On Wed, 3 June 2020, 17:00-18:30 PM (EEST), AmChamGR together with HeBAN and EBAN organized the webinar “Startups and SMEs: Challenges and Opportunities to Overcome the Covid-19 Crisis”.
The foremost interest in this webinar was to analyze in greater detail:
1. Τhe imminent risks for the Greek ecosystem with particular focus on SMEs and startups,
2. What economic and political help they need in order to survive this crisis,
3. The opportunities that may emerge from the crisis.
The panelists included:
- Giannis Tsakiris – Deputy Minister for Private Investments and Public/Private Sector Cooperations
- Peter Cowley, President of EBAN – European Business Angels Association & Chair of the Cambridge Business Angels
- Dr. Ron Weissman , BoD Member ACA – Angel Capital Association (USA) & Angel Investor at Band of Angel (USA)
- Dr. Nuno Quental, European Innovation Council Task Force
- Dimitris Tsingos, Founder of Starttech Ventures, HeBAN Co-founder
- Introduction: Litsa Panayotopoulous, EIE Committee Chair & ExeCom Member American-Hellenic Chamber of Commerce
- Moderator: Prof. Panayiotis H. Ketikidis, Co-Founder HeBAN, BoD Member EBAN, AmChamGR Member EIE Committee
The panelists pointed out how important for survival it is for SMEs and startups to secure financial liquidity as much as a strong support network, to keep a robust team and be ready to pivot if necessary. But survival may prove not to be the sufficient scope. A new business model may be apt to take best advantage of the changes to come. The crisis also gives the opportunity for entrepreneurs to act and create something new. Greece over the recent past has developed into an attractive investment place. International Business Angel syndication may be a good vehicle to seize opportunities in Greece.
The full video of the webinar can be found here.
