In 2024, the Polish VC market displayed a trend of stabilization, with a total investment value reaching €493 million (PLN 2.1 billion). This figure marks a 10% decrease from 2023, excluding several outliers. Throughout the year, 142 companies received funding from 147 participating funds, indicating limited access to EU funds and investors' caution to invest in early-stage ventures.
AIN shares the key takeaways from the PFR Ventures and Inovo VC’s report on Polish VC market in 2024.
General numbers
- In 2024, only 142 companies secured funding, a sharp decline from 399 companies in 2023 and a peak of 435 in 2022.
- A total of 147 funds participated in financing the Polish ecosystem with €493 million invested in startups.
- Interestingly, the value of investments may seem like it exceeded that of 2023, but this is largely due to late-stage megarounds secured by ICEYE, kontakt.io, and Wordware, etc.
Screenshots are taken from the PFR Ventures report
- However, the total value is still far from the numbers in 2021 and 2022, also marking a 10% decrease from 2023, disregarding several outliers. Which is in line with general market trends in Europe, which showcased a 6% decrease in 2024.
“In previous years, the proportions of capital raised were similar, but the number of transactions was significantly higher. The main reason for this change was the limited availability of EU funds, which in Poland is most evident in seed rounds,” said Aleksander Mokrzycki, Vice-President of the Board at PFR Ventures.
- Nevertheless, seed investments continue to dominate the Polish market, with 109 such transactions conducted in 2024.
- Meanwhile, the number of Series A rounds fell by 34.78%, though their average value remained steady at approximately EUR 3.5 million.
- On the other hand, 10 investments at the Series B and B+ level were conducted on the Polish VC market in 2024.
Largest funding rounds
- ICEYE – €117 million round;
- kontakt.io – €44 million round;
- Wordware – €28 million round;
- Smartlunch – €13.9 million round;
- RedStone – €13.7 million round.
These rounds highlight the continued interest in high-growth companies with strong potential in sectors such as AI and data analytics.
Sectoral breakdown
- For the past five years, the health sector has consistently attracted the largest share of VC investment, with health-focused companies accounting for 14.1% of all VC deals in 2024.
- The fintech sector continues to see the decline in both value and number of deals with just 8 investments secured in 2024.
- Climatetech managed to secure 8 investment deals, accounting for €35 million, — also experiencing a continuous decline from the previous years’ numbers.
- On the other hand, the foodtech sector was on the rise in 2024 with €20 million raised across 8 deals, which is €7 million more than in 2023.
Funding sources
In 2024, international funds contributed 51% of the total funding in the Polish VC market, indicating a growing interest in Polish startups from foreign investors.
Polish private investors mainly funded local innovative firms, while international funds provided around half of the total capital invested in the market.
Of the 147 identified transactions, 31 were funded by PFR Ventures, contributing approximately 20% of the capital for innovative enterprises.
Business models
- In 2024, the SaaS model remained the most prevalent business model among startups, holding a 55% market share.
- The service/project-based model demonstrated stability compared to the previous year, with its market share projected to remain around 10% in the coming years.
- There was also a significant decline in the number of startups operating with a marketplace model. This may be due to challenges faced by Polish startups in reaching individual customers. Notably, half of the startups with a marketplace model received support primarily from angel investors rather than traditional VC funds.
Read more: 38 Polish companies secured €209M from 47 funds — new PFR Ventures Q2 2024 report
