This article is a part of Poland Unpacked. Weekly intelligence for decision-makers
The fund, which has previously supported the development of Polish champions such as LPP, KRUK, Dino Polska, and Asseco Poland, now places technology at the core of every transaction. It is actively seeking companies with a dual-use profile, including those in the space sector. Its first such investment, however, turned out to be highly unusual.
The two most valuable startups with ties to Poland – standing clearly apart from the rest in terms of valuation – illustrate which sectors are currently attracting investor attention: unique AI-driven products and space technologies. In February, ElevenLabs closed a funding round that pushed its valuation above USD 10 billion, earning it so-called decacorn status. In June, ICEYE crossed a similar threshold.
Interest in the latter industry has been fueled by the successful IPO of SpaceX, founded by Elon Musk. Polish space companies are also now capable of raising capital significant by local standards. In June, Creotech Instruments raised nearly PLN 500 million (approximately EUR 115 million) through a share issue. The company is valued on the Warsaw Stock Exchange (GPW) at over PLN 2 billion (around EUR 460 million), with its valuation having multiplied several times over the past five years.
One of the region’s largest private equity funds – known for its investments in LPP, Dino, Kruk, and Asseco – has quietly made its first investment in this sector. Unusually, it has backed a startup. The fund has recently disclosed its stake in the Polish radar technology company Eycore. It is investing through its tenth vehicle, which raised EUR 340 million (approximately PLN 1.5 billion at current exchange rates) in 2025.
“We are a minority but significant shareholder in Eycore, and I sit on the supervisory board. So far, the company has raised tens of millions of zlotys from investors in total and will certainly need further funding rounds. We do not exclude participating in them. From the outset, we knew that entering this sector requires either bold commitment or no entry at all,” says Michał Kędzia, partner at Enterprise Investors.
Eycore posts first commercial success
Founded in 2022, Eycore has developed a synthetic aperture radar (SAR) sensor. It enables more precise Earth observation than traditional optical solutions, regardless of cloud cover or lighting conditions.
The company only came into the spotlight this year. It successfully placed its first satellite equipped with its proprietary SAR radar into orbit. The launch took place during a mission carried out by SpaceX. Earlier, Eycore announced around PLN 50 million (approximately EUR 11.5 million) in planned investment in the Pomerania region. As part of the “Kaszubia” Green Industrial Zone project, it will build a new headquarters together with a production facility.
“Eycore is only the second European company with its own satellite carrying a synthetic aperture radar in low Earth orbit. It is also moving rapidly toward launching its second satellite. The potential for commercialization is very broad: from obvious military applications to less obvious civilian uses in industry, infrastructure, and even agrifood,” says Michał Kędzia.
Unusual investment by Enterprise Investors in a startup
Eycore is founded by individuals linked to Advanced Protection Systems (APS), a company offering proprietary radars and anti-drone systems for civilian and military applications – so-called dual-use technologies, or dual-purpose technologies. Enterprise Investors invested in APS in 2023, taking a minority stake, and at the same time became involved in Eycore.
“We originally spoke with the founders of APS about investing solely in that business. During negotiations, it turned out they were also developing an independent startup. It also works on radar technology but is based on a different approach and serves different applications, although it still falls within the dual-use category. The founders needed capital for this as well. I therefore proposed allocating a smaller portion of the planned APS investment to capitalize Eycore,” explains Michał Kędzia.
He acknowledges that venture capital (VC) is not the fund’s core area of activity. However, it could afford this risk as part of a broader project that also includes APS. Alignment of objectives with the founders was also crucial, as cooperation works best under such conditions.
“Moreover, Eycore’s technology is a natural extension of what APS has created. We also entered a niche market that, two and a half years ago, was preparing for the kind of boom we are now witnessing. So far, we have done well in supporting the talent of Maciej Klemm and Radosław Piesiewicz with our capital and experience in scaling businesses. I am therefore confident that this unusual, early-stage investment will pay off,” says Michał Kędzia.
The fund has mapped the space technology sector
Enterprise Investors stresses that it is not preparing for a “conquest of space.” It does, however, have a well-mapped understanding of the space technology market in the region, including Poland.
“‘Space’ is also a fitting description of the ambitions and valuations of companies in this sector. So far, only one Polish company – Creotech Instruments – has already validated its business model with a solid positive EBITDA result. Beyond that, we have a large number of projects in Poland that are still at an earlier stage of development,” says Michał Kędzia.
In his view, companies in the sector are primarily constrained by access to capital, as Poland does not lack exceptional ideas or talented people. He therefore looks with optimism at local initiatives aimed at increasing the inflow of domestic capital into VC and PE funds.
“We are ready for another investment in the space technology sector, provided the right business comes along. From a private equity perspective, the number of potentially attractive companies is rather limited rather than abundant. We will see which of them manage to deliver on the promises made to the market,” says Michał Kędzia.
Expert's perspective
Large space technology deals still years away
Private equity transactions will emerge once more Polish space companies reach the level of firms such as Scanway or Creotech Instruments. A positive signal came from the June investment round in Sybilla Technologies, which operates Europe’s largest private network of optical sensors. The company raised over EUR 8 million from funds including 3TS Capital Partners and Vinci, part of the BGK Group. However, repeat transactions of this kind will likely take several years to materialize.
Momentum in the Polish sector is clearly increasing, but it remains asymmetric. The number of early-stage companies is growing, yet only a few progress to large-scale commercialization. For a market with roughly a decade of investment activity, this is a natural development.
Success stories such as the Polish-Finnish company ICEYE act as catalysts for the ecosystem. In such projects, success depends not only on the quality of the solution, but also on timing and alignment with broader macro trends. ICEYE aligned itself with a fundamental geopolitical shift in demand for commercial satellite intelligence.
The potential IPO of SpaceX could either lift valuation multiples across the sector or “suck in” capital that might otherwise flow to other companies. The latter “vampire effect” appears more plausible, at least in my view. Nevertheless, SpaceX broadly supports a positive narrative around the emerging space economy, opening a window for financing opportunities for Polish firms as well. Recent successful public offerings by Thorium Space and Liftero are examples of this trend.
Technology increasingly central to Private Equity
The investor argues that technology is no longer the preserve of venture capital. This is visible in the portfolio built by Enterprise Investors in recent years. The fund is a so-called generalist private equity vehicle. In simplified terms, it can invest in any business that is already of a sufficient scale, growing rapidly in a promising market, and does not cause harm.
“Among our more than 20 portfolio companies, we have classic technology-driven businesses such as Advanced Protection Systems, PragmaGO, Software Mind, and Vehis. However, today in private equity, ‘every deal is a tech deal.’ Technology is critical to each of the companies we have invested in in recent years,” says Michał Kędzia.
He notes that, for example, Scan Lab is a prosthetics laboratory, but one built on cloud technologies and 3D printing. Formeds is a producer of dietary supplements that is rapidly expanding into e-commerce and AI. Meanwhile, GoodSpeed is no longer simply a logistics company, but a technology-driven group also offering software for catering businesses.
“Once, we had team members specialized in analyzing the technology sector. Today, every partner must have that expertise,” admits Michał Kędzia.
Transactions between Venture Capital and Private Equity
When Michał Kędzia began working in private equity nearly two decades ago, he could mostly read about venture capital. Apart from MCI Capital, there were virtually no VC funds operating in Poland at the time. Only over the past decade or so has an ecosystem emerged in which an increasing number of startups have matured enough to attract private equity interest.
“Domestic VC funds have hundreds of companies in their portfolios. Most of them will either never outgrow the early stage or will be acquired by industry investors at an early point due to an interesting, complementary product. Some, however, do reach the stage where they enter discussions with PE funds,” says Michał Kędzia.
He confirms that PE and VC players closely monitor each other. In Poland, this increasingly translates into transactions of various types.
“When we invested in APS, we also bought out some VC investors. However, some companies are not attractive from a fund’s perspective, but they are attractive to our portfolio companies. That was the case with StockEasy, acquired by Goodspeed,” he explains.
Among the main barriers preventing the fund from engaging in more such transactions, he points to the differing approaches of the VC and PE sectors. Not all venture-backed companies are able to meet private equity criteria over time.
“We invest at least EUR 20 million in a single project – preferably not less, and very willingly much more. This amount includes potential future capital injections, for example to consolidate a sector. Even so, only a small fraction of technology businesses reach the scale that justifies such a valuation,” says Michał Kędzia.
Expert's perspective
The market is maturing, but growth in VC–PE transactions is not the whole story
However, large funding rounds and high VC valuations do not automatically make these companies natural targets for private equity.
VC funds primarily finance growth, often accepting higher technological and market risk, and typically take minority stakes. Private equity investors, by contrast, usually look for later-stage companies with products validated by customers, recurring revenues, and increasingly a clear path to profitability or already positive earnings. They also tend to acquire larger stakes – including controlling positions – or even full ownership.
Their operating models also differ. VC firms typically help startups scale rapidly, secure successive funding rounds, build networks, and support founders in conditions of high uncertainty. PE firms work with more mature businesses: strengthening governance, processes, and efficiency, and supporting market consolidation. As a result, only a fraction of VC-backed companies will fit the private equity model, and only some founders will be willing to pursue such a transaction.
In this context, an important intermediary segment is venture growth. This is where one of the most significant funding gaps is emerging. An increasing number of companies have already moved beyond seed and Series A rounds – they have customers, revenues, and international ambitions, but are not yet large, profitable, or predictable enough for traditional private equity. At the same time, for many local VC funds, such rounds are already too large. As a result, the best companies are often forced to seek capital abroad.
The growing number of VC–PE transactions does not automatically signal a more mature market. It is nevertheless a positive sign, as it indicates the emergence of companies with greater scale, better governance, and more predictable business models. A mature ecosystem should offer diverse development paths and financing tools for companies at different stages and with different strategies. Closing the venture growth gap would naturally increase the pool of firms that could become attractive to private equity investors in the years ahead.
Technology due diligence has become standard practice
A partner at Enterprise Investors identifies several market trends. He recalls that during the COVID-19 pandemic, any business loosely linked to the “as a service” model – sometimes in rather questionable ways – saw its valuation surge. Today, a similar dynamic applies, to some extent, to companies “offering AI.”
However, in the context of valuations, he highlights a different, more grounded shift.
“Technology due diligence today is as standard as tax or legal due diligence. In the past, it was largely limited to checking licenses and similar issues. Today, its purpose is to uncover potential technical debt. Eliminating it requires not only significant capital, but – perhaps even more importantly – substantial time. From an investor’s perspective, this has a meaningful impact on business valuation,” explains Michał Kędzia.
Banks and funds in defense and dual-use
Another “hot” investment trend is financing the defense sector, particularly by banks. Michał Kędzia draws a clear distinction between this and dual-use technologies, and between private equity capital and credit.
“In recent years, banks have felt increasingly authorized to finance defense companies, and they are taking advantage of it. However, nothing has changed for us. In line with agreements with our investors, we do not engage in pure defense. We are interested exclusively in dual-use technologies, where civilian applications are the priority. The boundary is thin, and we do not intend to cross it. Leaving aside the sometimes absurd attempts to attach oneself to this trend: a soldier drinking water from a cup does not mean tableware becomes a dual-use product,” says Michał Kędzia.
Polish researchers can turn science into business
The investor also notes that the long-held belief that Poland can produce excellent ideas in advanced technologies but struggles to commercialize them is gradually becoming outdated.
“Bringing research results to commercial deployment is never easy. It requires bringing together two worlds – the academic and the business environments – which operate with different priorities. However, we are seeing an increasing number of successful examples showing that this is possible,” says Michał Kędzia.
This applies primarily to VC funds, which often work with academia at the early stages of company development. However, Enterprise Investors also has experience in this area.
“After all, Advanced Protection Systems was created as a result of successfully transferring the work of two scientists into a business context. We do not engage in accelerators, as that is not our space. However, we remain open to cooperation with entrepreneurs coming from academia,” concludes Michał Kędzia.
Key Takeaways
- A non-standard investment and a first in the space sector. Enterprise Investors, typically focused on acquiring mid-sized companies, has disclosed itself as a significant shareholder in the startup Eycore. It became involved through its investment in Advanced Protection Systems. The two companies are linked at the founder level and have developed radar technologies. The fund is prepared to make further investments in space technologies and has already analyzed the regional market for this purpose. However, there are still relatively few companies large and attractive enough from its perspective.
- Venture Capital vs. Private Equity. The evolution of Poland’s capital market is leading to closer cooperation between venture capital and private equity funds. An increasing number of VC-backed companies are maturing to a level that attracts large investors. Enterprise Investors already has experience in this area, including the buyout of VC investors in one company and the acquisition of a startup by one of its portfolio firms. Further such transactions are only a matter of time.
- Technology-driven shift shaped by market evolution. Enterprise Investors is a so-called generalist fund, investing in fast-growing businesses across a range of promising sectors. However, in recent years every one of its transactions has had a significant technology component. This is a major shift. Today, every partner at the fund must have technological expertise. Moreover, technological due diligence has become as standard as tax or legal due diligence. It is no longer limited, for example, to verifying licenses, but is aimed at identifying potential technical debt.