Hellas Direct Places 49th in Financial Times Long-Term Growth Champions 2027

Hellas Direct ranked 49th among 300 European companies in the Financial Times' Europe's Long-Term Growth Champions 2027, with compound annual revenue growth of 47.79% from €5.99 million to €297.73 million between 2015 and 2025. The digital-first insurer announced the placement in a statement published November 11, 2026.

Hellas Direct's Decade of Revenue Growth

Hellas Direct is a digital-first insurer founded in 2012 that sells motor and home cover in Greece, Cyprus and Romania. The ranking, produced by the Financial Times with Statista, recognizes 300 European companies for revenue growth over a ten-year period, with emphasis on organic expansion. The list is in its third edition.

Revenue rose almost 50-fold over the decade, according to the ranking. Hellas Direct has appeared five times in the Financial Times' FT 1000 ranking of Europe's fastest-growing companies, most recently in 2025.

"Being recognized for fast growth once is exciting. Being recognized repeatedly, and now for long-term growth, means something different," said Alexis Pantazis, Co-Founder and Executive Director. "It tells us that the model we started building more than a decade ago has been able to keep evolving and scaling."

Co-Founder and Executive Director Emilios Markou said growth "has never been an end in itself for us" and that the company uses it to build better products and make insurance simpler.

Hellas Direct serves more than 1.5 million customers across Greece and Romania. In Greece it is developing mobility and home-related services, including digital marketplaces for vehicle buying and financing for ownership costs such as road taxes, tyres and repairs. In Romania it offers FlexiPay, which lets drivers buy a full year of motor insurance across 12 monthly instalments, with 100% approval for customers with a debit card and no loans or credit checks.

Hellas Direct's Funding and Scale

Hellas Direct has raised €56 million in total across multiple rounds, according to akta.pro company records, including €30 million in February 2024 led by ETF Partners and €32 million in June 2021 led by EBRD, IFC and others. The records list seven funding rounds on file and operations in three countries: Greece, Cyprus and Romania.

In February 2024 the company also launched Wallet+, which intermediates vehicle financing of €20 to €2,000 through tbi bank, Piraeus Bank and National Bank of Greece, with 0% interest on amounts below €500 and a fixed 13% on larger tickets. In November 2025 it received investment from Phaistos Investment Fund to support international expansion and technological development, including 5G-enabled analytics.

When the Financial Times Special Report Appears

The Europe's Long-Term Growth Champions 2027 ranking was published online by the Financial Times on October 28, 2026. The accompanying special report is scheduled for publication on November 11, 2026.