START IN POLAND. Part 3: the fastest growing industries, accelerators, incubators, coworking spaces, events and summits

The Polish startup ecosystem, with 3000+ startups, 450+ venture funds, many incubation programs, acceleration, technology conferences and coworking spaces is one of the most developed in Central and Eastern Europe. Investment capital is growing in Poland. The country ranks first in terms of the number of rounds of venture capital and second in terms of venture capital investments in Central and Eastern Europe. 

Success stories like Booksy, Docplanner Group and Brainly are national examples of the potential of the Polish technology ecosystem and what it has to offer.

The third part of the START IN POLAND series will cover startups success stories and the fastest growing industries, opportunities for acceleration and incubation, as well as coworking spaces, events and summits of the Polish startup ecosystem.

The most promising young Polish startups, founded in 2017-2020, which have fast-growing teams, are working on innovative missions and also showing promising results.

AI

• neptune.ai is a startup founded in 2017 that optimizes the big data workflow for scientific experimentation and research.

• Nethone  is an AI solution that helps prevent fraud threats.

• APPLICA.AI uses AI to automatically, accurately and quickly extract key information from documents.

FinTech 

• Uncapped offers an alternative to traditional credit and equity financing for startup founders. The project was created in 2019 as the founders themselves got disappointed in the limited access to funding opportunities. Uncapped offers founders access to working capital from £ 10,000 to £ 1 million for a flat fee of 6%. In September 2020, the startup raised € 21 million to continue to support European entrepreneurs with better funding opportunities.

• SPOKO is a fintech startup that allows money transfers through a mobile application or website. Depending on which country the money is being transferred to, it can be transferred to a card or bank account. Currently, funds can be transferred from 32 to 45 countries around the world.

MedTech  

• Infermedica is a tool for initial medical diagnostics using machine learning. The startup operates in the b2b model, and its clients are health insurance companies, telemedicine platforms and hospitals. The company has customers in 30 countries around the world, and its products are available in 18 languages. Currently, the startup has three main products: symptom Checker - an application that allows you to quickly check and analyze the symptoms of patients; Call Center Triage that is a tool that will help doctors and consultants make a preliminary diagnosis of patients and determine the severity of their situation; and Infermedica API that allows companies to integrate the Infermedica database into their applications, websites and telemedicine systems.

• StethoMe is an AI wireless stethoscope. It records and pre-interprets the sounds it hears, and transmits the data obtained during the study to the doctor through a mobile application, and immediately reports the appearance of pathological sounds using specialized algorithms.

• Molecule.one is an AI software for designing organic synthesis and searching for new drugs. The startup partners with two giants: Amazon Web Services and Nvidia. In 2020, a Polish company made its software available free of charge to scientists who wanted to develop potential drugs against COVID-19.

• Prosoma is a company providing the use of virtual reality (VR) technology to work with cancer patients to help them cope with anxiety and depression. Prosoma creates virtual worlds for cancer patients to dive into. The company is also studying the effectiveness of psychotherapeutic support in the fight against cancer.

HR

• Talent Alpha is a tech platform that adapts IT teams to customer projects in real time. In turn, during the project, specialists receive feedback on and recommendations about the results of their work. This allows organizations to find the best people for tech projects in a matter of days and provides insights into what skills an IT professional has.

• HCM Deck is a tech HR platform that supports HR and L&D departments in managing, automating and analyzing employee work processes in large organizations. HCM Deck focuses on three areas: training, communication and feedback.

1.The 3rd campus Campus Europe Accelerator - Google for Startups is located in Warsaw. Campus Europe Accelerator is a program for the development of startups with a growing team (more than 15 people) and an existing product or service on the market. The program aims to build a sustainable startup community in Central and Eastern Europe. 

2. Warsaw Technology Accelerator focuses on startups in the life sciences, energy and the Internet of Things. The program lasts 5 months. The first stage is the Sprint Workshop for all teams (4 intensive workshop days divided into areas: sales, financing, IP, management, social media and design thinking. The next stage is Matchmaking, during which each company individually selects mentors according to their business needs.

3. Warsaw Booster is a program that supports young companies in improving their business competencies. One of the strengths of the program is the attraction of corporations that have chosen to help the founders grow. The program is initiated by the city of Warsaw, and operated by a consortium of three foundations with unique and extensive experience in supporting innovation in various sectors and initiating public-private partnerships: Coalition for Polish Innovation, Mobile open society through technology MOST and Startup Hub Poland. The program is open to young technology companies that are 3 years and older as well as founders who have no legal body.

4. MIT Enterprise Forum CEE is an acceleration program for startups from Central and Eastern Europe that have innovative solutions in one of the following areas: FinTech, InsurTech, Energy, Smart Buildings, Industry 4.0, HealthTech, MedTech, Digital Health, MarTech, Sustainability or Waste Management. During the program, startups can take advantage of the following opportunities:

• master classes (Pitch Academy);

• cooperation with mentors - at least two mentors are assigned to each startup;

• cooperation with program partners - for pilot implementation and verification of the effectiveness of solutions offered by startups in real market conditions;

• access to partners and investors from the USA;

• Bootcamp in Boston - A week-long stay in Boston is provided for the top five startups, filled with workshops and business meetings with potential investors and partners from the USA.

5. space3ac  is an accelerator from Gdansk that connects innovative startups with large companies looking for solutions in the areas of Smart Cities, bioeconomy and the space sector. Program participants have the opportunity to receive non-refundable financial support of up to PLN 200,000, as well as:  

• cooperation with mentors;

• access to the infrastructure, knowledge and experience of program partners, as well as the possibility of implementing a project in cooperation with a large company;

• integration to the startup ecosystem of Gdansk.

6. Huge Thing Accelerator is an acceleration program organized in partnership with Google for Startups that is designed for startups with MVPs in education, medicine, and sustainable development from Central and Eastern Europe. The goal of the program is to test business ideas and prepare startups for their first investment round.  

ReaktorX are monthly events that aim to share the experience of startups, communicate in an informal setting, and find your way in the Warsaw ecosystem.

Venture Café Warsaw. Entrepreneurs, investors and startups meet at Venture Café every week to present their projects and solutions.

innoSHARE is an international congress for scientists, start-ups, small and medium enterprises, opinion leaders and business experts. The Congress promotes the creation of an international network of innovators, scientists and entrepreneurs, centered around the Polish Innovation Foundation, which supports the internationalization of start-ups and science.

Women’s Entrepreneur Network is a conference organized every six months where women meet in a large group of 500-600 people and can gain new knowledge and meet other female entrepreneurs.

Let's Start Up is a series of events dedicated to entrepreneurship, setting up a business and the latest technology. They consist of two parts: Startup2Night - a hackathon and EXPO, consisting of interactive fairs, sessions and conferences for entrepreneurs wishing to establish contacts with venture capital funds.

explory.pl. The E (x) plory program is a High Technology Foundation project that brings together academics, start-ups, businesses, non-governmental organizations, government agencies and the media. The goal is to support the implementation of innovative projects and promote them at the international level.

Wolves Summit is the youngest of all major events organized by one of the largest media groups in Poland. The conference is dedicated to entrepreneurship and innovative solutions, focused not only on startups, but also on investors, as well as representatives of corporations, small and medium-sized businesses.

Warsaw's office market is the largest one in Central and Eastern Europe. Currently, the capital offers more than 5,590,000 sq. M. m. of modern office space. The most popular districts are still Center and Mokotów, which cover 74% of total demand.

The average rental price for office space is € 22-24 per square meter. Prices depend on the location and equipment of the coworking spaces.

The largest coworking spaces in Warsaw:

Business Link is an extensive network of offices for startups and freelancers in Wroclaw, Warsaw, Poznan and Krakow.

Noa Coworking is a coworking space in the very center of Warsaw.

Centrum Przedsiębiorczości Smolna. Warsaw and the EU supported an initiative to provide founders with cheaper access to office space.

Mindspace is a global provider of inspiring offices and workspaces for teams of all sizes. They offer flexible monthly all-inclusive subscriptions, fully equipped offices, kitchens, lounges and conference rooms with advanced technology.

WeWork is an American company that rents premises for tech startups.

HubHub is an international network of coworking spaces that currently operate in two locations in Warsaw: in the city center and the Mokotów business district. HubHub also provides educational programs on technology and social trends.

Sources: The-Golden-Book-of-Venture-Capital-in-Poland (startuppoland.org), PARP - Centrum Rozwoju MŚP, Ekosystem innowacji (pfr.pl), Polska Cyfrowa - Ministerstwo Funduszy i Polityki Regionalnej, Startup Poland, Polish and CEE tech ecosystem outlook dealroom.co, The Warsaw Hub, EU-Startups, Seedtable, Warsaw Startup Ecosystem - The StartupBlink Blog, The Complete Warsaw Startup City Guide | StartUs Magazine, Polskie startupy medtech (businessinsider.com.pl).