Greek Uni.Fund announced its first investment made since the founding of the Fund (2017), Greek website Startup reported. The initial investment of total €850K will go to three Greek startups – PLiN Nanotechonology S.A., TEKMON and CollegeLink. Reportedly, the first two startups – PLiN Nanotechnology SA and TEKMON will receive €350K each, and the rest of the amount €150K will go to CollegeLink. According to the media reports, these three startups will use the new funds to further develop their products and to expand to foreign markets.Uni.Fund has made its first investment in the following three startups: PLiN Nanotechnology, Tekmon and CollegeLink.
Founded in 2017 in Athens, Greece, Uni.Fund aspires to support the growth of successful ventures that address emerging market needs and leverage the hidden potential that exists in the Greek Universities, R&D and Tech Space. Uni.Fund focuses on people and team development, enhancement of key strengths and the implementation of successful go-to-market strategies. It aims to offer the ideal conditions for growth, surround teams with the right people, and work with them side by side for the whole journey.
The Funds specialties, according to their website are: Pre-seed and seed investments in: ICT/e-business (e-business, ICT, Fintech, Insure-tech, Health-Tech, IoT, Robotics), Market Innovation (Retail, Supply chain, Creative Industries, Tourism, Maritime) and the broader tech space (Hard-science, Energy informatics, Bio-tech, Materials, Environment).
Who are the winning startups?
PLiN Nanotechnology S.A.
Founded in May 2015, PLiN Nanotechnology S.A. is a technology-driven spin-off company of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki (AUTH), commercializing on decades of R&D. Having access to the latest research and knowledge available, PLiN’s award-winning team has developed a strong portfolio of high-quality nanomaterials for several industry sectors.
Recently, PLiN’s focus has been directed towards a line of para-pharmaceuticals, debuting in a brand of nano-enhanced pet products, launched under the trademark NanoSanitasTM, products that are already exported to 9 countries. The Uni.Fund’s investment of €350K will be used for exiting new markets but also for the development of new products.
For Uni.Fund team is the combination of the innovation and the excellent quality of PLiN’s products that make this startup worth supporting.
“Innovation is mainly related to the production method, which ensures excellent nanoparticle quality at an impressively lower cost compared to existing methods. We believe that PLiN can be a great example of innovation that has begun through the Greek University and has significant prospects of penetrating the international market “, says Katerina Pramatari, Partner at Uni.Fund.
TEKMON
Founded in 2017 in Ioannina, TEKMON offers an end-to-end enterprise solution for non-desk professionals and personnel to streamline communications, daily operations and business continuity. The system enables process standardization through a centralized information repository for review, analysis and optimization, that assists enterprises to quantify personnel’s utilization. In addition, it aids dissemination of critical notifications via multiple communication channels (push notifications, email, voice call, SMS & fax). According to the company data, TEKMON’s solution has already been adopted by key players in diverse industries, including the Athens International Airport, AB Vassilopoulos/Delhaize, and RiverWest shopping mail.
This startup will use the Uni.Fund investment to promote their product on markets outside Greece and further develop it so it can meet needs in vertical sectors where there is a large lack of relevant systems.
For Uni.Fund on the other hand, what makes this startup worth investing in is the market gap that their product is filling and their potential to grow and become highly competitive internationally.
“TEKMON’s software comes to fill a significant market gap associated with effective business process support. An employee using his mobile phone and the TEKMON system as a tool can save 90% of the time needed for recording and updating and be notified 100 times faster in the event of an emergency event. This solution has already been trusted by major businesses and organizations in Greece and we believe that it can win a highly competitive position at the international level!”, Uni.Fund’s team explains.
CollegeLink
CollegeLink was founded in Athens in 2016 as an online HR platform that emphasizes internships and entry-level positions. It enables companies to publish their personal needs and young applicants to apply directly to job positions or showcase their professional profile to recruiters. The platform also offers a rich application management tool for recruiters who can filter, search and manage all applications through its dashboard, communicate directly with candidates, send feedback and mark applications for future use.
Offering great content on candidates’ profiles, and an advanced matching algorithm that successfully matches job opportunities to eligible candidates, CollegeLink’s solution has reportedly been adopted so far by more than 400 companies in Greece, France, Germany and Switzerland. It is their great successes achieved just in two years and the effectiveness of the platform that makes this startup attractive for the Uni.Fund.
“It is particularly important for a new graduate without a seniority to be able to show his or her knowledge and skills to find a job in the labor market. Linking new graduates to business, whether on an internship or not, is a real need in the international market that covers the College’s platform in an innovative and effective way. The effectiveness of the solution has already been recognized in Greece and abroad, and our goal is to further enhance it and exploit it, “notes Stelios Iliakis, Partner at Uni.Fund.
That said, it is the startup intention to use this €150K, to expand its services to new markets abroad as well as to further develop the platform.