2nd Regional Stakeholder Meeting in Greece

On January 16, 2024, the Region of Central Macedonia, the Greek partner of the "CROWDFUNDMATCH" project, hosted the 2nd Regional Stakeholder Meeting online in Thessaloniki. The primary focus of this discussion was to shed light on the key barriers encountered in fund-matching and explore potential measures to overcome these obstacles.

The barriers identified in the fund-matching at both regional and national levels were thoroughly discussed. By general agreement, the participants concluded that in the case of Greece, the main obstacles detected are inadequate information and consequential knowledge around fund-matching topics, the lack of communication which results in reduced dissemination of existing opportunities, the feeling of suspicion about funds management of fund-matching schemes and the need for accountability and transparency, and the lack of political will.

After completing the analysis of the barriers, the participants proposed measures to mitigate them and came to the conclusion for better communication campaigns, provision of innovation awards, e.g. from banks, to give a higher prestige to a fund-matching scheme and strengthen the commitment of financiers, adding eligibility criteria for funding calls that will give priority to those (applicants-legal and/or natural persons) who have already received crowdfunding, and facilitating procedures with the participation of an investment entity.

This meeting managed to bring together experts who hold extensive knowledge and insight into the Greek fund-matching scenario. By pooling their expertise, the aim was to collectively brainstorm strategies that could effectively eliminate the identified challenges. The success of the meeting resulted from the participation of distinguished professionals with many years of experience in the subject under investigation, but also from the interaction between the organizers and participants since fundamental discussions took place.