TDJ targets growth-stage companies to bridge Poland's funding gap

There is still an underserved segment of the Polish investment market between venture capital and private equity. It is occupied by companies that have already validated their products, built a customer base and generated growing revenues, but require additional capital to scale further, including through international expansion. Yet financing remains relatively scarce for businesses at this stage. TDJ is targeting precisely this gap through its TDJ Growth investment platform.

The group's recent investments illustrate this strategy. After taking a stake in US-based Stord, which develops a logistics platform for e-commerce, TDJ Growth invested in Bulgaria's Tiger Technology. The company raised $10m to expand its hybrid data management technology and accelerate its international growth.

TDJ Growth's portfolio also includes education technology company BeThink, in which the group invested at the end of 2024.

TDJ joins Tiger Technology funding round

TDJ has joined the investor group backing Tiger Technology in a funding round led by 3TS Capital Partners. The round also included Endeavor Catalyst, Impetus and the company's existing investors. The investment was announced on July 29, 2026.

Tiger Technology develops software that enables enterprises to securely manage data across hybrid environments combining on-premises infrastructure with the cloud. Its flagship product, Tiger Bridge, allows organizations to extend on-premises data storage into the cloud without modifying existing applications or business processes.

"This funding is an important validation of our technology, our customers' trust and the business we have built in international markets. The capital will enable us to accelerate our global expansion, deepen our partnerships with the world's leading cloud platforms and bring our solutions to more organizations running mission-critical operations," said Iravan Hira, CEO of Tiger Technology.

The proceeds from the funding round will be used to expand the company's presence in the United States, Europe and the Middle East, while supporting further product development and the growth of its partner network. Tiger already works with companies including Amazon Web Services, and its technology is used by customers in sectors such as transportation, media, construction and the public sector.

Growth becomes a permanent pillar of TDJ's strategy

TDJ first signaled its interest in growth-stage investing several years ago. At the time, however, the segment was still relatively underdeveloped and largely overlooked by investors.

"So far, we have completed three investments under our growth strategy. We now view investments in growth-stage companies as a permanent part of TDJ's business," said Mateusz Sumara, investment director at TDJ Growth.

The strategy was developed in response to changes both within the group and across the capital markets. Previously, TDJ co-founded TDJ Pitango Ventures, a fund focused on early-stage technology companies that is now in the exit phase. Experience gained from that portfolio, together with the group's investment in Talking Things—which has since been sold—highlighted the potential of the growth segment and encouraged TDJ to invest more actively.

"Our investment in Talking Things did not yet fit into a formally defined strategy. However, the experience we gained from that transaction prompted us to structure our approach to this segment," Sumara said.

He notes that TDJ combines expertise from two complementary areas: majority investments in mature businesses through its TDJ Equity strategy, and exposure to the technology sector through its venture capital activities. The challenge was identifying the investment space between those two worlds. Launched in mid-2023, TDJ Growth is designed to fill that gap by investing in companies that could eventually become part of the investment platforms built by TDJ Equity.

"Ultimately, we expect the TDJ Growth portfolio to comprise 10 to 12 investments. We are targeting two to three transactions a year over the next three to four years. We focus on minority stakes in companies generating more than PLN 10m (€2.3m) in annual revenue and delivering at least 30% year-on-year business growth," Sumara said.

TDJ: from smaller investments to deeper commitments

TDJ Growth is designed to help the group build expertise in new technology sectors by gaining first-hand exposure to them. Under this model, TDJ makes relatively modest investments in promising companies before deciding whether to commit significantly larger amounts of capital in the future.

"Rather than investing PLN 200m (€46m) in an unfamiliar industry from day one, we prefer to invest PLN 15m–30m (€3.5m–€7m) in promising companies over several years, grow alongside them, understand the market, build relationships with management teams and only then decide whether to make a much larger capital commitment. This approach reduces the risks associated with investing in sectors that are new to TDJ," said Mateusz Sumara.

As a family office, TDJ is not constrained by the fixed investment cycles typical of traditional private equity or venture capital funds. Instead, it can build the value of its portfolio over a longer time horizon and at its own pace.

TDJ: from education to cloud and healthcare

The first investment completed under the TDJ Growth strategy was BeThink, an education technology company. It has developed a platform and teaching methodology designed to help Polish high school students achieve top results in subjects such as biology, chemistry and mathematics, while also supporting medical students in passing university exams and preparing for the National Medical Final Examination (LEK), the licensing exam for medical graduates in Poland.

BeThink is currently focused on the Polish market while preparing for international expansion. The company is also exploring opportunities to apply its technology to other segments of the education sector.

TDJ believes education will be one of the industries undergoing the most profound transformation in the coming years. The group is also closely monitoring opportunities in sectors including logistics, data management and healthcare.

International network opened the door to Stord

Poland and Central and Eastern Europe remain TDJ Growth's primary investment focus. An exception to that strategy was its investment in Stord, the US company behind an e-commerce logistics platform.

"Stord was an opportunistic investment. It met our criteria in terms of the company's stage of development, investment size and portfolio fit. The opportunity came to us through our international network of investor relationships, which we have been building consistently over the years," said Mateusz Sumara.

Stord is part of the portfolio of US-based Strike Capital, where Bruno Wejchert plays an active role. The fund also includes a group of Polish investors. Those relationships enabled TDJ Growth to join Stord's shareholder base after concluding that the company represented an attractive investment opportunity.

Stord's latest funding round—a Series F completed in May 2026—raised $250m at a $3bn valuation. The round was led by existing investor Strike Capital, with participation from Kleiner Perkins, Founders Fund, Franklin Templeton, Baillie Gifford, G Squared, Bond Capital and Lux Capital.

Expert's perspective

"The growth funding gap remains one of the market's biggest challenges."

One of the largest capital gaps in Poland and Central and Eastern Europe remains funding for growth-stage companies. Over the past decade, the region has built an active venture capital ecosystem supporting seed and early-stage startups. However, access to the large funding rounds needed to scale businesses remains limited. According to the European Investment Bank, European scale-ups raise, on average, only about half as much capital as comparable companies in Silicon Valley, illustrating the scale of the challenge facing Europe's growth ecosystem.

The CEE region is now home to more than 275 scale-ups with a combined ecosystem value exceeding €240bn. Yet access to large funding rounds remains constrained. Venture capital investment per capita and funding at the Series B stage and beyond are still well below the European average. As a result, nearly half of the region's scale-ups relocate part or all of their operations outside Central and Eastern Europe, most often to secure capital and support further expansion.

In Poland, another challenge is the relatively small size of the private capital market compared with Europe's largest economies. Although venture capital investment has increased many times over the past decade, the market still lacks large growth funds capable of independently leading funding rounds worth tens of millions of euros.

From BGK's perspective, closing the growth funding gap is one of the key development challenges for Poland's and the region's private capital market. This is why we invest in professionally managed growth funds. One example is our commitment to Cogito Capital Partners. Later this year, we plan to announce another two or three investments in growth funds. Our goal is to increase the availability of growth capital while attracting additional private and international investors to the region.

Private investors, family offices and institutional investors also have an important role to play in narrowing the growth funding gap. Over the long term, the market cannot rely solely on public capital. Mobilizing private investment and building larger funds capable of financing successive stages of corporate growth will be essential. Combining private, institutional and public capital offers the best chance of keeping the region's most promising companies at home and helping them grow into globally competitive businesses.

Marcin Prusak

Managing Director, Investment and Analysis Division, BGK

A family office is not constrained by a fund's lifecycle

According to TDJ, the growth segment remains one of the most underserved areas of the investment market. Venture capital funds typically finance companies at an early stage, while private equity investors generally look for businesses with greater scale, stable financial performance and mature business models. Between these two stages lies a group of companies that have validated their business model but require capital to accelerate further growth.

"We are not looking to compete with seed investors or private equity funds. We are interested in the space between them—the stage at which companies have already validated their business model but need a partner to help them reach the next level. We support founders and their businesses on the journey to becoming market leaders," said Mateusz Sumara, Investment Director at TDJ Growth.

The growth strategy is financed entirely with TDJ's own capital. While the company is open to co-investing alongside other funds, it does not intend to turn the platform into a conventional investment fund, for example by raising public capital.

"We are not under pressure from a fund's lifecycle, so we can support portfolio companies for as long as their development requires. We can also combine growth capital with secondary share purchases, structuring investments to meet the objectives of the company, its founders and existing investors. That gives us considerable flexibility. These are the key advantages of the family office model," Sumara said.

He added that the success of the strategy will not be measured solely by financial returns. Equally important will be building new capabilities, gaining exposure to promising sectors and creating the foundations for future investment platforms across the broader TDJ portfolio.

Key takeaways

1. TDJ is targeting the funding gap between venture capital and private equity.
   Through TDJ Growth, the group invests in companies with proven products, established customers and validated business models that still require capital to scale. According to TDJ, this stage of corporate development remains one of the most underserved segments of the investment market in Poland and Central and Eastern Europe.
2. Growth investing is also a way for TDJ to build expertise in new industries.
   The group views these investments as more than standalone financial transactions. They are intended to deepen TDJ's understanding of emerging sectors, build internal capabilities and identify businesses that could eventually become the foundation of future investment platforms.
3. The family office model gives TDJ a longer investment horizon.
   Because it invests its own capital, TDJ is not constrained by the fixed lifecycle of a traditional investment fund or the pressure to exit investments within a few years. This allows the group to support portfolio companies over the long term and participate in creating value throughout their growth journey.