Poland's MinFin, development fund PFR and its VC unit to earmark PLN 600 mln total for PFR Deep Tech programme
Poland's Ministry of Finance, Poland's development fund PFR and its venture capital unit, PFR Ventures, have jointly launched the PFR Deep Tech programme, which will have a budget of PLN 300 million (EUR 70.1 mln) from PFR funds, with a further minimum of another PLN 300 million contributed by private and institutional investors, PFR said in a press release.
As reported, the Ministry of Finance and the PFR Group have developed the PFR Deep Tech programme based on an analysis of analogous initiatives in France, the UK or the US.
Moreover, the Ministry of National Defence (MON), which is already working with PFR Ventures as part of its investment in the NATO Innovation Fund, will also be involved in the project.
The strategy of the PFR Deep Tech programme is that funds will be allocated to 3-5 specialised VC funds. The capital will ultimately go to 50-80 projects developing advanced technologies.
"AI, defence, robotics, cybersecurity and quantum and space technologies are sectors that VC funds using PFR Deep Tech funds will need to consider," PFR wrote in the release.
Projects with dual-use potential will also be of particular interest.
"As a state, we create conditions to develop Polish solutions, strengthen domestic technology developers and build our own capital base. An example of such activities is the establishment of the Deep Tech Fund," Poland's finance minister Andrzej Domanski told a conference in Warsaw.
"The Deep Tech fund is a concrete tool that gives a boost to investment in strategic and dual-use technologies from AI to space technologies," he added.
Domanski pointed out that Poland, according to experts, is the place where defence technology centres in the EU will develop.
"Experts point to access to highly qualified personnel (...) and potential cooperation with specialists from Ukraine. That is why we are launching the PFR Deep Tech programme (...)," he explained.
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