Ideas Forward
78 Georgiou Papandreou, Thessaloniki, 54655, Greece
Overview
Ideas Forward is a technology venture studio based in Thessaloniki, Greece. We build and back ventures which aim to transform cutting-edge ICT technology into market innovation. Collaborating with organizations large and small, we operate as R&D partners, technology consultants, startup co-founders and co-investors. Our daily work is about building technology and building business models. In our Curiosity Lab we explore applications of new enabling technologies to interesting problems. In our Opportunity Lab we explore applications of new business models to interesting markets. Our technology specialization is on Internet of Things, Distributed Ledgers, large-scale data analytics and cloud infrastructures. Our priority markets are sustainability, mobility and health.
- Total investments
- 1
- Lead investments
- 1
- Investments · 12mo
- 0
- Active investors
- 3
Sector focus
- Big Data
- Blockchain
- Cloud Data Services
- Incubators
- Internet of Things
- Sustainability
- Transportation
- Venture Capital
Investment portfolio
- Athletopia
Led · Seed · Jun 2022
Athletopia equips running event organizers with specialized digital tools that engage runners and empower sponsors, aiming to turn a one-day event into a 100-day data-rich journey. The platform is designed to maximize value for organizers and sponsors by extending engagement and capturing richer data. The company addresses a large market—about 1,000 endurance events in Greece, more than 60,000 events annually across Europe and the U.S., roughly 55 million European and 60 million American participants, and a global €30 billion running-event industry. Athletopia launched in 2020 as a university spinoff based on sports management research at Aristotle University of Thessaloniki and was founded by Professor Dr. Nicholas Theodorakis and Petter Hederstedt. It participated in Ideas Forward’s Next Stage Challenge in 2021, won €10,000 as the top in the early-stage revenues category, and attracted business angels from that demo day. Financially, the company completed its first external fundraising with a €120K pre-seed syndicated round led by Ideas Forward and backed by Hellenic Business Angels Network.