Poland Prize, Poland
MIGRANTS
The Poland Prize aims to effectively introduce foreign mid-stage start-ups into the Polish start-up ecosystem by offering grants to foreign start-ups. The programme is co-sponsored by the Polish Agency for Enterprise Development (PARP) and co-financed by the European Regional Development Fund. The programme offers soft landing, development and acceleration services to prepare foreign entrepreneurs to start and grow their businesses in Poland.
The primary objective of the programme is to establish Poland as an attractive country for immigrant entrepreneurs. It aims to accelerate the development of an international community of entrepreneurs, particularly tech entrepreneurs who are operating in key sectors for the Polish economy (e.g. Fintech, IoT, energy, industry 4.0, Saas). Moreover, the programme hopes to foster the development of tech entrepreneurial ecosystem in Poland by providing a supportive infrastructure, experience and resources to entrepreneurs.
The programme includes two stages of support for foreign entrepreneurs. The first stage includes soft-landing services and development support, which usually last around 3 months. The soft-landing services include dedicated visa pathway and assistance in establishing professional ties (e.g. concierge in administrative, banking and immigration-related matters). Development support consists of an individual development plan that aims to prepare entrepreneurs in starting business operations in Poland, including through upskilling training, facilitating networking opportunities to build local business connections, legal and business support, outreach and funding opportunities (i.e. matchmaking, investor networking, etc.). Entrepreneurs in Stage 1 can receive grants of up to EUR 11 000 (PLN 50 000).
Stage 2 offers dedicated acceleration and post-acceleration services. In this stage, entrepreneurs can receive grants of up to EUR 55 000 (PLN 250 000) and receive specialised technological counselling in addition to mentoring and networking. Post-acceleration support includes assistance for entrepreneurs seeking additional public or private capital. There are six specific operators specialised in different start-up sectors that provide start-up acceleration in Warsaw (Warszawa), Cracow (Kraków), Gdańsk, Łodź, Rzeszów, Kielce, Lublin and Poznań. Depending on the specialised operator, participants are selected through eligible partner countries including Canada, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Israel, Spain, Ukraine, the United Kingdom and the United States. Selected teams receive cash and services to deliver up to 50 prototypes with Poland Prize taking 0% equity.
As of 2022, the Poland Prize has received nearly 1 400 applications in nine calls. After a selection process by the accelerators, grant agreements had been made with 23 newly registered companies. In addition to the cash grants of up to EUR 70 000 (PLN 300 000), these companies received expert support and access to corporate partners. The total value of allocated funds through the Poland Prize is over EUR 19.7 million (PLN 85 million).
HugeTech. (2024). Idea Global: Poland Prize. https://polandprize.eu/#why_us. & PARP. (2023). Poland Prize. https://en.parp.gov.pl/component/site/site/en-poland-prize#about