Polish start-ups can count on growing financial support from both private and public sources. Increasingly, programmes addressed to young companies offer not only funding, but also mentoring and assistance in international expansion. The Polish Agency for Enterprise Development, PARP, is strongly involved in building the domestic innovation ecosystem, providing support for young businesses at every stage: from the initial idea, through implementation and scaling, to entering foreign markets. These activities are financed through the European Funds for a Modern Economy and the European Funds for Eastern Poland.
“Thanks to the involvement of private and public funds, we have effectively built the foundations of this ecosystem. We have many institutions supporting different forms of start-up activity: from the very early stages, through the possibility of setting up a company, mentor support and access to financing, to international expansion, investor search and acquiring first customers abroad,” says Krzysztof Gulda, President of PARP, in an interview with Newseria. “The Polish Agency for Enterprise Development is involved in many of these activities, but they are also initiated by business environment institutions, various foundations, agencies, accelerators and science and technology parks. We have infrastructure and an entire ecosystem in which start-ups can be created, developed and can verify their business ideas.”
According to PARP’s Global Entrepreneurship Monitor 2025 report, in 2024 the largest share of start-ups in Poland were at the stage of strengthening their market position, stabilising the company and its business model, or continuing development and market expansion. A relatively small share of companies were still at the stage of developing an initial product or service concept, defining business model assumptions or working on the product itself.
A report by PFR Ventures and Inovo VC shows that in 2025, PLN 3.4 billion was invested in 166 Polish innovative companies. This was the total value of capital invested by Polish and foreign funds across 183 transactions. A year earlier, domestic start-ups raised a total of PLN 2.1 billion from 147 funds, meaning that the venture capital market grew by 28%. The largest VC transaction in Poland in 2025 was the PLN 720 million funding round for ElevenLabs, a company operating in the field of artificial intelligence.
“Today, obtaining first financing is not really the main problem. The challenge is scaling and securing larger investment tickets, meaning overcoming the so-called second valley of death. This is the phase in which the business model already exists, the company is trying to acquire its first customers, and it faces typical market barriers related to expansion, broadening operations or scaling the business,” says Krzysztof Gulda.
Data from the Joint Research Centre operating under the European Commission show that the relocation rate of European VC-backed start-ups ranges from 3.3% to 4.3%. The United States is the dominant destination, especially more developed entrepreneurial ecosystems such as San Francisco, Boston and New York.
“We have examples of Polish talent moving their business elsewhere, but this is a certain stage in market development and we cannot oppose it. Instead, we need to create conditions for a mechanism that is already beginning to work and attract founders who have already completed exits, have experience, contacts and are part of a global network of business relationships. We need to encourage them to return to Poland and share not only money, but also knowledge,” says the President of PARP.
The agency’s offer includes programmes addressed to start-ups at various stages of development under the European Funds for Eastern Poland and the European Funds for a Modern Economy.
“There are programmes addressed to individuals and innovators at a very early stage, designed to help them check whether they have a chance to turn their business idea into a profitable venture. One example is the Innovator’s Laboratory, a programme run by five operators selected by PARP. In mentoring programmes, by working with market experts, participants can validate their business model and check whether there is a real chance to establish a start-up,” explains Marcin Seniuk, Director of the Start-up Development Department at PARP.
If a start-up has a chance of success, its founders are invited to participate in Start-up Platforms for new ideas.
“This is already the second edition of the programme implemented from the European Funds for Eastern Poland. Start-up Platforms are free incubation programmes for those who are already able to establish a company and build a basic version of their product. Participation makes it possible to prepare a product for implementation, which we at the Polish Agency for Enterprise Development can then finance with a grant of up to PLN 600,000,” says Marcin Seniuk.
For start-ups that are already selling their products or services but are looking for foreign partners, acceleration programmes are available under the European Funds for a Modern Economy.
“We have 17 Booster accelerators. We will be launching more related to the circular economy and positive-impact technologies. These are programmes in which companies that are already selling are able to build international scale and carry out pilot implementations with international corporations. So this is not only about research in a laboratory environment, but also about working with an international client, large markets and investors cooperating with our Startup Booster Poland accelerators,” explains Marcin Seniuk. “This is an entire environment that helps start-ups move beyond the domestic market and become scale-ups, meaning companies selling globally.”
“As PARP, we support Polish companies mainly through foreign missions, but also by providing elements they can use in relations with investors. This is an important task when it comes to networking start-ups and presenting verified projects to investors. We provide public funds for the acceleration of solutions with which Polish entrepreneurs enter the market,” says Hubert Adamczyk, expert at PARP’s Communication and Marketing Department.
PARP representatives discussed the existing start-up support ecosystem and opportunities for its further development during the European Economic Congress, held last week in Katowice. One of the accompanying events was the final of the EEC Startup Challenge, of which PARP was a partner. Fifteen start-ups took part in the final in four categories: 4Business, covering innovations for business; 4Client, addressing consumer needs; 4Earth, focused on environmental solutions; and 4Tech, dedicated to technologies of the future. This year, nearly 200 projects were submitted to the competition, showing that start-ups are an important part of the debate on the future of the economy, innovation and cooperation between young companies and large business.
“What can distinguish Polish companies most is primarily know-how, knowledge and the ability to talk about these solutions. As the Polish Agency for Enterprise Development, we try to support them at every step, including by providing knowledge through programmes such as PARP Academy,” says Hubert Adamczyk, a member of the competition jury.
According to the President of PARP, closer cooperation between science and business is also essential. One opportunity for change in this area lies in the work of a team established at the Ministry of Science and Higher Education, which is preparing reform proposals.
“This whole area needs to be unlocked. It must become more transparent and more understandable for both sides in order to streamline these processes. Then, within one, two or three years, we will be able to expect a much larger number of technology start-ups originating from science. We need more projects and more companies looking for solutions and commissioning them from scientific institutions, whether universities or the Łukasiewicz Research Network,” says Krzysztof Gulda.
As part of the SMART Pathway under the European Funds for a Modern Economy programme, PARP finances both research work carried out by companies, in which scientific institutions may act as subcontractors, and the implementation stage of developed solutions. As the agency’s president emphasises, this pathway supports work covering various technologies. However, there are also programmes focused on specific fields. One example is the STEP initiative, the Strategic Technologies for Europe Platform, and two calls addressed to companies from the biotechnology sector.
