PZU to launch innovation support fund

Poland’s biggest insurer PZU will launch a venture capital fund to support Polish innovation, in cooperation with the National Centre for Research and Development (NCBiR), Puls Biznesu reported. The company’s deputy CEO Ryszard Trepczyński confirmed the news. “This project will be fully commercial,” he said. “The investment vehicle will focus on selected innovative projects and help in their commercialization. The base goal is to make use of the potential that lies in Polish entrepreneurs,” Trepczyński added. Włodzimierz Bieliński, head of PZU’s structured investments unit, declined to disclose the fund’s value. “We can only said that this will be the biggest project of its kind in Central and Eastern Europe,” he said. According to sources quoted by the daily, PZU and NCBiR will be cornerstone investors in a fund worth PLN 75-200 million.