Endeavor Poland report: Poland’s technology ecosystem needs to focus resources on companies with the most potential
Successful and scaling founders have a key impact on Poland’s innovation ecosystem, and companies in the growth phase (scale-ups) are now crucial to our economy. And it’s the latter that now need strong support from capital and decision-makers – these are the conclusions of the latest Mapping Poland’s Tech Sector report by Endeavor Poland.
The report is based, among other things, on in-depth interviews with nearly a hundred of Poland’s leading entrepreneurs, investors and innovators. Data from the report shows, among other things, that more than 40 percent of the founders of startups operating in Poland previously worked at any of the local technology companies.
Part of the Endeavor Poland publication is also a listing of the TOP 10 Polish technology companies with the greatest impact on the entire ecosystem over the past 30 years. It is from these organizations that the founders of the next generation of Polish startups with global ambitions and achievements come from.
Contributors to the report include Mariusz Gralewski (Docplanner), Wiktor Schmidt (Netguru), Aleksandra Kozera (The Village Network), Jaroslaw Krolewski (Synerise) or Marek Borzestowski (Grupa Wirtualna Polska), as well as Kacper Nowicki (No Magic) and Maciej Noga (Grupa Pracuj).
The report Mapping Poland’s Tech Sector, prepared by Endeavor Poland, reveals the broad horizon of the Polish tech scene. It also indicates in which direction the Polish innovation sector is changing and who are the main players in this process (companies as well as individuals).
The report is based on months of work by a team of Endeavor Poland analysts: it consisted of nearly a hundred in-depth interviews with key Polish technology entrepreneurs and a coupled analysis of multi-threaded data from more than 700 Polish companies. The result was a comprehensive map of the Polish innovation ecosystem.
"The data shows that over the decades, it is the founders of over-successful startups who are driving Poland's burgeoning tech ecosystem.They often act as mentors and investors for younger companies, and by sharing their knowledge, experience and resources, they help other startups overcome initial difficulties.In this way, they accelerate their development, including at the local level. And on top of that, by creating organizational cultures that promote innovation and entrepreneurship, they encourage employees to set up their own startups - so-called spin-outs. "
Bartosz Lipnicki
Managing Director of Endeavor Poland
Conclusion: let’s turn on the turbo for the ecosystem
The concept of “self-perpetuating ecosystems,” created by Endeavor, is based on more than a decade of research into global markets by this international organization. This knowledge is intended to help policymakers develop and support local entrepreneurship. According to Endeavor, rulers and investors should focus more attention on the fastest-growing companies with the greatest potential for rapid scaling. As the report’s authors point out, only 13 percent of Polish technology companies founded between 2018 and 2022 have reached scale-up status today.
Meanwhile, according to Endeavor analysts, rapid scaling is a key stage in the development of any company.
Companies achieving rapid growth in the first 5 years have the greatest potential to continue creating jobs, attracting capital and contributing the most to the economy.
"Locally, we have many opportunities for startups at the Pre-, Seed and Series A stages. The challenge comes when scaling a venture, including outside Poland. However, we have ambitious founders who made the bold decision some time ago to start elsewhere - in Asian or American markets, and have since grown their companies significantly. So it's high time to bring these worlds together and bridge the gap here, locally, to inspire the Polish government and EU authorities and meet the challenges posed by geopolitical circumstances."
Paulina Skrzypinska
Chief of Innovation at BNP Paribas Bank Polska
Mapping Poland’s Tech Sector report – looking for leaders and organizations driving scaling – compiles a ranking of the TOP 10 Polish companies in the sector with the greatest impact on the entire ecosystem.
These companies often pioneer the introduction of new technologies, also acting as talent development centers, attracting, training and developing high-level professionals in fields ranging from information technology to marketing and management.
Many of these organizations are successful on the international stage, which not only builds the international reputation of the Polish technology sector, but also opens the way for other Polish entrepreneurs. Among the entire cohort of such organizations are Docplanner, Booksy or Inpost, as well as Grupa Pracuj.
"It takes collective commitment and coordinated efforts to accelerate the growth of the entire ecosystem. Fostering greater trust and mutual support between founders, investors and ecosystem supporters is key to building an innovative and turbulence-proof technology community in Poland."
Oktawian Zając
Head of BCG Poland
Report data: getting to 50 employees takes too long and is expensive
According to the report’s authors, access to capital is a key factor enabling or blocking technology companies from growing and scaling.
For companies in the growth stage, i.e., those that have passed the initial stage of development and are ready to expand faster, lack of access to financing is as significant a problem as it was in the early days. The authors point out that technology companies with at least 50 employees have the greatest impact on the economy, even though only 39 percent of innovative technology companies in Poland have currently reached this scale. Crucially, these companies generate as much as 87 percent of jobs in the sector.
Partners of the Mapping Poland’s Tech Sector report are BNP Paribas Bank Poland, Boston Consulting Group and PwC Poland. The report can be downloaded HERE.