Marathon Venture Partners, a venture capital firm in Athens, is proud of being “a first-day partner with Greek technology partners” and has just ended its latest fund with a capital commitment of €75 million, according to partner Panos Papadopoulos.

The vehicle manages the company's total assets at 175 million euros, which makes sense for eight-year-old Greek seed-stage investors and reflects on some considerable exits. This includes last year's marathon portfolio company Augmenta, a cash-traded manufacturer of agricultural machinery and construction equipment that values ​​Augmenta at $110 million. Marathon also sold some of its stocks in Hack The Box (cybersecurity improvement and talent assessment platform) to investment firm Carlyle for secondary deals.

On the first strict night of TechCrunch in Athens on Thursday, May 8, we chatted with Papadopoulos, which will also include in-depth research with Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis. What we want to know - what central question will be on Thursday night - why is Greece and why now?

Compared with other European countries, Greece has had less venture capital in history. What changes have happened locally when global fundraising becomes more challenging, allowing you to raise €75 million in funding?

First, the marathon is the world's highest performer (realized returns); we have built a portfolio that takes over the current zeitgeist in the case of AI-assisted scientific research, robotics or defense, for example.

What is your company's paper? How is the paper different for this latest fund’s paper, given the extended timetable we’ve seen worldwide?

We are supporting founders who work hard in important markets. This can be difficult because it requires unique knowledge, such as a PhD in Research or a Senior Agent, which means understanding regulated or overlooked industries (such as grid management). And, we will continue to double our rapidly growing community, which is accumulating experience and expertise and ambitions.

Traditionally, Greek startups face challenges outside the domestic market. How do you evaluate that in this environment where capital efficiency is more important, a company's international growth potential is more important than rapid expansion?

I beg to differ. From day one, Greek startups leverage local talent to serve leading global customers and markets. In our portfolio, there is little revenue in the domestic market. But they serve the best parts of the Fortune 500.

At the same time, capital efficiency and team perseverance are second nature to our community.

We are seeing fewer IPOs worldwide and extending holding periods for venture-backed companies. How does this affect your conversations with limited partners about expected timelines and returns?

We don't need decacorns to make our fund economics work. We invested very early, maintain substantial equality and keep our funds smaller. These offer a variety of opportunities for meaningful returns, including middle schools and strategic mergers and acquisitions, just before the IPO. We have unlimited holding time in most markets in 2021. In our culture, cash is king. It seems many others have forgotten it.

Many European venture capital firms emphasize deep technology and artificial intelligence. Does the marathon take a similar approach, or do you see different opportunities specific to the Greek ecosystem?

Of course, we are all, but the definition of deep technology is stretched and means many different things to different people. We are not focused on any particular department itself – instead, we focus on the people who change their department. We may be the first generalist venture capital investing in national defense before the Ukrainian War.

Historically, Greek founders had less money than Berlin, Paris or Stockholm. Do you see valuations of Greek startups that reflect this discount, and does this create opportunities for better returns?

In our experience, this has nothing to do with geography or price. We are supporting founders of non-common opportunities that most venture capital investors ignore. We act quickly with faith and we don't ask who else is investing. These sound like table bets. They are still not.

Given the globally challenging export environment, how do you provide portfolio companies with advice on medium sales or acquisition of strategic alternatives such as medium sales?

We work with portfolio companies to achieve the default living plan. From there, all options are on the table. We see founders really want to run their company for the long term. We think that secondary sales can actually help with this, and we generally support this situation.

The EU emphasizes support for startups through various funding mechanisms. How important are these sources to non-binary capital to your portfolio companies compared to five years ago?

We welcome any such initiatives. However, we recommend that our portfolio founders do not waste time on non-market related activities.

How does Greece’s improved macroeconomic situation affect your fundraising process and the quality of startups you see?

This is always good when you are not making headlines, but what we do is related to local macros. When it comes to talent, I would really be based on naive empiricism saying that if there is any relevance, it is the opposite. Adversity is the mother of all inventions.

Many U.S. venture capitalists have retreated from European investment. Does this create more opportunities for local funds like marathons or makes joint transactions more challenging?

This is definitely a different market, but it also creates more opportunities for European investors. I don't think the capital flood in 2021 has really changed the opportunity for European companies. We must always rely on ourselves and be consistent with our founders.