The Polish Development Fund (PFR) intends to increase the scale of its investments in private equity and venture capital funds in the coming years, informed the president of PFR, Paweł Borys. So far, the funds in which PFR Venture is an investor have supported approximately 150 companies.

"The area of ​​investment in funds is one of the basic areas of our strategy. We will want to increase the scale of investments in the coming years to ensure good access to financing for young technology projects, for companies at the expansion stage, in various segments of this market," he said.

He added that the value of transactions on the venture capital market in Poland has increased tenfold in the last three years.

"2020, despite the pandemic, was record-breaking. Last year investments amounted to over PLN 2.1 billion, and even without some of the largest (PLN 266 million Booksy, PLN 302 million Brainly, and PLN 331 million ICEYE), the financing value increased many times, and the number of transactions has exceeded 340, of which over 1/3 is financed by funds whose investor is PFR," Borys said.

"The Polish market is becoming more and more interesting and dynamic. We have become the leader of the venture capital and private equity market in Central and Eastern Europe. The total scale of transactions in Poland in the last eight years has amounted to over 1,100 transactions, other markets in the region are several times smaller," he emphasized.

So far, PFR Ventures has invested around PLN 2 billion in PE/VC funds. In turn, the funds in which PFR Venture has invested, allocated approximately PLN 2.8 billion for venture capital investments, and PLN 6.8 billion for mature private equity investments.

Co-investors of PFR Ventures in PE/VC funds are, among others, European development institutions (British Business Bank, EBRD), as well as Scandinavian, Dutch, German, American, and Asian pension funds.

Paweł Borys estimates that in Poland it is possible to draw up a list of 10 companies with a chance to create a Polish unicorn, i.e. a company that has a chance to reach a value of over $1 billion in the next 5 years. Among these companies, there are Docplanner, ICEYE, Brainly, Booksy, and Cosmose.

(PAP)