TechCrunch StrictlyVC in Athens in May will feature a special guest: Greece’s prime minister
We’re thrilled to announce that Greece’s prime minister, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, will be joining us at our upcoming StrictlyVC event in Athens, co-hosted with Endeavor, on Thursday night, May 8, at the stunning Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Center.
For those who might not be familiar with his background, Mitsotakis brings a fascinating blend of experiences to the table. Before entering politics, he worked at both McKinsey and Chase Investment Bank, giving him firsthand experience in the business world that many operators throughout the startup ecosystem can appreciate. The youngest of four children, he also has some Silicon Valley-esque academic credentials — he headed to Harvard, then to Stanford for a master’s degree in international relations, and finally nabbed an MBA at Harvard Business School — and says his education has long shaped his vision for Greece’s future.
Mitsotakis has also been championing Greece’s tech transformation for many years. In fact, after navigating the country through the pandemic, he has doubled down on positioning Athens as an emerging tech hub, recently introducing initiatives to attract international talent, including tax incentives and reforms aimed at cutting bureaucratic red tape for new businesses.
The prime minister comes from a political family — his father was prime minister and his sister was mayor of Athens — but he has carved out his own reputation as a reformer focused on modernizing the Greek economy. His administration has been particularly interested in how tech can help diversify renowned traditional Greek strengths like shipping and tourism.
StrictlyVC events are constrained by design to give attendees a unique opportunity for investors, founders, and ecosystem builders to engage directly with power players like the prime minister, so if you want to ask about his government’s vision for Greece’s tech future, and how the country fits into the broader European innovation landscape, this could be your chance.
You can check out more details here to learn more about the agenda and other speakers (you can also buy tickets while they are still available). Registration is now open for what promises to be a fun evening, filled with illuminating discussions, and this chat — with one of Europe’s most interesting political leaders in Greece’s emerging technology narrative — is definitely one you won’t want to miss. Register for your StrictlyVC Greece ticket here.
Loizos has been reporting on Silicon Valley since the late ’90s, when she joined the original Red Herring magazine. Previously the Silicon Valley Editor of TechCrunch, she was named Editor in Chief and General Manager of TechCrunch in September 2023. She’s also the founder of StrictlyVC, a daily e-newsletter and lecture series acquired by Yahoo in August 2023 and now operated as a sub brand of TechCrunch.
