Polish VC market outlook Q2 2024

PFR Ventures and Inovo VC have released a report summarizing the transactions in the Polish venture capital (VC) market for the second quarter of 2024. According to the report, 38 companies secured a total of EUR 208 million from 47 funds during this period. 

In the second quarter of 2024, EUR 208 million flowed through the Polish VC market. This figure represents the combined capital investment by Polish and foreign funds in domestic innovative companies. For the first half of 2024, the total value of VC investments in Poland reached EUR 252 million. 

The second quarter of 2024 saw a significant decline in the number of companies securing financing. This trend, continuing from the first quarter, is linked to the conclusion of the investment horizon for funds derived from EU funds under the Smart Development OP. By the end of June 2024, there were 51 seed rounds and 18 Series A+ deals, with 13 of these A+ deals occurring in the second quarter.

The increase in the number of Series A+ rounds has significantly boosted the Polish VC market’s performance in the second quarter compared to the beginning of the year. However, it’s important to note that the overall number of deals remains relatively low, indicating a temporary slowdown in the market for financing early-stage companies. We are working to implement FENG measures that will significantly improve this situation

comments Aleksander Mokrzycki, Vice President of PFR Ventures.

We are on track to reach financing values of EUR 0,5-0,7 billion throughout 2024. This quarter, aside from the outlier in the form of the ICEYE round, brought many interesting deals. Zeta Labs, which received investment from Nat Friedman (former CEO of GitHub) among others, and Proofs, co-founded by Bartek Pucek—a leading Polish business angel supported by many prominent investors—deserve special mention

highlights Karol Lasota, principal at Inovo VC.

The low number of deals has not notably altered the nature of transactions conducted by the funds. Over 80% of transactions remained seed rounds, with 5 investments recorded at the A and B rounds. Notably, there has been a substantial shift in the median transaction size, rising from PLN 1 million to PLN 3 million in the last two quarters. This change is attributed to the winding down of activities by funds within the portfolio of the National Centre for Research and Development, which previously capped investments at PLN 1 million.

Of the 38 transactions recorded, 12 involved investments from PFR Ventures funds, contributing 16% of the capital raised for innovative companies. The majority of deals featured significant participation from private Polish funds and business angels, while international funds provided 46% of the capital.

Among the largest deals were the rounds for ICEYE, which raised EUR 86 million, Kontakt.io with EUR 44 million, and Smart Lunch with EUR 14 million. Additionally, there were seven deals that surpassed the EUR 2,5 million threshold, most of which were seed investments. 
 

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