In the fourth edition of its report series, EIT Digital and Foun.dation present the latest on the Greek startup scene and inform about the state of - and challenges for - digital transformation in Greece.
Startups in Greece 2020-2021 provides a valuable scope of the Greek entrepreneurial scene and its development over the years. It presents the profile of startups and identifies latest market trends, focusing especially on the investment opportunities available in the country and most of all, their impact.
The report highlights the positive impact of the EquiFund scheme, demonstrates that investment into startups were more selective, yet higher for the beneficiaries. Greek startups were of course affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, but with significant differences by sectors. Little surprising, hospitality saw the biggest negative impact, whilst other saw new opportunities and even hired new staff. Last, but not least, the report highlights a number of remarkable exits of substantial volume. Hence 2020 was a year of different shades for the Greek startup community.
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Digital Transformation in Greece 2020-2021 looks at the Greek business ecosystem, examines to what extent companies and large organisations have adopted Digital Transformation procedures, and pinpoints the reasons for delays. The report summarizes the key digital transformation strategies commonly applied by industry leaders within the Greek context.
It is evident that the COVID-19 pandemic left its mark on the business world. Shifts and changes have taken place leading us all to a new reality. For this reality, technology is an enabler, but people skills and communication ought to take the frontstage, as they are more important than ever. Our report provides 9 key learnings and recommendations for Greek business and industry:
- Deciphering new ways to address your user needs through digital ought to be a primary lens for any business.
- Remembering that a user is not only your customer is crucial. Your employees and other business stakeholders or partners are an important part of your organisation’s outlook.
- Remote working is here to stay. Adapting and transforming for it is not only a matter of innovation but also a matter of business survival.
- Working from home can bring along unprecedented challenges, such as employee mental well-being or business real estate. These are opportunities to act upon to benefit the employee experience.
- Businesses should always look in the mirror, weigh in any shifts in this fluid reality and be quick to act in order to readjust.
- A redesign of existing structures is paramount. This does not mean minor tweaks on your remote work policy. Fundamental changes in the structure of your organisation are leading to a truly agile yet performance measurable structure that can adapt to even more externally imposed unknowns (whether these are a pandemic, a market shift or an unexpected customer behavior change).
- Employees should put soft skills in practice and work on hypothetical scenarios to be more prepared should hypotheses verge to reality. This is a first step towards future-proofing your business.
- Culture is the most critical success factor in Digital Transformation. If the COVID crisis did one thing, it emphatically proved that businesses could change and adapt with unimaginable speed to seemingly unsurmountable challenges, if there is an accepting culture to change, an alignment to the reason of the change and a common goal.
- If a month before the start of the COVID crisis one got five CEOs in a room and asked them, “do you think it is possible for your company to function in 3 months from now with 90% of your employees working from home”, one would have gotten five negative answers. The reality proved us all wrong.
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The two reports are the result of a collaboration under the ARISE Europe Programme between EIT Digital and Found.ation, a leading startup-enabling platform for tech-oriented products & services in SE Europe, a digital transformation accelerator for corporations and a tech education hub.
