Shaping an Inclusive Deep Tech Ecosystem: Can Greece unlock its deep tech potential by investing in inclusivity?
Across the world, all eyes are on the field of deep tech. With its wide spectrum of applications, spanning from artificial intelligence to biotechnology, deep tech is seen as the frontier of competitiveness, resilience and futureproofing in a world whose foundations are shifting.
Yet, despite its nascent nature, in today’s age of inclusivity the field still reflects a structural imbalance: only a small fraction of funding reaches women-led or mixed founding teams.
At Found.ation, through our research and work with innovation ecosystems, we have seen firsthand that inclusion challenges in entrepreneurship are systemic rather than incidental. Each year, we map technology trends, investment activity and founder dynamics in Greece, identifying not only opportunities but also structural barriers that limit participation. One of the clearest findings is that female talent exists in high numbers in academic and research environments but is significantly underrepresented in startup creation, leadership and access to capital – especially in deep tech.
To understand why, we should take a step back. Discussions around inclusion often start with funding inequality, but the real issue begins far earlier – in the pipeline from education and research to entrepreneurship. Europe hosts world-class universities and research institutes, yet female representation in STEM disciplines and research commercialisation remains disproportionately low; in 2021, women accounted for just 32.8% of all tertiary STEM graduates in the EU. Interestingly, Greece stood above the European average, with one of the highest shares of female STEM graduates in Europe at 40.9%.
However, this strong academic participation does not translate into entrepreneurship. According to the Startups in Greece 2024–2025 Report by Found.ation & EIT Digital, the gender gap in startup financing remains significant: less than 10% of Greek startups include a woman in the founding team, and over 90% of total venture capital still goes to all-male teams. This is not due to a lack of support within the ecosystem; in fact, over the past decade, Greece’s startup scene has become one of Southern Europe’s most promising. The number of active funds has surpassed thirty, backed by the Hellenic Development Bank of Investments (HDBI) and European mechanisms. Still, as highlighted in the Startups in Greece 2024–2025 Report, women-led startups receive less than 3% of total VC funding in Greece, and female representation in deep tech remains very low, with women making up fewer than 15% of founders in AI, robotics, and biotech ventures.
There are, however, signs of progress. In Athens, women researchers have moved from lab to market through startups like PhosPrint, a pioneering venture in laser bioprinting technologies for medical applications. Meanwhile, companies like Lifebit illustrate how women scientists are driving deep tech innovation in AI-driven genomics and precision medicine. These examples may be small in number but large in significance; when women gain structured access to research-to-market programs, they compete and scale on equal terms. The true challenge here is not capability – it is continuity and access.
As Filippos Zakopoulos, Managing Partner at Found.ation, notes in the report:
“A thriving startup ecosystem is the result of complex interactions between various key components… Inclusivity and diversity are fundamental. Creating supportive structures for diverse entrepreneurs, particularly female founders, can unlock significant potential.”
This view underscores a broader truth: the more inclusive an ecosystem becomes, the more resilient and innovative it grows.
Greece and Europe stand at a pivotal moment. The frameworks for financing and scaling innovation are in place, what remains is to ensure that access to those opportunities is equally distributed.
Our findings suggest a few potential steps towards change:
Redesign access to opportunity
Increasing visibility of female role models, opening STEM pathways early, and strengthening university-to-entrepreneurship bridges are essential to counteract stereotypes and expand the pool of women founders.
Build fair and transparent investment practices
The gender gap in venture capital persists due to unconscious bias and informal decision-making. Introducing structured evaluation criteria, tracking gender metrics in deal flow, and integrating diversity KPIs in due diligence can improve fairness without compromising merit.
Increase representation where decisions are made
With few women in investment teams and fund management, capital allocation remains imbalanced. Bringing more women into VC teams and investment committees, while also growing women-focused angel networks, is key to shifting who gets funded and why.
Deep tech’s potential will be unlocked only if it mobilises all available talent. For Greece, this means building systems that actively support female founders and acknowledging that inclusion is not peripheral to progress; it is its foundation.
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This article was written in collaboration with Found.ation. For more information about their work visit Found.ation‘s website.
