The 2024 Startup Pirate Year In Review
The best of Startup Pirate 2024 edition
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The 2024 Startup Pirate Year In Review
Friends welcome to the last post for 2024. Startup Pirate, incredibly enough, has been running for almost 5 years; this is the 5th year-in-review. Here are the previous editions: 2023, 2022, 2021, 2020.
This year, Startup Pirate published 21 posts. Below, as per tradition, I share a brief summary of them.
Five most-viewed articles
The five most-viewed articles according to page views:
Intelligence Explosion — AI here, there, everywhere. Two years after the launch of ChatGPT, the biggest story in tech continues to be AI. Aris Konstantinidis, ex OpenAI & Cohere, joined us for two banger posts on the path to AGI and building a national AI strategy
We need to 10x the entrepreneurs — We’re in a rare moment in history where a new technological revolution is upon us. How do we accelerate innovation and 10x the number of entrepreneurs, leading societies to the next golden age?
From 0 to 2M users in generative AI — Creating a genAI platform used by over 2 million product designers with Ioannis Sintos from Uizard (acq by Miro).
What to watch in robotics — Four founders discussed robotics trends to watch across software and hardware.
All about startup pivots — Pivots are common in startups and one of the most important decisions a founder can make. Lessons learned from a startup pivot with Dimitris Nikolaou from Wondercraft.
Life Sciences
Looking at how new technologies disrupt life sciences.
Saving lives with AI — Eight teams using AI to tackle one of humanity’s most important quests: fighting cancer.
Redefining drug delivery — Microneedle technology for transdermal forms of breakthrough medicines with Konstantinos Tzortzakis from Anodyne Nanotech.
AI in drug discovery — We hear a lot about AI in drug discovery. How much of it is essence vs hype? with Thrasyvoulos Karydis from DeepCure.
Energy
Getting our energy transition on track continues to be one of Europe's most pressing issues, suggesting we need new approaches in the energy field. We explored:
The future of batteries — Batteries single-handedly power some of the most impactful technologies in our lives. We discussed the past, present, and future of batteries with Nikolaos Kateris from Stanford University.
The promise of nuclear — This was a two-part series on the history of nuclear power and what it would take for Greece to join the nuclear race with Georgios Laskaris from the Deon Policy Institute.
Building a climate tech startup — Using AI to decarbonise commercial and industrial buildings with Panos Stravopodis from Elyos Energy.
Crypto
2024 was big for crypto; a year when crypto became part of the US political agenda with what looks like a friendlier regulatory environment moving forward, a "Crypto Czar" in the White House, and conversations about a strategic bitcoin reserve, among others.
Building in crypto — Blockchain scaling, the end game for crypto, surviving multiple boom and bust cycles, and more with Georgios Konstantopoulos from Paradigm.
What to watch in crypto — A deep dive into the Greek crypto landscape.
Robotics, mobility, bioengineering, and more
Lastly, other themes that got me excited during the year and dug into:
Challenging the status quo in shipping — Bringing automation and transparency into shipping with Antonis Malaxianakis from Harbor Lab.
Technology meets critical infrastructure — Eleven companies tackling problems in some of the nation’s most critical systems and infrastructures.
Bioengineering to save the planet — Using chemical and biomolecular engineering to cure land polluted by industrial activities with Franklin Keck and Ion Ioannou from RemePhy.
The robotics renaissance — Breakthroughs in AI and hardware that led to a surge in robotics applications and what it would take for robots to become ubiquitous with Kostas Alexis from NUST.
The evolving role of a startup CFO —Leading finance for Greece’s largest marketplace with Kostas Kontogiannis from Skroutz.
The future of mobility — With autonomous vehicles and (maybe) flying cars, we have a once-in-a-generation opportunity to reimagine tomorrow’s cities. We looked at the state of mobility tech with Adam Markakis from Astylab.
Jobs
Check out job openings here from startups hiring in Greece.
News
Corsmed (MRI software) raised $3.5m Seed led by Big Pi.
tiun (fintech for media providers) announced a €2.5m Pre Seed.
EnAcuity (surgical imaging software) closed a £1.28m Pre Seed.
Sentinal4D (precision oncology) raised Pre Seed funding.
Camperoni (digital assistant for parents) secured funding.
Resources
Founder presentations from Indeex, BlueLayer, and Axelera AI in the latest Open Coffee Athens.
Building Workable and saying no to a $100m acquisition offer with Nikos Moraitakis, CEO & co-founder of Workable.
Stop chasing CSAT, start eliminating defects with Anastasia Tatarinoff, Director of Customer & Partner Support at Skroutz.
Revolutionising drug development with AI with Dimitris Skaltsas, CEO & co-founder of Intelligencia AI.
Mesh shape editing building on recent progress in 3D reconstruction with Nikolaos Sarafianos, Research Scientist at Meta Reality Labs.
Automating QA for customer support with Alex Marantelos, CEO & co-founder of Intryc.
Events
Athens Robotics Meetup by Bota Systems & friends on Dec 30
AthensDAOx 2025 on Jan 24
I’m thankful to everyone who shared their insights through this newsletter and to all of you for giving me a little bit of your time, attention, and thoughts in 2024. Have a wonderful holiday season, and I’ll see you in the new year. It’s going to be fun.
Thanks for reading,
Alex
Congrats for another great year. To many more!