116 companies from Poland received €96.4M in Q2 2023 — Polish VC report

In the second quarter of 2023, 116 companies from Poland received €96.4 million (PLN 429 million) from 69 funds. PFR Ventures and Inovo VC have prepared a report summarizing transactions on the Polish VC market in Q2 2023. AIN.Capital shares the key points of the research.

• During Q2 2023, €96.4 million (PLN 429 million) flowed through the Polish VC market. The number represents a total value invested into 116 companies from Poland.
• There is a value decrease of 70% from the first six months, the year before, and from 2021. However, the number of transactions is constantly rising.
• The biggest round in Q2 2023 was ElevenLabs‘ Series A round with nearly €18 million (PLN 80 million) raised from a group of international funds and business angels, including Andreesen Horowitz.

“We are clearly suffering from lower investment activity of later-stage funds in Poland and CEE, which naturally constituted a large part of the market in our region. On the other hand, we know that the best funds from around the world can compete for the most interesting transactions with fast traction, a great team and a great product, of which Eleven Labs is a perfect example,”

Karol Lasota, principal at Inovo VC, commented.

• The market is still dominated by seed investments, which are 100 rounds in about 12 months now. Series A or higher are just about 10 on average.
• 32 out of 116 transactions are investments with the participation of PFR Ventures funds, which accounts for 18% of capital for innovative enterprises.
• The National Center for Research and Development are responsible for 44 transactions and 11% of their value.
• An important event for the entire Polish innovation ecosystem is also the official launch of the €1 billion NATO Innovation Fund, which will have an office in Warsaw.