Despite the challenging economic situation in Greece, the Piraeus Group's Venture Capital & Private Equity (VC & PE) Group has completed the establishment of a new venture capital fund. It is the third active investment fund managed by the Group through its subsidiaries VC & PE group, Piraeus Equity Advisors, Piraeus Capital Management and Piraeus JEREMIE Tech Catalyst Management. The new fund has been named Piraeus JEREMIE Technology Catalyst Fund ("PJ Tech Catalyst") and its purpose is to make equity investments in newly-established innovative companies of the Information Technology Communications (ICT) industry in Greece, thus supporting new entrepreneurship in one of the country's strategic sectors.
PJ Tech Catalyst has been established in the framework of the JEREMIE EU initiative which is financed by the Ministry for Development with the use of European Structural Funds through the European Investment Fund and Piraeus Bank. The co-operation between the European Investment Fund and Piraeus Group as investors in PJ Tech Catalyst will create new jobs and, mainly, will attract local specialised human resources who would otherwise flee abroad. Such an attempt will also contribute to the offering of domestic high added-value products and services that can directly be exported.
Piraeus Group's Venture Capital & Private Equity Group is staffed by experienced Greek and foreign experts with an international investment track record and a deep insight of the Greek business market and financial practice. These experts have set up a unique team that will be able act as a local partner for foreign institutional investors in the broader SE European region, by implementing a functional model based on international standards.
The competitive advantage of PJ Tech Catalyst is its co-operation with distinguished entrepreneurs who have international experience. The PJ Tech Catalyst management team comprises experienced investment executives of CV & PE Group, as well as 3 distinguished investment and technology experts; it is thus able to offer the necessary know-how that will support groups of young entrepreneurs in their initial business development stages. These are:
Dr. Vas. Theocharakis, chairman and co-founder of NanoPhos SA, the quite successful ALBA spin-off that manufactures nanotechnology products and has been growing rapidly in 25 countries. Mr. Theocharakis has worked in Silicon Valley for many years and has participated in business ventures that have now grown into massive companies, while he started his career as a research engineer in an IBM research centre.
Konstantinos Mallios, who is based in Seattle, USA, and has a long-term experience in Microsoft, where he was responsible for major VC deals in Silicon Valley. Mr. Mallios has extensive international experience in the fields of technology and intellectual property protection, with access to major technology funds in the USA, including the American Intellectual Ventures where he is currently employed.
Christos Tsagkos, former CEO of Microsoft and Intel in Greece and chairman of Junior Achievement Greece, with a long and successful track record in England and Greece.
Mr. Loukas Pilitsis, executive officer of the Piraeus Group VC & PE group and fund manager of PJ Tech Catalyst stated the following, in the framework of the commencement of this important effort: "In this difficult situation that our country is facing, we are hopeful that this venture will decisively contribute to the creation of new opportunities in Greece. Our aim is to help excellent Greek human resources establish their position as a global power in the technology field, by thus creating new jobs and companies that will be able to compete in the global technology market."
Representing the European Investment Fund, Mr. Yiannis Tsakiris, Head of the SE European Region, pointed out: "We are very happy to participate in this effort made by PJ Tech Catalyst through JEREMIE and we are convinced that its management team will select investments in companies that will excel in international business. At a time when the lack of liquidity affects the whole SME sector, it is crucial to also support industries such as ICT which can rapidly generate growth through technology and innovation."