Polish VC market outlook Q1 2026
PFR Ventures and Inovo.vc have prepared a report summarising transactions on the Polish venture capital (VC) market in the first quarter of 2026. The data shows that during this period, 46 companies raised a total of PLN 2.1 billion from 47 funds. This figure was significantly influenced by ElevenLabs’ PLN 1.8 billion funding round.
Authors' insights
In the first quarter, we observed a clear shift in investment activity towards early-stage companies. Funds from the PFR Ventures portfolio participated in every second such transaction. The companies they financed raised a total of PLN 90 million. Importantly, the size of these rounds ranged from PLN 1 million to PLN 40 million. This reflects both the diversity of capital sources and the involvement of co-investors.
We are starting 2026 with a bang – PLN 2.1 billion in a single quarter is a result that, just a few years ago, would have been solid on an annual basis. The PLN 1.8 billion ElevenLabs mega-round dominates the statistics. It illustrates the power law principle – in VC, it takes just one right bet. After such a Q1, it is hard not to be optimistic – I expect we will surpass the record PLN 3.6 billion achieved in 2021–2022.
The market structure in Q1 2026 shifted clearly towards early-stage investments (seed and pre-seed). A total of 35 such transactions were recorded, accounting for nearly 80% of all investments. At the same time, no growth-stage transactions were recorded, whereas in the corresponding period last year they accounted for approximately one third of deployed capital.
In Q1, Polish funds completed 26 international investments with a total value of PLN 235 million. This is one of the strongest results in recent years. At the same time, there is a clear concentration on deep tech and defence technology projects, which require larger amounts of capital and advanced know-how.
The importance of a trend in which former start-up employees launch their own ventures and successfully raise VC funding continues to grow. In this quarter alone, six such spin-offs were recorded, involving a total of 13 individuals. Booksy stands out in particular – talent developed within the company has led to the creation of three new businesses.
Mega-rounds continue to have a significant impact on the overall market picture. In 2026, particular attention was drawn to ElevenLabs’ record-breaking funding round of PLN 1.81 billion. The scale of financing secured by the company is unprecedented in the Polish ecosystem. Between 2023 and 2026, ElevenLabs raised a total of PLN 2.9 billion, accounting for more than 45% of all mega-rounds, which have also included companies such as Docplanner, Booksy, Brainly and ICEYE.
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