Greek investors are putting $70m into Fund V of Endeavor Catalyst, the investment arm of Endeavor. It is the organisation’s fifth and largest fund, at $320m, taking the assets managed by Endeavor Catalyst to more than $850m. Demand exceeded the initial target of $300m, and of the more than 40 markets represented in the fund, Greece invested the most, accounting for about 22% of the total.
Among the 17 Greek investors are the country’s four systemic banks: Alpha Bank, Eurobank, National Bank of Greece and Piraeus Bank. The amount committed has grown with each fund, from $5m in Fund III in 2019 and $24m in Fund IV in 2022 to $70m today, almost three times as much. In total, Greek investors have put about $100m into Endeavor Catalyst.
Through Fund V, Greek capital is now being invested in leading companies around the world, from Ukraine and Jordan to Nigeria and Spain, including companies with Greek founders. This connects Greece’s investment community with emerging companies and some of the world’s most dynamic innovation ecosystems.
“This participation shows that there is now a genuine desire to connect with the world,” said Panagiotis Karampinis, managing director of Endeavor Greece and regional managing director for Endeavor’s European offices. “The Greek ecosystem is becoming more outward-looking and ambitious than it was in the past. It sees opportunities around the world, not just in Greece, and recognises that success stories can emerge anywhere.”
How Endeavor Catalyst works
Endeavor is a non-profit organisation that selects and supports high-impact entrepreneurs, known as Endeavor Entrepreneurs, in more than 50 countries. Endeavor Catalyst invests only in their companies, under straightforward rules. When one of them raises capital in a round led by an institutional investor, Catalyst can invest on the same terms, typically putting in $1m to $3m alongside funds such as Sequoia Capital, Founders Fund and General Atlantic.
Fund V plans to make 40 to 50 investments a year. That means roughly one investment a week, mainly in founders from markets beyond the major hubs of Silicon Valley and China — what Endeavor calls “Elsewhere”.
Since launching in 2012 with an initial $32m fund, Endeavor Catalyst has grown tenfold. Across its five funds, it has invested in 437 companies in 44 markets, 83 of which are valued at $1bn or more, including Bending Spoons and ElevenLabs. It has recorded 39 exits and has 11 listed companies.
Across the Endeavor Greece portfolio, Endeavor Catalyst has invested a total of $25m in 15 companies with founders of Greek origin since 2012.
Fund V has already invested more than $55m in 30 companies, including Replit, Preply, Cashea and HappyRobot, and plans to invest a further $25m to $30m by the end of 2026.
Greek founders in artificial intelligence
The Greek presence is just as strong among the companies backed by the fund. The Greek diaspora is building artificial intelligence companies at a pace that stands out across the Endeavor network. Three of them, selected for the network through Endeavor Greece, are already in Endeavor Catalyst’s portfolio.
Reflection AI, co-founded by Ioannis Antonoglou, is developing advanced frontier AI models with open weights. It recently unveiled Beam, a model specialising in programming, complex reasoning and the autonomous execution of tasks by AI agents. Runway, co-founded by Anastasios Germanidis, is a pioneer in AI video generation and is now developing world models — AI models that simulate interactive worlds in real time, with applications ranging from entertainment to robotics. And Arena, co-founded by Anastasios Angelopoulos, has built a leading platform for evaluating and ranking AI models, based on real-world comparisons and user preferences. It is now also expanding into the evaluation of AI agents on complex tasks.
In 2025 alone, Reflection AI and Runway raised a total of $2.3bn, while in early October Arena closed a $200m Series B funding round at a valuation of $3.1bn, with Endeavor Catalyst Fund V also participating.
Today, Reflection AI is valued at $25bn, about two years after its founding, while Runway is valued at more than $5bn. Arena’s valuation has nearly doubled in about ten months. And more Greek founders are following in AI.
“For generations, Greek families have steered their children towards maths, physics and chemistry. Now that technology has become more complex and research-driven, Greeks are surging ahead at a pace we have not seen elsewhere,” Mr Karampinis added.
For now, most of these companies will grow abroad, where AI is currently concentrated. But, as Mr Karampinis noted, the question is not whether their founders will come to Greece, but whether they want to stay connected to the country and make an impact here. The answer is a resounding yes. Endeavor Greece’s role is to build that connection.
The connection works both ways. Catalyst companies from other markets, such as ICEYE, Open Cosmos and EnduroSat, now have a presence in Greece, with Endeavor Greece helping them find talent, customers and premises, while ElevenLabs has worked with the Greek government.
Greece 2030 and Greek Innovation Campus
Returns from Endeavor Catalyst funds go back to investors, while a portion also supports Endeavor’s non-profit work around the world, including in Greece. With this in mind, Endeavor Greece has presented its Greece 2030 plan, with five priorities: the community of high-impact Greek founders, wherever they live; Greece and Athens’ role in Europe; the AI and Culture initiative; education; and the Greek Innovation Campus.
The Campus aims to be a permanent home in Athens for founders, investors, researchers and international companies, as well as for those coming to take their first steps in the country. Its partners and location will be announced in due course.
“What the ecosystem needs most today is a physical space where everyone can come together,” Mr Karampinis said. “We want to dedicate to it, above all, the capital that will be returned to Endeavor Greece by Endeavor Catalyst. In this way, every investment by Greeks in the fund contributes to the Greek innovation ecosystem.”