Marathon Venture Capital, a venture firm in Athens that prides itself on being “day one partners to Greek tech partners,” just closed its newest fund with €75 million in capital commitments, according to partner Panos Papadopoulos.
The vehicle brings the firm’s total assets under management to €175 million — a meaningful amount for an eight-year-old, seed-stage investor in Greece and a reflection, too, of some sizable exits. Among them was the sale last year of Marathon’s portfolio company Augmenta to CNH, a maker of farm machinery and construction equipment in a cash deal that valued Augmenta at $110 million. Marathon also sold some of its shares in Hack the Box, a cybersecurity upskilling and talent assessment platform, to the investment firm Carlyle in a secondary transaction.
We chatted with Papadopoulos ahead of an in-person sit-down with him as part of TechCrunch’s first StrictlyVC evening in Athens on Thursday, May 8, a night that will also include a deep dive with Greece’s prime minister, Kyriakos Mitsotakis. What we wanted to know — and what the central questions will be Thursday night — is: why Greece, and why now?
Greece has historically seen less venture investment 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 starters, Marathon I is a top percentile performer globally in [realized returns]; we built a portfolio that captured the current zeitgeist well before, for example, AI-assisted scientific research, robotics or defense became the norm.
What is your firm’s thesis and how does this newest fund’s thesis differ given the extended timeline we’re seeing for exits globally?
We are backing founders who do something hard in important markets. It can be hard because it requires unique knowledge, like a research PhD, or high agency, meaning understanding of a regulated or overlooked industry like power grid management. And we’re going to continue doubling down on our fast-growing community, which has been accumulating experience and expertise, along with ambition.
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