Polish start-ups have made great progress over the last decade. They have become part of a global ecosystem, says writer and investor John Biggs. He estimates that for some companies the COVID-19 pandemic paradoxically turned out to be an impulse for development and forced them to pursue more global aspirations.
At the moment, Poland is an important hub on the European start-up scene. According to the estimates of the Startup Poland Foundation, the number of Polish start-ups oscillates around 4300–4700, and over 60 percent of them are companies exclusively from the IT and ICT industries.
The domestic market, although relatively young (over 60% of domestic companies are less than two years old), is developing rapidly, and new, innovative businesses appear every year. This is also reflected in Google for Startups statistics. They show that during the six years of operation of the campus in Poland, as many as 1800 people joined it. Companies from Central and Eastern Europe, of which over 1200 are from Poland, represent primarily the gaming and e-sport, trade, data analytics, fintech, education and marketing industries.
Importantly, last year, the average value of venture capital investments on the Polish market also turned out to be record-high, which was higher by as much as 52 percent. According to PFR Ventures analysts, this proves the continued optimism of investors towards the Polish start-up ecosystem.