This time last year, we were hoping that by Spring 2021 the pandemic would have shown signs of decline and that the economy, society, our lives would be on track to claim back normality. Unfortunately, in the time of writing we are again faced with warnings about new wave(s) of surges and uncertainty on what will happen remains. Despite the difficulties, in this blog post we would like to focus on the positive things that happened in 2021. If the pandemic taught us anything, that is how important it is to adjust to a changed reality and move on, as well as to be resilient and creative in dealing with new situations as they evolve. We were proud to see how amazingly the innovative entrepreneurs in Greece and the wider ecosystem followed this principle.
At Orange Grove from early on in the pandemic, we decided that we had to build even more on the core traits of our programmes, such as fast adaptability, flexibility, innovative solutions to new market challenges and growth, despite -or even because of- the new crisis facing our founders, our economy and society as a whole. Hence, in 2021 we continued to focus on helping our alumni startups grow stronger — even the severely hit ones — and encourage the creation of new ones by looking into the new needs and the hidden opportunities the market was creating, setting the groundwork for the next day of the crisis.
In 2021 Orange Grove welcomed 34 new ventures to its Incubation and Co-Ιncubation programmes, as well as 10 business ideas to its Pre-Incubation programme. Through such programmes, Orange Grove aims to provide participants with training in business skills and startup methodologies, tools for integrating technological innovation in their business models, access to international know-how and good practices, as well as interconnection with local and international ecosystems.
We, also, broadened our scope and invested in three new initiatives:
In April 2021, the first Entrepreneurial University programme for international experience sharing and know-how transfer on innovation and entrepreneurship in universities was completed. The programme proved a great success with 19 Greek Universities participating. The programme was organized by the Embassy of the Netherlands in Athens and Orange Grove in collaboration with the Ministry of Education and Religion. In early 2022, the next cycle will be announced.
The Lighthouse Project, in collaboration with Wageningen University, was expanded with the aim in the following months to provide online and offline multi-level training and support to producers and AgTech startups in innovative entrepreneurship.
More excitingly, the foundations for the new SDG House Greece were set, in collaboration with SDG House Amsterdam. This great new initiative will focus on transfer of know-how and the development of innovations for the promotion of the 17 UN Sustainable Development Goals. More to be announced very soon!
And we were proud to see how, in 2021, Orange Grove’s alumni once again achieved international success and recognition! Learnworlds, an all-in-one platform to create, sell and market your online courses and provide online training, attracted $32 million in growth funding from Insight Partners, one of the largest fundings attracted by a Greek startup. Lefteris Arapakis, founder of Enaleia, has received the honorary title of Ambassador for the Mediterranean Coast by the UN’s Environment Program. Clio Muse was selected by the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) as one of the two winners for its impact on the “SDG8 — Good jobs and economic growth” goal among 10,000 applications. Like every year, Orange Grove’s alumni entrepreneurs also secured 3 places on the Greek Forbes 30under30 list (Agro-U, Farmvent and Fisea), while the incubator’s leadership team was included, by Startupper magazine, in the list of 100 people who change the landscape of entrepreneurship and innovation in Greece.
