Polish VC market: Q2'21 summary — it’s going to be a record year!
It’s time for the quarterly recap of the Polish VC market. A lot has happened and we’re seeing some high numbers. Take a look!
The Polish VC market is clearly accelerating. The number of transactions is growing, and above all — their value. The PLN 936M (EUR 207M) that we jointly invested in startups is almost 4x more than in the previous quarter and over 5x more than in the same period last year. Based on the research we’ve done with PFR Ventures, I can safely say — this year will end with another record.
Rounds are skyrocketing
The increase in the value of the transactions is visible at every stage of companies’ development. Although the vast majority of rounds (approx. 88%) are still Pre-Seed and Seed, even at this early stage companies raise more and more capital.
Our portfolio company, SunRoof, is a great example. This solar energy startup raised over PLN 20M (EUR 4.5M) in a Seed extension round led by Inovo, which was one of the largest transactions last quarter (see Top 10 rounds below).
This resulted in a more than twofold increase in the average round size (from PLN 2.6M to PLN 5.5M). The average Seed is now as high as PLN 3M, while in the previous quarter it was PLN 2M — which is yet another proof of how much the market is speeding up.
It is clearly visible that Polish technology companies are raising more capital and it is happening faster than ever before. Subsequent rounds are now raised in less than a year from the previous ones, and record holders do it in 4–8 months.
A great example is Uncapped. In May 2021 Uncapped raised PLN 301M (EUR 66M), just 8 months after their previous round. Piotr Pisarz, one of the founders, not only runs his own company, but is also an angel investor in other Polish startups (e.g. Ramp). This is a perfect illustration of how capital returns to Poland, driving growth of the entire startup ecosystem.
Top 10 rounds in Q2 2021
More money coming in
Yet again a significant portion of funding received by Polish startups came from an international crowd of VCs — Lakestar, Global Founders Capital, White Star Capital, Seedcamp, NFX to name just a few.
International VCs participated in 20+ rounds in Polish companies, which resulted in a total of PLN 594M (EUR 131M, 63% of market value). Out of this amount, PLN 475M (EUR 104.7M) came solely from international VCs with Uncapped (PLN 301M, EUR 66M) being the outlier.
Undoubtedly startups from Poland are an increasingly attractive catch for foreign investors, who in turn provide capital for their further global expansion.
Poland on the CEE map
Poland is one of the largest markets in the CEE region. PLN 936M (EUR 207M) invested in Q2 in Polish companies accounts for approx. 20% of the value of the CEE startup ecosystem.
The majority of capital outside of Poland was committed in so-called mega rounds, incl. Vinted (EUR 250M round led by EQT Growth), Rohlik (EUR 100M round led by Index), Productboard (USD 72M round led by Tiger Global), and Veriff (USD 69M round led by Accel & IVP).
We’re also seeing continued interest in the CEE region from top tier international investors — there were approx. 20 rounds with participation from leading EU / US VC investors.
Two recent IPO’s originated from CEE. This was UiPath (NYSE: PATH) that IPO’ed in April at USD 35B market cap, which served as a catalyst for the Romanian ecosystem, as well as Estonian Wise (LON: WISE), which IPO’ed in July at USD 11B market cap (in Q2 Wise IPO preparations were in progress).
Although we’re still waiting for a UiPath-level of success, catching up with Rohlik, that has just achieved unicorn status, is totally within reach.
Inovo Venture Partners is a first-choice VC for ambitious founders from Poland and the CEE region. We back early-stage, post-traction startups with up to €3M of initial investment, and help them build global brands while driving growth of the local startup ecosystem. We take great pride in being close to top founders who think big. We’re investors in: Booksy, Restaumatic, Sotrender, Infermedica, Spacelift, Tidio, AI Clearing, Zowie, Jutro Medical, Intiaro, Packhelp, Preply, Eyerim, Allset, SunRoof. Our second fund reached a total of €54M.
For more information visit: inovo.vc
Methodology: how did we collect data
We conducted this research in collaboration with PFR Ventures. We sourced our information from aggregators such as Crunchbase, MamStartup, Pitchbook, and Dealroom.
What qualifies the transaction as “Polish”?
1. At least 1 of the co-founders is from Poland.
2. There is a Polish office with full-time employees on the ground.
3. The company is funded by a Polish VC.
4. The company recognizes Poland in its materials (website, press releases).
