Greek business analyst Petros Lazos reported on Capital.gr that Greece creates abundant startups but fails to scale medium enterprises into competitive international companies.
Lazos stated that the primary structural hurdle facing the Greek economic model is not a scarcity of new businesses, but the inability of existing firms to expand, fund research and development, acquire overseas competitors, or build international sales networks.
Greece is a Mediterranean nation in southeastern Europe that has sought to reform its economy and industrial base following years of fiscal restructuring. Capital.gr is one of the leading financial and business news platforms in Greece, publishing daily economic analysis and market reports.
Startup creation versus scaleup growth
European data cited by Lazos demonstrates that Greece ranks high in business creation, recording 612 startups per million inhabitants compared to the European Union average of 502 per million.
The situation reverses when examining scaleup companies, where Greece accounts for only 4.3 scaleups per million inhabitants against a European average of 8.1 per million.
Lazos reported that generating new corporate entities, such as private capital companies known in Greek corporate law as IKEs, is far less critical to economic transformation than helping young businesses achieve international scale.
An IKE, or Idiotiki Kefalaiouchiki Etaireia, is a simplified private company structure introduced in Greece to reduce administrative burdens for new entrepreneurs. In European corporate finance, scaleups are defined as established young companies that have validated their business model and achieved sustained annual growth in revenue and headcount.
Disparities in employment and economic value
Statistical figures on the broader enterprise landscape highlight that small and medium-sized enterprises employ 84.7 percent of workers in Greece, compared to 65.1 percent across the European Union.
Large enterprises in Greece generate only 37.2 percent of total added value, whereas large corporations across Europe produce 46.4 percent of added value.
Lazos emphasized that a disproportionately large share of Greek employment is concentrated in small business units, while large-scale firms contribute significantly less to national value added than their European counterparts.
Small and medium-sized enterprises, commonly known as SMEs, form the backbone of many European economies but often lack the capital needed for global expansion. Value added represents the net economic output generated by an industry after subtracting the cost of materials and intermediate services.
Bank lending constraints and founder management
Lazos reported that funding limitations contribute to the expansion deficit, as small and medium-sized enterprises received just 24.8 percent of new corporate bank financing in 2024.
Both early-stage and later-stage venture capital funding in Greece remain below one-third of the European average when measured as a percentage of gross domestic product.
Financing does not account for all growth barriers, as Lazos observed that many family-owned Greek businesses view expansion solely as increased sales turnover rather than a shift toward professional management.
In many traditional Greek firms, the founder continues to serve as chief executive officer, commercial manager, head of recruitment, and final decision-maker for all company operations.
Lazos noted that founders frequently perceive outside equity investors as a loss of corporate control, regard mergers with competitors as family betrayal, and view professional managers as an unnecessary expense.
He emphasized that a business cannot grow into a functional multinational corporation while relying on the administrative style of a local kiosk.
Corporate case studies in dairy and heavy industry
Lazos identified dairy producer Kri Kri as an example of a regional Greek company that successfully expanded into international markets.
Based in Serres, Kri Kri evolved into an enterprise operating in more than 45 countries, with overseas sales serving as the main driver of corporate growth.
Kri Kri achieved its growth by investing capital, automating factory production, establishing distribution networks, and viewing international markets as its primary target from the beginning.
Serres is a city and regional unit in the Macedonia region of northern Greece. Kri Kri is a publicly traded Greek food company known for manufacturing traditional Greek yogurt and ice cream products.
Lazos pointed to industrial producer Cenergy as an example of what Greek heavy industry can achieve when operating at scale with foreign market outreach and continuous investment.
Cenergy recorded sales exceeding 2 billion euros in 2025 and built an order backlog of approximately 3.9 billion euros during the first half of 2026.
Cenergy Holdings is a major industrial company specializing in energy transmission infrastructure, including subsea power cables and steel pipelines for international energy projects.
Lazos stated that while Cenergy is an established industrial group rather than a startup, it represents the large-scale international destination that very few Greek companies currently manage to reach.
Policy gaps and recommendations for medium firms
Lazos argued that Greek economic policy focuses heavily on supporting early-stage startups and attracting foreign direct investment while neglecting medium-sized companies employing between 30 and 100 workers.
Expanding these mid-sized businesses to 500 employees would enable them to purchase overseas competitors and transform small domestic enterprises into multinational industrial groups.
Although Greek tax legislation already provides incentives for corporate mergers and restructuring, Lazos wrote that government authorities must make these measures faster and easier for businesses to utilize.
Lazos urged policymakers to remove disincentives that penalize growing companies, expand private equity funds dedicated to medium firms, and develop a functioning growth capital market.
He also called for an improved regulatory framework for employee stock options to attract senior executive talent, alongside dedicated financing mechanisms to fund acquisitions outside Greece.
Lazos concluded that transforming the national production model requires fostering an objective growth culture, allowing capable small businesses to overcome state hurdles, access capital, and transition into internationally competitive corporations.
