The “stigma” of Greece began to manifest itself in startup world mapWhile the sector is going through hard times around the world, due to the investment malaise and crisis it has caused in tech companies, the country is showing signs of progress, solidifying its position in the list of the top 50 startup ecosystems in the world.

According to a new report Global Startup Ecosystem Index 2023 StartupBlink, which has been mapping and evaluating the startup ecosystems of 1,000 cities in 100 countries since 2017, Greece up two places in the world rankings this year. Thus, from 48th place last year, this year she ranked 46 out of 100 countries, 18th in Western Europe and 4th in the Balkan region. Turkey is ahead of our country in the world ranking, and Argentina, Slovenia, Ukraine and Hungary follow Greece.

“Thorns” however, remain high employer contributions but also bureaucracytwo issues that concern young entrepreneurs and generally affect the competitiveness of the Greek economy.

“The emerging startup ecosystem in Greece is still in its infancy and still has a long way to go given the high levels of bureaucracy and the fragmented network of industry representatives,” the related report says. Of course, as he notes, despite the economic crisis and the blow received by the spread of the pandemic, the country has remained resilient, since in 2022 companies like Viva Wallet with a capitalization of more than 1 billion euros acted as unicorns. Sta “trump” our country is -very promising- technology and IT industryas good as highly skilled workforcewho also has a deep knowledge of English.

In addition to the above, the geographical position of Greece and its proximity to both European markets and the Middle East and Africa, creates conditions for its formation as a regional technology hub, the report says. However, the stay in our country of those employed in the technology sector and the strengthening of the entrepreneurial mentality through the education system are the biggest challenges. Important initiatives to cover the investment gap were Equifund, through which Greek venture capital was created to finance Greek start-ups, and the business registry Elevate Greece.

As for the ranking of cities, Athens up 16 places, taking 116th place among 1000 cities, while Thessaloniki also significantly strengthened. With the latest hub development in the co-capital, it has risen 42 positions from last year to 465th out of 1,000 cities and 13th in the Balkans.

The United States, United Kingdom and Israel have held the “Sceptres” ranking of countries with the best ecosystems for a year now, while approximately 252 American cities dominate among 1000 cities. San Francisco comes firstfollowed by NY, London, Los Angeles, Boston, Beijing And Shanghai. At the same time, despite progress, the startup sector globally has been affected by the changing economic climate and banking turmoil that has taken place in recent months, most notably the collapse of startup bank Silicon Valley Bank.

According to the survey, only for the first 4.5 months of 2023. 200,000 people in the tech industry saw the exit door, also a consequence of a change in the strategy of a number of technology companies. Mature, as a rule, technology companies have recently been unable to raise funds, so they are changing their strategy, moving from limitless growth to achieving profitability. This also resulted in lower costs. Among them are startups with Greek interests, such as real estate operator Blueground, which reportedly cut its workforce by around 17%.