Founded by entrepreneur Anastasios Spanidis, GPA Investment Group unites over 100 businesses across digital transformation, real estate, marketing and insurance, among others, bringing an innovative, results-driven approach to sustainable growth.

Q: How did you grow Generation Y from a start-up to a multinational investment group?
When I turned 40, I set out to pursue new challenges. Generation Y – the first company I founded – had already become an industry leader in Greece and Southeast Europe, specialising in e-commerce, digital transformation, complex systems integration and 360° marketing. We expanded into over 24 countries, and through this journey, I came to see diversity not just as an advantage but as a catalyst for building synergetic systems and co-creation vehicles capable of delivering exponential growth.
The strategic choice was whether to broaden our services by creating new companies or acquiring existing ones. I chose acquisitions as the more effective path. The original plan was to complete ten, but the sophistication of our initiatives, the calibre of our team and our operational excellence enabled us to complete over 100 acquisitions. This transformed Generation Y from a single company into GPA Investment Group, a multinational ecosystem.
Today, GPA is structured around three strategic pillars. The first is our ecosystem of member companies. The second is our investment portfolio; we invest agnostically, including global partnerships such as the World Business Forum, the Virtual Advisory Board, and STS Capital. The third is GPA Capital, a fund launching this year to support internal investments across our ecosystem. We intentionally operate as a decentralised organisation, ensuring the flexibility and speed required in today’s business landscape.

Q: What differentiates GPA in the marketplace?
We are a one-stop shop for B2B services. When we ask a company, “How can we help you?”, the breadth of expertise across our member companies creates a powerful bank of knowledge. Our approach turns complexity into clarity, generates synergies across industries, and ensures measurable results.
A strong example is Evometric, co-created by GrowthPoint — a leader in upskilling and reskilling in Southeastern Europe — and Generation Y, our digital transformation branch. Evometric is a development platform that evaluates leadership behaviours and cultural traits within organisations, links them to concrete KPIs, and provides tailored development pathways to strengthen performance.
Innovation like this is possible only because of the unique ecosystem we have built and the operational systems designed to foster co-creation across our group. Combined with access to some of the world’s most influential business communities, representing more than 70,000 top-tier CEOs worldwide, and the strategic bridges we have established to global markets through our member company China West Connector, this ecosystem forms a growth engine that is difficult to replicate.

Q: What role does AI innovation play at GPA?
For us, AI is not just a technological addition — it is an architecture of thinking. Real transformation comes when you redefine what you produce, how you produce it, and why you do it. That requires rethinking your entire operational and business model. We are building internal AI infrastructure and have established global collaborations with leading experts, such as AI Operator, a brand we also distribute through GrowthPoint. Our member companies are also upgrading through AI. A few notable examples:
Be Brokers, Greece’s leading insurance marketplace, uses AI to automate policy renewals and payment reminders while enhancing the client experience with personalised recommendations.
Conductor, our creative powerhouse in Boston, applies AI to enable personalisation at scale, dynamically tailoring content to audiences, platforms and channels.
League of Companies, our technology advisory in South Africa, embeds AI at the executive level through its Think with AI Framework™️, which applies AI to decision-making and leadership development.
Nosis, Greece’s leader in project financing, leverages AI to automate data collection, distribution and form submissions, accelerating processes and enabling the company to serve more clients and faster.
In business, speed is everything, often favouring those who move first. AI gives us that speed advantage by boosting productivity — and in entrepreneurship, where there is no finish line, this becomes a decisive game changer.

Q: How do you create an environment that supports employees and encourages creativity?
At GPA, our main pillar for growth is the culture. Behind every system, culture stems from people. In our acquisitions, we do not take 100% ownership; we acquire between 10% and 90%, keeping the former owner as both an equity holder and CEO. We bring together all CEOs and shareholders to train them in collaboration, expanding their perspective on innovation, communication and shared opportunity. The goal is to encourage them to think beyond their own companies and foster co-creation, crucial in a world where AI and technology accelerate everything. Strong human connections are essential. By training CEOs and shareholders this way, the impact naturally cascades through each company’s culture. While every company maintains its own identity, certain core values and characteristics are shared across the group.

Q: What is your final message to German partners and investors?
We have already been investing in Germany through Proverna Group, one of our member companies with Germany as a core market. Proverna develops modern, energy-efficient residential projects, advises institutional investors on large-scale real estate strategies and manages income-producing assets through a disciplined buy-hold-sell approach.
Germany is not only a partner for us; it is a priority. The German economy relies heavily on exports, and we can support it by helping companies reach clients through targeted methods, attracting investors and fundraising. In addition, we offer strategic involvement through board participation and connections with influential global communities, giving German companies access to three powerful pillars of support.