A unique investment fund
A unique investment fund has been established, with authorized capital of up to €50m (approx. $70m), created by the Hellenic Republic (Greece) through its New Economy Development Fund (TANEO), a sovereign fund of funds, and a consortium of Greek, Italian, Swiss, and American investors led by Professor James Dimitrios Constantine Seferis through his well-established innovation and entrepreneurial networks.
The fund, GloCal Investment Ventures Enterprise (“GIVE”), is a closed-end ten-year fund that invests in startups, small- and medium-sized enterprises (SME’s), with a hedging strategy of coupling high technology (Global) to commercial real estate (loCal). With a first closing on October 13, 2008, at twenty million euros, and additional anticipated closings of twenty and ten million euros in 2009, the GIVE-TANEO FUND is managed by GloCal Systems Management (GSM), also established by Seferis in Greece, thus creating a seamless point of contact for investors and management. Collectively, then, these organizations operate in tandem under European Union/Greek law as the GloCal Venture Capital umbrella organization, headed by Seferis as founder and principal venture capitalist (investor and manager).
This scheme, usually found in the US with well-established venture capital funds, moves forward utilizing different resources and structures from the European Union and Asia (Global) but focused on Greece (loCal). As the world is currently moving at restructuring financial systems with massive government investments, our GloCal Venture Capital, now established in Greece, offers a more rational approach to financial investments through private/public partnership. We hope that by focusing our investments on people that build sustainable enterprises with a social mission and profit potential, the fund provides a model to be emulated around the world.