PFR Ventures invests PLN 270 mln in five Polish venture capital funds
Poland's development fund PFR subsidiary PFR Ventures has signed five agreements with venture capital funds under the European Funds for a Modern Economy (FENG) programme. The funds will have a total capital of more than PLN 400 million (EUR 93.4 mln), of which PFR Ventures' contribution amounts to around PLN 270 million (EUR 63 mln), PFR Ventures said in a statement.
The funds will be used to invest in innovative Polish start-ups.
The new venture capital funds that will receive capital under the FENG programme are 4growth VC, Aegis Capital, iif VC, Kogito Ventures and Lowercap.
"Not a year has passed yet since the first call for the EU-funded PFR Ventures programmes ended, and we have already completed nearly 25 percent of the planned investments in VC funds," CEO Maciej Cwikiewicz said.
"In 2025, we will continue to conduct calls and search for the most promising management teams that have the right competences to fund Polish innovative companies," he added.
The CEO of PFR Ventures estimates that the new funds from the FENG programme will enable the infusion of a total of around 40 venture capital funds with a public contribution of PLN 2.1 billion (EUR 490.4 mln) and an additional PLN 1.1 billion (EUR 256.9 mln) contributed by private investors.
Some PLN 500 million (EUR 116.8 mln) has already been allocated to the nine management teams. Including the contributions of private investors, they have more than PLN 650 million (EUR 151.8 mln) to finance 150 innovative projects. Previously, FENG funds went to 24Ventures, Digital Ocean Ventures Starter, Hard2beat and Tar Heel Capital Pathfinder.
FENG-funded programmes are managed by PFR Ventures in partnership with Poland's state development bank BGK on behalf of the Ministry of Funds and Regional Policy (MFiPR).
Their role is to stimulate various types of investment in start-ups and technology companies. Some of them focus on providing funding for the youngest projects, while others enable projects to be developed with corporate or business angel partners.
pr/ nl/ ao/