ElevenLabs and ICEYE put Polish tech on the map

This article is a part of Poland Unpacked. Weekly intelligence for decision-makers

The success of ElevenLabs and ICEYE has attracted the attention of global investors. Will that interest translate into a greater presence of foreign capital and greater recognition for other Polish companies? What can be done to strengthen the Polish startup ecosystem’s brand, and could specialization in particular technologies become one of its distinguishing features?

Last year, Polish startups raised PLN 600 million in investment rounds involving exclusively foreign venture-capital (VC) funds. Just over twice as much capital flowed to them through co-investments by domestic and foreign funds, according to the “Transactions on the Polish VC Market 2025” report prepared by PFR Ventures and Inovo.vc. PFR Ventures representatives noted in the report that foreign investors’ caution was influenced, among other factors, by persistent geopolitical and macroeconomic uncertainty.

Greater activity by foreign investors is nevertheless important for the development of the local technology-financing ecosystem. They provide an additional inflow of capital into the market. Their greater financial firepower also allows them to buy stakes in Polish companies from smaller funds that invested at earlier stages and are looking for opportunities to exit. This matters because such exits are necessary for funds to generate returns for their investors, and they remain relatively rare in Poland.

But is the brand of Polish startups abroad strong enough to attract investors? How can it be strengthened? Could one part of building such a brand involve developing areas of specialization and directing public capital – which still supports a large part of Poland’s VC market – toward sectors in which the country’s young companies have been most successful, rather than primarily toward funds investing across a broad range of industries?

Polish success stories are drawing global attention

On the international stage, the brand of Polish startups is still not as strong as might be expected.

“Still, perceptions of Polish startups have changed significantly in recent years. That is primarily thanks to ElevenLabs, but also ICEYE and several smaller companies. Investors around the world have seen that Poland produces people capable of building world-class technologies,” says Michał Rokosz, partner at Inovo.vc.

One event is not enough, but it can be a starting point

He adds that this year’s ElevenLabs Summit, organized by the company in Warsaw, brought to Poland, among others, a partner from Sequoia Capital, one of the world’s leading VC firms and an investor in ElevenLabs.

“This is the only event I can think of that brought so many VC investors from around the world to Warsaw. In my view, no other event, not even Impact, came close to that scale. So it is worth building on. Of course, a single event will not solve the shortage of foreign capital. But it is a good starting point,” says Borys Musielak, founder of Smok Ventures.

“It is a strong signal to the global VC market,” Michał Rokosz agrees.

Similar processes have taken place in other countries following the international success of their startups.

“Estonia built recognition for its ecosystem partly thanks to Skype, while Sweden did so thanks to Spotify. The global success of those companies helped attract investors and financing for the next generation of businesses,” says Borys Musielak.

Expert's perspective

Until recently, the question of how Polish startups were perceived abroad could be summed up in one sentence: the global venture-capital industry, corporations and M&A specialists knew little about Polish technology companies. The exceptions merely proved the rule. I remember the surprise of an American colleague, an active investor and member of a Southern California VC association: “Are you serious that Booksy and DocPlanner are Polish companies? Who would have thought?” Investors’ attitude was straightforward: there was little reason to pay attention to Poland, Ukraine or Czechia, because good companies would move to the US anyway. Higher valuations were supposed to compensate for the need to keep an eye on businesses based in more distant parts of the world.

Polish engineers were a different matter. For years, they had been known and valued for their skills, work ethic and ingenuity. But talent is relatively easy to acquire: all it takes is financing a plane ticket, an apartment or a scholarship.

Something has changed, however. Within just a few years, several strategically important projects have joined the global elite while making a point of their Polish roots. Anyone unfamiliar with the rise of ElevenLabs, Neptune.ai or ICEYE will struggle to understand what is now happening to the reputation of Poland’s advanced-technology sector.

It also helps that Poland’s ambitions in military and space technologies are resonating internationally. The transformation of the armed forces, the development of Polish drones, cybersecurity and satellite technologies, a Polish astronaut’s flight to the International Space Station as part of a scientific mission, and an ESA research center being located in Warsaw – all of this is contributing to the image of Poland’s technology brand abroad.

This is also visible in international rankings. The “Financial Times” included seven Polish innovation hubs and accelerators in its ranking, with two making the top 30. Startup successes are therefore increasingly being seen not as anomalies, but as the product of a functioning Polish system of grants, support and development for export-oriented innovation.

Startups need more than capital. They need contracts, too

Michał Rokosz believes that the public administration made a good move by having Bank Gospodarstwa Krajowego, through the Vinci fund, invest in ElevenLabs and ICEYE.

“There is value in this both for the companies, which may find it easier to secure contracts in Poland thanks to their stronger ties to the country, and for us, because as a country we have an equity stake in their success. There are statistics showing that a company already worth USD 10 billion is significantly more likely to reach a valuation of USD 100 billion than a company worth USD 1 billion is to become a USD 10 billion business,” says Michał Rokosz.

At the same time, he points out that one of the barriers facing Polish companies is the difficulty of winning large contracts from corporations and institutions. A good example is telemedicine company Infermedica, which secured its first government contract in Australia rather than Poland. Had it previously been able to point to a deployment, for example, in the Polish healthcare system, that would have been a significant asset in the eyes of investors.

“If Polish state-owned companies gave startups opportunities to test technologies and deploy their solutions, especially those designed for large enterprises, it could help them raise capital more quickly,” says Michał Rokosz.

A better image, but still no clear specialization

Dariusz Żuk, managing partner at AIP Seed, also acknowledges that ElevenLabs and ICEYE are gradually changing the way Poland’s technology sector is perceived abroad. Growing interest in artificial intelligence and defense technologies is helping as well.

“I am currently at the Digital Leaders conference in Barcelona. When Poland comes up in conversations, these companies and these areas are being mentioned,” says Dariusz Żuk.

Space and AI could become Poland’s calling cards

Polish startups have not yet reached the point where they are associated abroad with a specific, clearly defined area of specialization.

According to Dariusz Żuk, it is difficult to build sector-focused funds in the early stages of a startup ecosystem’s development because there are too few startups in the market, and particularly too few strong projects. As the market matures, however, specialization becomes increasingly important. It then becomes easier to gain access to experts, suitable supervisory-board members, business contacts and specialized industry knowledge.

“In Poland, areas are beginning to emerge where there is a clear concentration of expertise and interesting projects. Gaming was one example in the past. Today, the space sector is particularly prominent, while an increasing number of interesting companies are also being built around artificial intelligence. Perhaps these are the areas in which a Polish specialization is starting to take shape,” says Dariusz Żuk.

The state should strengthen what is already working

How, then, can the development of startup specializations be supported?

“Specializations should primarily emerge from the bottom up. No official can predict what the market will buy or which field will produce several genuinely strong projects. Sometimes a single startup is enough to spark a trend across an entire country – Skype in Estonia is a good example. The state’s role is to watch the market closely, identify emerging advantages and reinforce them quickly. If a particular field is producing more and more strong projects, and Poland has capabilities that give it an edge, it makes sense to create appropriate support for that sector, including funds investing in such companies,” says Dariusz Żuk.

PFR Ventures has already launched the PFR Deep Tech program, which finances funds investing in advanced-technology startups. The areas it identifies include artificial intelligence, quantum computing, defense systems, robotics, space technologies and cybersecurity.

Gaming was a Polish specialty. What comes next?

Borys Musielak of Smok Ventures adds that gaming was, for a time, one of Poland’s technological calling cards.

“New models and technologies emerged that were innovative at the time, such as multiplayer games, and the market produced a number of large companies. From an investor’s perspective, however, gaming does not always fit neatly into the traditional technology sector – it is closer to the entertainment industry,” says Borys Musielak.

He points to mathematical and computer-science expertise as another area in which Poland is strong. These are now among the most sought-after skills in the world. Companies developing large language models are a good example. Poles work at the biggest technology companies building such solutions. Poland itself, however, is not among the world’s leading producers of them.

“Central and Eastern Europe is seen as a region that produces highly talented people, particularly technical specialists, but one where business skills are lacking,” says Borys Musielak.

A global brand will require more success stories

The managing partner of Smok Ventures says the United States and China remain at the forefront of global technology development. He places India, France, Germany, the United Kingdom, South Korea and Japan in the next group, followed by smaller countries such as Sweden, the Netherlands and Spain. Poland still trails them.

“For Poland’s brand to gain global recognition, more strong companies need to emerge here. Foreign investors need a reason to come to Poland and invest here,” says Borys Musielak.

ElevenLabs and ICEYE have changed the way foreign investors view Poland’s technology sector. Their success has raised awareness of Polish expertise, but it is still too early to speak of a strong brand for the startup ecosystem as a whole.
AI and space technologies could become areas of Polish specialization. Both are seeing a growing concentration of expertise and promising projects. Experts argue, however, that such specializations should emerge from the bottom up, with the state reinforcing areas where the market is already demonstrating an advantage.
Attracting foreign capital will require not only more strong companies, but also major domestic contracts. Startups can benefit from public investment, events that bring global investors to Poland, and opportunities to test and deploy technologies in large companies and institutions. The strongest magnet, however, will remain further global success stories from companies originating in Poland.