Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs for Economic Diplomacy and Openness, Kostas Fragogiannis, joined by Deputy Minister of Development, Christos Dimas, and the MFA Secretary-General for International Economic Affairs and Openness and President of Enterprise Greece, Ioannis Smyrlis, concluded successfully their one-week working visit to San Francisco, with the goal of promoting the Greek innovation ecosystem in the Mecca of technology. The government delegation was accompanied by 12 representatives/founders of start-up companies and members of Elevate Greece.
The Deputy Minister and the delegation’s agenda in Silicon Valley included, inter alia, the following meetings, briefings, and contacts:
– A tour of the facilities of the technology giants (Microsoft, Apple, Google) as well as discussions on further expanding their investments in Greece in other sector
– Visits to Berkeley and Stanford Universities, updates on their research programs, and exploration of ways to connect with Greek start-ups and universities in Greece
– speeches by Mr. Fragogiannis and Mr. Dimas at the University of San Francisco on the new face of Greece and the prospects that have emerged for attracting investment
– a series of meetings with Venture Capitals that invest in startups from their inception until they become unicorns (companies with a capitalization of more than 1 billion)
– the official inauguration of the Silicon Valley Greek Hub (SVGH), a networking initiative launched under the auspices of the Consulate General of Greece in San Francisco with Bay Area Greeks active in the technology sector with various specialties (business executives, startup founders, academic researchers, venture capitalists, etc.)
– a visit to the Swiss National Center for Entrepreneurship in San Francisco Swissnex and an update on the dynamic presence of the Swiss innovation ecosystem in Silicon Valley
– an agreement in principle with the City of San Francisco for a direct air link to Greece
Returning to Greece, Deputy Minister Mr. Fragogiannis expressed his satisfaction with the trip to San Francisco, saying “we are coming back with a full agenda of issues that we will have to mature over time and turn into new investment initiatives”.