Similar to other countries in the region, in Poland, we can observe a growing availability of venture capital in the forms of VC firms, accelerators and innovation programs.
To give you a bit more context, the invested venture capital for the year 2021 surpassed the amount from the preceding two years combined. Furthermore, a 73% increase in the amount of series A rounds from the year 2020 was recorded which means there will be more and more opportunities for later-stage startups’ growth and expansion.
After having a good look at the venture capital ecosystems of Hungary, Lithuania, Slovakia, Estonia and many other, the time has come to wrap up the CEE series with our home country - Poland. There are several venture capital (VC) funds in Poland that have a strong track record of investing in startups and early-stage companies. Some examples of well-known VC funds from there include:
Market One Capital
Geography: Europe
Preferred industries: Marketplaces, Digital platforms and SaaS
Investment ticket: Undisclosed
Company stage: Seed
The very first on our list, Market One Capital is a pan-European VC passionate about marketplaces and digital platforms solutions. From what is known, while selecting where to invest, MoC pays the utmost attention to the founding team and then focuses on finding either a strong product or special market insights. The fund's team has invested in a number of well-known regional startups like telemedicine unicorn Docplanner, mobility giant TIER, grocery delivery unicorn JOKR and many other prospective companies.
Inovo Venture Partners
Geography: CEE
Preferred industries: Software, especially SaaS and marketplaces
Investment ticket: €0.5M-3M
Company stage: Early stage
The next on our list, Inovo Venture Partners is a Warsaw-based VC looking for software companies tilting towards SaaS and marketplace models, however, they are open to interesting investment opportunities across all sectors. To attract Inovo’s eye, you have to have some initial traction and of course, the potential of scaling up globally. If you’re lucky to raise funding from them, you will benefit from having a hands-on investor and connections to leading VCs like a16z, Speedinvest. When it comes to a broader perspective, Inovo can “become your Swiss knife, which you can use whenever you need to”, as neatly pointed to by Booksy’s founder Stefan Batory. At the end of our note, we’d like to mention that it's been only a year since the firm has raised its new €54M fund so in case you’re looking for funding don’t hesitate to apply now!
SMOK Ventures
Geography: CEE
Preferred industries: Software and Gamedev
Investment ticket: $100k - $1M
Company stage: Early stage
The next on our list, Polish-American SMOK Ventures is an early-stage fund run by an eccentric American entrepreneur-investor Paul Bragiel and the team behind the biggest Polish pre-accelerator ReaktorX. The firm mainly plays a role of a traditional, hands-off investor who gets involved only when founders ask for support or during the fundraising process by connecting portfolio company with deep pockets of American, Western European, or Asian investors. The firm’s growing portfolio includes but is not limited to the frontend platform for eCommerce Vue Storefront, the biggest Polish Solar roof producer SunRoof, and streamer-management platform inSTREAMLY.
OTB Ventures
Geography: CEE
Preferred industries: AI & Automation, FinTech, SpaceTech & IOT, CyberSecurity
Investment ticket: $1M - $15M over the company’s funding lifecycle
Company stage: Early growth
OTB Ventures is a deep tech VC looking to invest in hard-to-replicate technologies disrupting the big markets. The firm provides from $1M to $15M over the startups’ funding lifecycle primarily targeting early growth teams closely related to the CEE region. The team is led by a truly impressive blend of people - Intel Capital’s first investment director in CEE and then VP Marcin Hejka, ex-deputy CEO of Bank Pekao Adam Niewinski, and founder of one of the world’s largest crude oil trading companies Mercuria Energy Group Gregory Jankilevitsch, therefore we’d leave it to you to assess the potential value of joining OTB’s portfolio!
Next Road Ventures
Geography: CEE
Preferred industries: sector agnostic, with a strong preference towards SaaS and marketplaces
Investment ticket: up to €1M
Company stage: Seed and, on rare occasions, pre-seed
An upcoming fund on our list, Next Road Ventures is a sector-agnostic VC searching for regional founders across sectors and industries, with a preference for SaaS and marketplace models. In its approach, the firm aims to partner for the long haul and usually co-invests with angel investors to offer both operational and financial support. Although the fund takes a traditional, hands-off approach, it will gladly assist its founders with advice and connections. Some of the firm’s investments include but are not limited to deep learning startup Smabbler, guest experience platform SmartHotel, and a pet-related services marketplace HiPets.
Movens Capital
Geography: Poland and wider CEE
Preferred industries: Fintech, Martech, E-commerce support, Logistics, Medtech, Industry 4.0 and Deep-tech industries, Sport & Wellness. Marketplaces & SaaS
Investment ticket: €250k - €1M
Company stage: Seed and Series A
Movens Capital is an early-stage fund mainly looking to invest in applications of AI and machine learning across sectors and industries throughout CEE. The team consists of seasoned entrepreneurs and investors who will support the founders every step of the way towards international expansion, especially into the US, where one of the firm’s venture partners Ramon Jimenez has a wide network and personal presence. Some of the firm’s bids include but are not limited to sales automation platform Nethansa, e-commerce startup VueStorefront as well as website-attention analytics company Attention Insight.
Innovation Nest
Geography: Europe
Preferred industries: B2B SaaS
Investment ticket: €100k - €1M
Company stage: Early stage
Innovation Nest is one of the most active VC funds investing in B2B software companies across Europe run and founded by the team behind the largest Polish horizontal web portal Onet.pl. Having well over a decade of experience in supporting regional startups from B2B space, the firm has a lot of experience in the industry as well as a network spanning all across the continent. Over the years, Innovation Nest has invested in over 60 startups, some of which include UI design and prototyping tool UXPin, e-commerce startup Picodi and KYC platform Nethone.
SpeedUp Venture Capital Group
Geography: CEE
Preferred industries: Consumer internet, Fintech, Martech, IoT and Hardware
Investment ticket: €200k - €5M
Company stage: Seed to Series A
The next from our selection, SpeedUp Venture Capital Group is a group of funds investing in early-stage projects across a wide range of sectors and industries. When considering applying for the group’s funding it’s worth mentioning its Energy Innovation fund cofounded and run together with Poland’s biggest power producing company PGE as well as its acceleration program Huge Thing running programs for companies such as Google or Żabka. Having that in mind, the SpeedUp Venture Group has much more opportunities for startups to offer, so we definitely recommed you check all of them to find the most suitabele one. Among the group’s lengthy portfolio you can find customer feedback startup Survicate, power line analysis tool Hepta Airborne as well as an ebook service Legimi.
Czysta3
Geography: Poland
Preferred industries: Martech, Fintech, Proptech, HRtech, Cloud or E-commerce.
Investment ticket: 1M PLN
Company stage: Seed
Czysta3 is one the youngest and the most active VC funds among the selection. The firm looks for uniquely positioned products with experienced teams searching for some initial funding throughout the product-market-fit stage. Czysta3 usually backs startups by putting an initial 1M PLN and then helping find the right follow-on investors or relevant grants.Some of the funds’ investments include UX automation tool Cux, staffing application for temporary work Staffly, and a booking platform for Tattoo services INKsearch.
Black Pearls VC
Geography: Northern and Central Europe
Preferred industries: DeepTech
Investment ticket: €100k - €1M
Company stage: Seed to Series A
Black Pearls VC is a leading deep tech firm from Gdańsk looking to invest in technologically intensive solutions tackling underexplored problems on a global scale. They focus mostly on the Northern and Central Europe region, with a special interest in Polish and Baltic founders. As their portfolio company, you can more than count on the firm’s expertise and networking opportunities within the exclusive community of Kauffman Fellows which has trained and gathered many of the world’s finest venture investors. Some portfolio companies of theirs include a well-known agtech startup eAgronom, an open-banking API provider Nordigen and Deepimage.ai.
LT Capital
Geography: CEE
Preferred industries: industry 4.0
Investment ticket: €250k on average
Company stage: Seed and Pre-seed
LT Capital is a Krakow-based VC looking to invest in a wide range of sectors comprising the industry 4.0 across CEE. Usually, the LT’s team considers investing an average of €250k in pre-market fit or MVP-building startups led by action-oriented and committed teams. In its considerations, the firm aims to be quick throughout the investment process and is looking for a long-term partnership in both good and bad times. Throughout its history, the LT has backed a number of interesting companies among whom you may find customer service automation startup Advisero and hotel guest experience company SmartHotel.
Bvalue
Geography: CEE
Preferred industries: industry 4.0, e-commerce
Investment ticket: 0.5M PLN - 2M PLN
Company stage: seed and sometimes Series A
The next on the list, Bvalue is an early-stage fund investing in industry 4.0 and e-commerce innovation throughout CEE. The firm tends to co-invest with the business angles at the stage slightly preceding series A in order to help businesses best utilize their knowledge and expertise while scaling. Over the years, the firm has invested in sales callback software CallPage, e-commerce startup Shoplo, and streamer management platform Aggero.
Tar Heel Capital Pathfinder
Geography: Global
Preferred industries: E-sports, Big Data, Cloud computing, Fintech and Martech, especially in SaaS & marketplaces
Investment ticket: Up to €1M
Company stage: Pre-seed to Series A
Tar Heel Capital Pathfinder (THCP) is a global venture builder and a VC arm of a large European PE group Tar Heel Capital. As an experienced venture builder, THCP knows and may well assist in all aspects of startup development - engineering, project management, IP rights, and more, all of which will become available to you upon receiving an investment. The group has closed a compound of 200 investments across its funds and the venture arm has backed companies like cryptocurrency mining platform GAMERHASH, content marketing startup Contentation, and esports monetization platform GRID.
Kogito Ventures
Geography: CEE
Preferred industries: E-commerce, Fintech, Marketplace, B2B SaaS and Industry 4.0
Investment ticket: 0.5M PLN - 2M PLN
Company stage: Pre-seed to Series A
Kogito Ventures is a Warsaw-based VC that tends to always co-invest with individual business angels or syndicates. In its approach, the firm is mainly looking for regional startup teams who wholeheartedly involve themselves in the venture and of course - have the potential for moonshot returns! By always co-investing with business angels, the firm combines what’s the best from both worlds - the capital of traditional VCs and an active, hands-on approach of angel investors. Kogito Ventures’s growing portfolio includes but is not limited to custom packaging platform Packhelp, telemedicine startup Jutro Medical as well as cloud fulfillment platform Linker Cloud.
TDJ Pitango
Geography: CEE
Preferred industries: Big Data & Analytics, Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning, Medical Devices & Digital Health, SaaS & Enterprise Software, Mobile Technology & Digital Media, Internet of Things (IoT) & Industrial IoT
Investment ticket: €100k - €2M
Company stage: Seed to Growth
TDJ Pitango is a VC that came into existence from a strategic partnership of a large Polish family office and a mature Israeli VC dating its operations all the way into distant 1993. As a result, the firm has handsome experience in guiding and developing technological ventures while also possessing the capital necessary for its growth. In its approach, the fund is very selective and tends to fund only a handful of startups each year while paying careful attention to their development. A small yet growing portfolio of theirs includes a DTC giant Tylko, an inbound sales automation startup CallPage and a digital health company StethoMe.
RKKVC
Geography: Europe
Preferred industries: Data science & DeepTech
Investment ticket: €100K — €1M
Company stage: pre-seed and seed
RKKVC is a private venture investor looking for European startups across sectors and industries with a special interest in data science and deep tech innovation. In its search for opportunities, the firm first and foremost pays attention to expertise in the field founders are trying to disrupt, as well as to a clear, convincing thesis of the problem team is trying to solve. Among their portfolio companies, you may find a computer vision startup for football games analysis ReSpo.Vision, restaurant automation startup Papu.io, and hazard monitoring application Monite.
Warsaw Equity Group
Geography: CEE, CSE, DACH
Preferred industries: Industry 4.0
Investment ticket: 10M PLN - 40M PLN
Company stage: Growth stage
Warsaw Equity Group is a PE fund looking to invest in growth-stage startups working on B2B solutions that increase efficiency and/or automate business and production processes. The firm plans to invest from 10M PLN to 40M PLN in exchange for %15 in equity. In its approach, the firm positions itself as your growth partner of choice and aims to support you in scaling sales/marketing, as well as connect with industry experts when needed. Some of the funds’ investments include an optimization platform for Amazon and Kaufland Nethansa, 3D printer producer Zmorph, and tire recycling company Contec.
PKO TFI VC
Geography: CEE
Preferred industries: Fintech, Insurtech, Regtech, E-commerce, Modern payment systems, financing of consumer purchases and SME operations, IT systems, Internet advertising, AI, Cybersecurity, Blockchain technologies, Systems supporting the functioning of SMEs and large corporations, and any other new technologies
Investment ticket: Undisclosed
Company stage: Seed and growth stages
PKO TFI VC is a venture arm of the largest Polish bank primarily looking to invest in CEE’s finest fintechs and related technologies disrupting the financial sector. Since the fund is a wholly-owned subsidiary of one investor, it can quickly deploy capital and then help you in launching pilot projects within PKO, building up the brand as well as in developing the product with banks’ active support. Some of PKO’s bids include but are not limited to telehealth startup Telemedi, restaurant automation software Papu.io, and streamer management platform inSTREAMLY.
Unfold
Geography: CEE
Preferred industries: SaaS
Investment ticket: €100K —€ 200k
Company stage: multistage
Unfold is a Wroclaw-based VC investing across sectors and stages but with a special preference towards SaaS startups. Given the firm’s lack of exit horizons, you can be sure they’re there for the long haul to support you throughout challenges and successes. In its investment decisions, the fund takes a considerate approach and chooses to invest only in a handful of companies each year to ensure the founders have tailored support. Over its more than a 14-year history, the Unfold’s team has invested in startups like media monitoring tool Brand24 and a cool, quest-based alternative to display ads with a telling name - Quetspass.
Pracuj Ventures
Geography: Poland and Ukraine
Preferred industries: HR and L&D
Investment ticket: 0.5M PLN to 2M
Company stage: early stage
The next on our list, Pracuj Ventures is an early-stage CVC of Poland’s biggest providers of HR and L&D services Grupa Pracuj. Similar to the groups’ profile, Pracuj Ventures is actively looking for startups innovating in anything related to HR and L&D from ambitious Polish and/or Ukrainian companies. Being present well over two decades in the industry, Pracuj Ventures provides not only the funding but the ability to launch pilot projects across the Pracuj Group, utilize internal know-how as well as have a chance for a good exit to Pracuj Group. Some of the fund ventures include employee engagement platform Worksmile and elderly care application SeniorApp.
Level2 Ventures
Geography: CEE
Preferred industries: AI, Autonomic solutions, Automation, Blockchain, OZE, ECO
Investment ticket: €250k —€1.5M
Company stage: Pre-seed to Series A
Level2 Ventures is a private venture fund looking to invest across the earliest stages of the company’s growth. As experienced entrepreneurs themselves, the team of Level2 will not only provide capital but their personal knowledge and support in marketing, strategy, and bringing the right people on board. Some of the funds’ investments include but are not limited to blockchain-secured document management platform DoxyChain, robot marketplace DBR77 Robotics as well as sales-training application Salesbook.
Alfabeat
Geography: CEE
Preferred industries: B2B SaaS
Investment ticket: €0.25M-€1M
Company stage: Early stage
Alfabeat is yet another fund from our list that is solely and exclusively dedicated to early-stage startups within the enterprise software space. To be investable from Alfabeat’s standpoint, companies should be able to show clear signs of early traction like a well-thought prototype, revenues, or in best-case scenarios - both of the aforementioned and more! Some of the funds’ portfolio companies include food delivery unicorn Wolt, conversational AI Druid, and gym membership software PerfectGym.
ff Venture Capital
Geography: Global
Preferred industries: E-commerce, Fintech, Gaming, Cybersecurity, Enterprise software, AI / Big Data, Drones and robotics
Investment ticket: 1M PLN - 12M PLN
Company stage: Seed+ to Series B
ffVC is a Polish-American early-stage fund with offices in NY and Warsaw investing in early to growth-stage companies across the globe. In their investment selection process, ffVC’s team mainly looks for startups having some proven revenues and traction, preferably already selling its product internationally. To provide more than just an investment ticket, the firm’s Warsaw office has partnered with Totalizator Sportowy which could help in launching pilots in addition to ffVC’s ability to actively support ventures’ expansion into the US. Some of their investments include mapping technology company EyeVI and workplace experience & engagement platform spaceOS.
YouNick Mint
Geography: CEE
Preferred industries: industry 4.0, healthcare and digital health
Investment ticket: 5M PLN to 12M PLN
Company stage: Early stage
The next on our list, YouNick Mint is a VC looking for early-stage founders across three core verticals: industry 4.0, healthcare, and digital health. In its prospective portfolio the firm usually looks in a founding team for honesty and responsibleness for one’s actions, as well as consistency in executing the startup’s vision for the future. In its investment process, the fund usually invests from 5M PLN and all the way up to 12M PLN in one company while taking 90 days to make up a mind on an opportunity. The YouNick Mint’s portfolio includes but is not limited to degradable biomaterials for soft tissue regeneration from Poltiss, visual content analytics startup Deepbrand, and operational logistics management IoT platform Collectomate.
WP2 Investments
Geography: Poland
Preferred industries: Fintech, Biotech, Greentech, E-commerce, and Digitization/automatization.
Investment ticket: undisclosed
Company stage: pre-seed to series A
WP2 Investments is one of the most recent funds from our selection which searches for local teams who’d just had their first prototype ready and are on the lookout for foundational capital. In addition to financial injection, the fund is ready to roll up its sleeves and support startups in strategic matters. Even though the fund has just been launched, it has already invested in professional services management platform Primetric, fintech workflow platform Self Learning Solutions and a fintech service provider Verestro.
These are just a few examples of VC funds in Poland, and there are many other reputable firms operating in the country as well. It’s important to do your own research and due diligence when considering investment opportunities and to carefully evaluate the track record and investment focus of any VC fund you are considering.
*If you have any insights about the article or know a VC fund that should’ve been included, drop me a line!
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