Marathon Venture Capital has closed three new investments in startups founded by Greeks abroad, which have yet to be officially announced. The three companies operate in artificial intelligence, developing solutions for the construction sector, the automotive industry and agentic AI.
The Marathon Venture Capital team revealed at a meeting with journalists that the three investments were made through Marathon Fund III, which has €75m in assets under management, bringing the total number of investments by the third fund to six so far.
According to the Marathon Venture Capital team, all three startups were founded by Greeks abroad, are at an early stage of development (seed) and operate in artificial intelligence. They said Marathon focuses mainly on early-stage investments, seeking equity stakes of 15%-20% in the companies it backs.
Three new investments in artificial intelligence
The first startup operates in the construction sector, developing technology focused on the design and preparation of large building projects.
The second startup is based in Germany and is developing technology for the interiors of next-generation cars. The team explained at the meeting that the company is keeping a low profile because of intense competition in the sector.
The third startup was founded by a prominent Greek researcher from a major research lab in Los Angeles. The company is developing infrastructure for AI agents, enabling them to access the data they need significantly faster than existing systems.
Investment strategy and the third fund
Marathon Venture Capital’s investment strategy remains focused on making three to five new investments a year. The fund participates in seed-stage funding rounds, investing €1m to €3m and seeking equity stakes of 15%-20%. It also retains the option to participate in subsequent funding rounds (Series A and B), with total investment in each company potentially reaching €10m.
Marathon Fund III completed its €75m fundraising in April 2025, with its first investments made in September that year. Its investment period runs until April 2029, and it aims to make 15 investments in total.
Companies already backed by the third fund include Pallma, Straion and NOFire.ai.
Returns from the first fund
As Panos Papadopoulos, a partner at Marathon Venture Capital, explained, the first fund launched in 2017 after raising €32m and made 10 investments in total, including in Hack The Box, LearnWorlds, Netdata and Causaly.
Companies in its portfolio subsequently attracted more than $300m in funding from international investors. The fund has already returned to its investors 2.1 times their original capital in net distributions, with Mr Papadopoulos estimating that this return could exceed 3x over the next two years.
He said the fund ranks in the top 5% worldwide among those launched in 2017, while PitchBook ranked it tenth in Europe based on its returns.
The case of Hack The Box is notable: Marathon sold part of its stake to Carlyle in 2023, when the company was valued at €150m. Some of the fund’s investors subsequently reinvested in the company.
The second fund and exits
Marathon Venture Capital’s second fund launched in October 2020, with its capital reaching €70m in December 2021. It has made 12 investments in total.
Over the years, companies in Marathon Venture Capital’s portfolio have completed successful exits. These include Code BGP, which was acquired by Cisco in 2023, and Augmenta, which was acquired by CNH Industrial in March that year for $110m.
Asked about the possibility of launching a new fund, the Marathon Venture Capital team said its aim is to maintain an active investment presence in the market at all times. With about two and a half years remaining in Marathon Fund III’s investment period, fundraising for the next fund is expected to begin in about two years to ensure new investments can continue without interruption.