Marathon Venture Capital, an Athens-based early-stage venture capital firm, has closed its third fund at €75 million, with major support from the European Investment Fund and the Hellenic Development Bank of Investment.
EIF and HDBI each committed €20 million, or more than half of the fund.
The EIF said in a statement that its participation contributed to the fund reaching its target in a single, oversubscribed closing. “The fund will support business-to-business technology start-ups in sectors such as IT infrastructure, cybersecurity, artificial intelligence, agricultural technology, defense technology and deep tech,” it added.
It isn’t clear how long fundraising took for Fund III, which had a target of €70 million, according to fundraising data from affiliate title Private Equity International.
Marathon spent about 14 months marketing its second fund, which had a target of €60 million and closed on €70 million in February 2022, according to PEI data. LPs in Fund II included EIF, HDBI and the European Bank for Reconstruction & Development.
EIF was also an investor in Marathon’s first fund, which closed on €32 million in December 2017.
HDBI committed to Fund III as a way of “continuing to support a team that views modern challenges as a mission and investors and entrepreneurs/founders as companions,” chief executive officer Antigoni Lymperopoulou said in a statement. “This team, as it matured, has significantly contributed to the dynamic evolution of our country’s innovation ecosystem, providing tangible economic and social results.”
Marathon partner George Tziralis wrote in a blog post that the firm “founded some of the first start-ups in our home ecosystem, nurtured a community around them, raised the first venture capital funds and delivered the first successful exits. In 2017 we launched Marathon Venture Capital Fund I to go even further beyond – and we have been humbled by what followed!”
Marathon’s first two funds have invested in more than 20 start-ups. Companies it counts as success stories include Hack The Box, a provider of cybersecurity upskilling; LearnWorlds, a learning management platform; Causaly, a biopharma knowledge discovery platform; and Augmenta, an agricultural technology company acquired by CNH Industrial.
Marathon Venture Capital, an Athens-based early-stage venture capital firm, has closed its third fund at €75 million, with major support from the European Investment Fund and the Hellenic Development Bank of Investment.
EIF and HDBI each committed €20 million, or more than half of the fund.
The EIF said in a statement that its participation contributed to the fund reaching its target in a single, oversubscribed closing. “The fund will support business-to-business technology start-ups in sectors such as IT infrastructure, cybersecurity, artificial intelligence, agricultural technology, defense technology and deep tech,” it added.
It isn’t clear how long fundraising took for Fund III, which had a target of €70 million, according to fundraising data from affiliate title Private Equity International.
Marathon spent about 14 months marketing its second fund, which had a target of €60 million and closed on €70 million in February 2022, according to PEI data. LPs in Fund II included EIF, HDBI and the European Bank for Reconstruction & Development.
EIF was also an investor in Marathon’s first fund, which closed on €32 million in December 2017.
HDBI committed to Fund III as a way of “continuing to support a team that views modern challenges as a mission and investors and entrepreneurs/founders as companions,” chief executive officer Antigoni Lymperopoulou said in a statement. “This team, as it matured, has significantly contributed to the dynamic evolution of our country’s innovation ecosystem, providing tangible economic and social results.”
Marathon partner George Tziralis wrote in a blog post that the firm “founded some of the first start-ups in our home ecosystem, nurtured a community around them, raised the first venture capital funds and delivered the first successful exits. In 2017 we launched Marathon Venture Capital Fund I to go even further beyond – and we have been humbled by what followed!”
Marathon’s first two funds have invested in more than 20 start-ups. Companies it counts as success stories include Hack The Box, a provider of cybersecurity upskilling; LearnWorlds, a learning management platform; Causaly, a biopharma knowledge discovery platform; and Augmenta, an agricultural technology company acquired by CNH Industrial.
