Entrepreneurs Launch The Flywheel, A New European Venture Studio

Founded by mechanical engineer–turned–entrepreneur Kostas Fetfatsidis and founder–investor Dimitrios Kourtesis, The Flywheel aims to build high-impact companies in manufacturing, supply chain, defence, security, energy, and sustainability.

Based in Thessaloniki, Greece the studio creates startups from the ground up, offering co-founder-level partnership, operational support, and up to €300,000 in initial capital for each new venture. Unlike traditional early-stage VC funds that invest after a company is already formed, The Flywheel starts earlier, co-developing ideas directly with founders based on their technical and business expertise.

While venture studios exist across Europe, most follow a generalist model; The Flywheel differentiates itself by focusing exclusively on industrial AI.

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The studio is currently recruiting five Founders-in-Residence, each tasked with developing a specific industrial AI concept. Successful projects will receive up to €300,000 in seed funding.

The Flywheel is backed by a diverse group of private investors, including US-based entrepreneurs with European roots, tech founders with successful exits, seasoned business angels, and established industrial companies in Europe.

"Europe is a global engine of scientific and technical skill yet we face a massive chasm between this world-class talent and the scalable, sustainable companies needed to secure our future," said Fetfatsidis. “The Flywheel venture studio is designed to bridge that chasm.”

“By acting as a co-founder, providing early risk capital, and continued operational support through the growth phases of our ventures, we are building the on-ramp for Europe’s best engineers, operators and researchers to build the next generation of industrial AI champions," said Kourtesis.

About The Flywheel

The Flywheel is a venture studio that partners with founders to build industrial AI startups from the ground up. Acting as co-founder, investor and hands-on operator, it supports ventures across manufacturing, defence, and energy. The studio provides deep operational expertise and early capital to turn high-potential concepts into scalable companies.