand building. In addition, we co-hosted the AI Circle Roundtable with Google, bringing together ecosystem leaders for a private discussion with Demis Hassabis on the societal implications of AI, including ethics, education, creativity, and governance as artificial general intelligence continues to advance

We supported a series of major events and initiatives throughout 2025, playing a key role in shaping discussions on AI, innovation, and global scaling. As strategic partners of Panathēnea 2025, we contributed to discussions on global scale and AI while also supporting the Athens Startup Block Party under the Acropolis. At Delphi Economic Forum X, we organized and participated in two panels on AI and diaspora engagement, co-organized a breakfast with Uni.Fund on Education, Research & Innovation, and hosted the annual EY × Endeavor gathering with over 400 attendees and live music by Onirama. Through our third consecutive partnership with Bio3 Forum, Endeavor Greece Managing Director Panagiotis Karampinis moderated the Venture Capital Panel, featuring experts like Stefanos Capsaskis (Corallia Ventures), Cassandra Kosmidou (Big Pi Ventures), and Dr. Stelios Papadopoulos (Biogen). At the GenAI Summit, we contributed to discussions on AI engineering and HealthTech, supported the Greek AI Startup Accelerator developed with OpenAI, and hosted the Innovation Nation Booth, closing the day with the Endeavor × ElevenLabs GenAI After Party. We also co-hosted the Tech Tour Investors Summit – Athens with Uni.Fund and HDBI, strengthening cross-regional investment collaboration and showcasing Greek startups such as Ariadne, Pandas, EVO Human Performance, and OQ Technology. As Ecosystem Partners at Doers Summit 2025, we organized two panels on innovation and founder journeys, with participants like Panagiotis Karampinis, Ernestos Panayiotou (National Bank of Greece), and Marios Stavropoulos (Ademú), and co-hosted the summit’s networking event with e2vc.

Endeavor Greece, together with Eleven Ventures, runs the Visa Innovation Program Europe across Greece, Cyprus, and Malta for the third consecutive year, helping fintech startups collaborate with major financial institutions and bring new solutions to market. The program supports founders through piloting opportunities, industry access, and tailored guidance, strengthening the region’s fintech pipeline. As part of this year’s cycle, Endeavor co-hosted the annual Visa Innovation Program Europe Showcase, which brought together founders, banks, investors, and Visa executives to highlight emerging trends in financial innovation and present the progress of participating startups-further deepening collaboration across the regional ecosystem.

The first OPAP Forward TALKS brought together founders, senior executives, and partners to discuss the key challenges and opportunities facing Greek SMEs today. As part of OPAP Forward, a program implemented in collaboration with Endeavor Greece, the event focused on leadership, scaling strategies, company culture, and navigating transformation in a changing business environment, with insights from entrepreneurs and market leaders across consumer, manufacturing, and technology-driven sectors.

Endeavor Greece’s Ambassadors are entrepreneurs, executives, leaders, and organizations who actively contribute to the ecosystem by sharing experience, perspective, practical insight, and resources with the next generation of founders and business leaders. This group includes organizations such as Alpha TV, Accenture, Deep Capital Group, EY, Hellenic Development Bank of Investments, John S. Latsis Public Benefit Foundation, JP Morgan, Olympia Group, Onassis Foundation (ASOFIN), OTE, alongside individuals such as Dr. John Coustas, Vassilios Katsos, Pavlos Kontomichalos, Rhea Papanikolaou, Cristina Piedrahita, Lars Rasmussen, Spiros Theodoropoulos, Dimitris Tryfon, and Tom Vellios, all leaders who consistently invest their time, knowledge, and networks to strengthen the entrepreneurial landscape. We welcome our new 2-year cohort of Ambassadors, whose leadership is defined not only by achievement, but by a clear commitment to giving back and turning experience into measurable impact.

Endeavor Greece led the first-ever Greek delegation to VivaTech - Europe’s premier tech event. From founders and investors to policy and venture leaders, the delegation represented Greece’s growing innovation force on the global stage. Some highlights over four packed days: hosting Greeking Out in Paris at Station F, an evening reception at the Greek Ambassador’s residence, and private sessions with Eurazeo and La French Tech Paris-Saclay. At the heart of it all was the Innovation Nation booth at VivaTech, where Greek startups connected with international partners, VCs, and collaborators. With the support of: Embassy of Greece in Paris, La French Tech, SEV, and The Hellenic Initiative.

In 2025, Greeking Out travelled across major global hubs - Dubai, London, Cambridge, Zurich, Amsterdam, Paris, Riyadh, Boston, and New York - bringing together thousands of founders, investors, and diaspora leaders. Thanks to the strategic partnership and support of The Hellenic Initiative (THI), the series expanded its global footprint and unlocked new opportunities for the Greek entrepreneurial community. From high-impact meetings with top VC firms and global partners to packed community gatherings, each stop strengthened Greece’s international innovation presence. The year concluded in Boston and New York, where Greeking Out events, Endeavor’s Global Gala, THI’s Annual Gala, and Rebrain Greece in Times Square showcased the growing momentum and global reach of Greece’s entrepreneurial ecosystem.
The highlight? Our first-ever Greeking Out in Dubai, bringing together 160+ attendees to discuss scaling, growth, and the future of Greek entrepreneurship in EMEA.

Endeavor Greece signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the General Secretariat for Greeks Abroad & Public Diplomacy, represented by Maira Myrogianni of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Hellenic Republic, in the presence of Deputy Minister Yiannis Loverdos. This collaboration aims to deepen ties with the global Greek community, foster knowledge-sharing among entrepreneurs, and strengthen Greece’s position as a hub for innovation and international visibility.