POLAND Law and Practice Contributed by: Rafał Celej, Arkadiusz Klejnowski and Karolina Piotrowska-Andryszczyk, Kondracki Celej
of Poland’s growing visibility on the global inno - vation map. Domestic funds increasingly played a supporting or syndicate role in rounds led by global VCs. Geopolitical developments, particularly ongo - ing instability linked with the war on Ukraine, also influenced sectoral focus. As EU security priorities evolved, there was a marked shift in investors’ interest towards start-ups operating in defence, dual-use technology, cybersecurity and aerospace. Start-ups developing solutions for defence-related needs – such as unmanned aer - ial systems, satellite-based surveillance, secure communication networks and AI-powered threat detection – gained increased interest from both domestic and international investors. 1.3 Key Industries Several sectors stood out as key drivers of VC activity in Poland over the past 12 months. Most notably: • Artificial intelligence: Start-ups such as Elev - enLabs, Pathway and Wordware captured substantial investor interest and media atten- tion. As noted in 1.1 VC Market , the sector attracted several of the largest funding rounds of the year. AI-related solutions were applied across a range of verticals, including automa - tion, analytics and developer tools, confirm - ing the growing role of AI as a cross-cutting area of innovation within the Polish start-up ecosystem. • Space and aerospace: The growing inves - tor interest in Poland’s aerospace sector reflects a broader trend of aligning techno - logical innovation with national and regional security priorities. High-profile rounds, such as ICEYE’s, helped bring visibility to local capabilities in satellite systems, autonomous platforms and aerospace infrastructure.
• Cybersecurity and data infrastructure: In 2024, Poland’s cybersecurity and data infra - structure sectors attracted significant inves - tor attention. As AI applications grow, so too does the importance of data security and processing. Several funding rounds in this domain highlighted investor interest in Polish engineering talent and scalable architectures. • Healthcare and life sciences: The healthcare sector continued to attract steady venture interest, particularly in companies develop - ing digital health tools, clinical diagnostics and medtech platforms. This reflects broader regional trends as well as increased interest in health resilience and preventative care follow - ing the pandemic period. • E-commerce and SaaS platforms: Companies such as Shoper and Saleor Commerce drew further institutional backing, with exits and growth-stage investments in retail tech and platform-as-a-service models. There is a clear distinction between industries driving early-stage versus those driving exit activity. While AI and deep-tech continue to attract seed and Series A funding, exits remain concentrated in more mature SaaS and e-com - merce ventures. These companies, having built scalable business models and demonstrated stable revenue generation, were better posi - tioned for acquisition, resulting in a higher inci - dence of successful exits.
2. Venture Capital Funds 2.1 Fund Structure
VC funds in Poland are most commonly struc - tured as alternative investment companies ( alternatywna spółka inwestycyjna , ASI). This legal structure, introduced under the Act on Investment Funds and Management of Alterna -
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