Poland’s state National Development Bank (BGK) and the European Union’s European Investment Fund (EIF) have announced their first investments under a joint programme that funds Polish companies operating in the advanced technology sector.
They are providing EUR 85 million (365 million zloty) to three Polish venture capital funds that specialise in identifying and financing early-stage technology companies in industries such as defence, cyber-security, and space.
The investments fall under Future Tech Poland (FTP), a joint BGK and EIF scheme that is part of the wider Innovate Poland programme and aims to close a funding gap in Poland’s venture capital market. BGK has committed around 1 billion zloty to the programme, with the EIF to provide a further 500 million zloty.
On March 31, BGK announce that it had, along with its EU partner, signed deals to disburse the first tranche of funds under the programme.
Around EUR 31 million will go to Expeditions, which mostly invests in defence technology start-ups. Cogito Capital, which helps young AI and financial technology firms expand abroad, will receive EUR 30 million. And Balnord, an investor in tech firms in the Baltic Sea region, is to get EUR 24 million.
“The investments are an important step in strengthening Poland’s venture capital ecosystem”, said EIF chief executive Marjut Falkstedt.
Meanwhile, Miroslaw Czekaj, president of the management board of BGK, said that FTP was a “strategic opportunity to strengthen Poland’s innovation ecosystem by bridging the funding gap that has hindered the dynamic development of tech companies”.
Poland’s technology sector has enjoyed significant recent growth, in areas including financial technology, software development and artificial intelligence. The country has been a European pioneer in mobile and internet banking transactions and is becoming a growing player in the space industry.
Poland’s AI startups have also recently been attracting more international attention and investment from abroad. OpenAI, the firm behind ChatGPT, recently announced the acquisition of Neptune.ai, a Polish-founded startup that helps track the training of AI models.
Similarly, ElevenLabs, a startup focused on AI voice generation software, has recently been valued at $11 billion after receiving the financial backing of several investment firms from the US, reported Reuters in February.
In November 2025, the government unveiled the Innovate Poland programme, which aims to combine public and private funds to support the growth of Polish innovative companies. With an initial budget of 4 billion zloty, it is supported by Polish public institutions, the partially state-owned Polish insurer PZU, the EU. (Notes from Poland)