The Top Poland Startups That Bloomed in 2021
We recently released our list of the Top Polish Startups To Watch in 2022.
Poland’s startup scene is a lot more vibrant and exciting than it may receive credit for, typically being overshadowed by its contemporaries in the US, UK, and Israel. However, there are a lot of great up-and-coming projects in the Eastern European country that have garnered a lot of excitement. In fact, startup businesses in Poland now add significantly more value to the country on average compared to other European Union countries.
In addition to this venture capital expenditure into Polish businesses increased by more than 800% in 2019, highlighting a rapid upwards trajectory for poland startups. A majority of these startups come from Warsaw, but some have also emerged in Krakow. These founders have found the right formula to start a startup from scratch.
We frequently create lists of the top startups in the world by country; here, we have gathered the top 25 startups in Poland.
We recently released our list of the Top Polish Startups To Watch in 2022.
1. Docplanner
Year Founded: 2011
HQ: Warsaw, Poland
Size: 1001–5000
Founders: Luca Puccioni, Lucjan Samulowski, Mariusz Gralewski
Docplanner is a Healthcare startup based in Warsaw that provides services for both medical professionals and their patients. Patients can find a doctor for their needs, book in their visit, and get reassurance for medical-related worries. Doctors also benefit from managing their patient visits and limiting the number of “no-show” appointments.
Docplanner has received a significant level of outside investment funding, fitting with the company’s reputation as one of Poland’s most promising startups. At the time of writing, this Polish startup has managed to raise $140.5 Million in outside funding from a group of 12 investors, which includes Goldman Sachs as a lead investor.
2. Creamfinance
Year Founded: 2012
HQ: Warsaw, Poland
Size: 101–250
Founder(s): Davis Barons, Matiss Ansviesulis
Creamfinance is a fintech startup that was founded in 2012 and is currently headquartered in Warsaw, Poland. The company’s main product comes in the form of a machine learning algorithm that helps to provide an accurate and customizable approach to the lending process, with the overall aim of being the premier one-click loan provider, for people around the world.
The company has already made a very strong impression with investors, as can be seen by the fact that Creamfinance has raised $30.1 Million from a pair of investors. This funding, achieved in 2017, has given the company the tools that it needs to really grow since then. In 2021, they’ll definitely be one of the top Polish startups to watch.
3. Synerise
Year Founded: 2013
HQ: Krakow, Poland
Size: 101–250
Founder(s): J aroslaw Krolewski , Krzysztof Kochmański, Miłosz Baluś
Synerise is an AI-powered OS geared towards growth, the startup provides its customers with in-depth knowledge about their client base, as well as a wealth of real-time analytics data to support decision-making. They also have other solutions to assist the sales process and increase customer loyalty through insight-based communications campaigns.
Synerise has done exceedingly well in the Polish startup ecosystem, with the company successfully raising $19.2 Million from a group of four investors. With the company’s advanced AI technology and data analytics systems, the company is poised for an even bigger 2021.
4. SALESmanago
Year Founded: 2011
HQ: Krakow, Poland
Size: 101–250
Founder(s): Grzegorz Blazewicz , Konrad Pawlus
SALESmanago is an innovative analytics company that is behind an advanced automated analytics platform for all companies, whether they be B2B, B2C or E-commerce-based. The company achieves this by creating automated and personalized marketing communications in customer campaigns through all of its customer acquisition channels.
SALESmanago’s advanced marketing automation software has led the company to get noticed by two investors, which have cumulatively pledged $7.7 Million to further the development of their platform and to scale up their operations. With investment backing and a proven business model, it’ll be exciting to see how this Polish startup attacks 2021.
5. Golem Factory
Year Founded: 2016
HQ: Warsaw, Poland
Size: 11–50
Founder(s): Aleksandra Skrzypczak , Andrzej Regulski, Julian Zawistowski, Piotrek ‘Viggith’ Janiuk
Golem Factory is a cryptocurrency-based startup from Warsaw that has gained a significant amount of traction through its acquisition of investment. The startup works by allowing users to rent out their CPU and GPU, in exchange for payment in cryptocurrency. The company achieves this through a decentralized network that powers true cloud computing.
Golem Factory has managed to leverage its unique business model to capture investment from a group of four different investors and also managed to gain a significant amount from their own Initial Coin Offering (ICO), to the tune of $17.2 Million. With the level of backing the company has received and people always looking for new ways to make money, this Polish startup is poised for a big year in 2021.
6. Nethone
Year Founded: 2016
HQ: Warsaw, Poland
Size: 51–100
Founder(s): Hubert Rachwalski von Rejchwald
Nethone is a FinTech and Cybersecurity startup that is dedicated to preventing fraud via remote channels, which can be things like when you make a payment with a debit/credit card and when an issue relates to identity. They have been successful in preventing unauthorized individuals from conducting activities on other accounts through the use of AI and deep profiling.
Nethone’s anti-fraud offering has already attracted attention from a group of investors, totalling four in number. Some of this investment has come from the European Regional Development Fund and the National Center For Research and Development in Poland. This Polish startup has raised $3.9 Million from its investor.
7. CallPage
Year Founded: 2015
HQ: Krakow, Poland
Size: 51–100
Founder(s): Andriy Tkachiv , Ross Knap, Sergey Butko
CallPage is an IT SaaS company that provides its customers with a widget that offers website visitors a company callback within 28-seconds. They claim to increase their customer’s sales leads by 75% by facilitating these calls by also providing behavioural data to try and better target sales. Their mix of analytics and optimisation makes it easy to increase the success of website visits.
CallPage’s advanced offering to improve sales and customer retention has already caused the company to appear on the radar of six investors, who have all pledged money to its cause. This total investment has reached a figure of $6.7 Million at the time of writing and with companies needing to ensure sales now more than ever, they will be all set to have a great year in 2021.
8. Vue Storefront
Year Founded: 2017
HQ: Warsaw, Poland
Size: 11–50
Founder(s): Bartłomiej Roszkowski, Filip Rakowski, Patrick Friday
Vue Storefront is an e-commerce software startup that was founded in 2017 and is currently headquartered in Warsaw, Poland. The company itself provides an open-source frontend for e-commerce platforms to help these platforms make sales and offer a service to customers that is more similar to an app than a website.
The company has already made some strides in terms of finding outside investment funding, with $1.5 Million being raised by two investors which can help to further develop their service offering and continue to grow the company.
9. Talent Alpha
Year Founded: 2018
HQ: Krakow, Poland
Size: 11–50
Founder(s): Mike Kennedy , Przemek Berendt, Szymon Niemczura
Talent Alpha provides a cloud-powered HR platform that allows users to gain access to skilled technical talent through the use of their services. Businesses can match the needs of their project to skilled and qualified talent thanks to their Artificial Intelligence system that builds in-depth profiles of all of the workers on its platform.
Talent Alpha’s advanced HR platform has already seen the company attract attention from Aper Ventures, which committed $5 Million to Talent Alpha to further the growth and development of the company. With the investment received and this Polish startup’s great offering, 2021 could shape up to be a fantastic year for its team.
10. Digital Fingerprints
Year Founded: 2017
HQ: Katowice, Slaskie, Poland
Size: 11–50
Founder(s): Krzysztof Raczyński, Mateusz Chrobok, Sebastian Czarnota
Digital Fingerprints is a cybersecurity and biometrics startup that was founded in 2017 and is currently based in Katowice, Slaskie, Poland. The company is known for its platform which allows it to provide continuous authentication to its users using behavioural biometrics, which understands the way in which you use the device that you’re running your session on, which is a truly intriguing technological innovation.
As it stands, the company has only received one round of funding from a single investor to the tune of $2 Million to further the development of its platform and the company’s mission to provide enhanced security to its users. With some companies having concerns over the security involved in remote working, this could be an exceptionally big year for this Polish startup.
11. Elmodis
Year Founded: 2015
HQ: Krakow, Poland
Size: 11–50
Founder(s): Kamil Kozak , Marcin Święch
Elmodis helps manufacturers save significant sums of money by improving both the energy and operating efficiency of machines that these manufacturers lose. Through their software and hardware solutions, machine performance can be remotely monitored and changed in real-time to ensure maximum efficiency.
It’s clear that investors believe in the potential of Elmodis to save manufacturer’s money by improving the energy efficiency of their machines as the company has received $5.2 Million from a small group of three investors. Chief among these investors is Intel Capital and with such expert backroom support and the investment already raised, Elmodis will probably be saving companies even more money in 2021.
12. Novakid
Year Founded: 2017
HQ: Krakow, Poland
Size: 51–100
Founder(s): Maxim Azarov
NovaKid is an EdTech platform that specializes in the early-years learning of English. This is achieved by connecting students with remote education facilities, with lessons provided by people who speak English as a first language, which is supported by AI-driven, fun games and training applications.
NovaKid’s mission to teach children one of the most widely spoken languages in the world has captivated a group of six investors who believe in the potential of the business. These investors have contributed $6.5 Million altogether at the time of writing and with schools in many countries not functioning as well as they could be due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Novakid could be a great help to parents in 2021.
13. Foap
Year Founded: 2011
HQ: Warsaw, Poland
Size: 11–50
Founder(s): Alexandra Bylund , David Los
Foap helps users of iPhones to get paid for the photos that they take. Through the app, users can upload their photos to Foap and if they get approved will be placed on their online marketplace, where it is offered to companies in need of marketing material. For every sale of your photo, you will get $5, this is a great way for people to make a little bit of money on the side by selling their photos.
Foap has attracted a significant amount of attention from investors, with a fairly large group of eight different investors pledging a combined total of $4.6 Million since the company was founded in 2011. Interestingly, this group includes entrepreneur-turned influencer, Gary Vaynerchuk. With this level of backing a great business model, people may be turning to Foap even more in 2021 to get some cash.
14. DevSkiller
Year Founded: 2013
HQ: Warsaw, Poland
Size: 11–50
Founder(s): Jakub Kubrynski, Kate Kandefer, Marek Kaluzny, Mariusz Smykula, Tom Winter
DevSkiller provides a tool for businesses, allowing them to conduct screening and interviews online. By allowing businesses to optimise their candidates and find the ones with the right skills for their team, decreasing Time-to Hire by 60% and saving business’ money, they also offer technical recruitment courses and tools to help businesses.
DevSkiller has done well since being founded in 2013, with the company having raised $1.6 Million from two investors to further the growth of the business and to improve their services. With the investment that the company has received in the past and their advanced technology offering the company is ready and poised to take 2021 by storm.
15. Shoplo
Year Founded: 2012
HQ: Warsaw, Poland
Size: 11–50
Founder(s): Grzegorz Lech, Patryk Pawlikowski
Shoplo is an E-commerce platform that was founded in 2012 and is currently headquartered in Warsaw, Poland. The company helps to connect small businesses with new customers through multichannel sales. The platform offers products for DIY, Design and Homemade products and has a strong database of sellers with over 20,000 partners.
Shoplo has raised a decent level of startup funding from a group of four different investors to assist with scaling and development. In total, the company has managed to raise $795,000 and has also been acquired by the UK Fintech company SumUp in 2019. With this level of financial backing, the company will likely continue to grow in the coming year.
16. AioCare
Year Founded: 2015
HQ: Warsaw, Poland
Size: 1–10
Founder(s): Lukasz Kołtowski , Peter Bajtała
Aiocare is a Healthcare startup that provides portable spirometers for children with asthma. This helps children to have fewer attacks and to better control their condition. The company also provides a system for doctors to track the symptoms of asthma patients and assist with the treatment of the patient’s condition.
Since its founding in 2015, the company has appeared on the financial radar of the Joint Polish Investment Fund, which gave the company $1.1 Million in 2016. With the volume of asthma sufferers across the globe and air quality conditions making the condition worse for many, this Polish startup’s work will likely be even more important in 2021.
17. SHOWROOM
Year Founded: 2012
HQ: Warsaw, Poland
Size: 1–10
Founder(s): Johnny Stasz , Michal Juda
SHOWROOM is an E-commerce startup that brings together a number of different independent fashion brands and designers from the Central and Eastern European area. SHOWROOM acts as a method for these parties to get their brand to customers.
This Poland startup has received outside investment, however, this pales in comparison to the fact that the company was acquired by Miinto Holdings, which is one of Europe’s largest e-commerce sites for fashion. With the backing of an even larger brand and people not being as willing to venture outdoors, this Polish startup could have a fantastic year in 2021.
18. VersaBox
Year Founded: 2013
HQ: Warsaw, Poland
Size: 11–50
Founder(s): Jacek Królik , Jakub Michalski, Mateusz Wiśniowski, Michał Walęcki, Rafał Chojecki
VersaBox is an automotive startup that designs and builds self-driving vehicles for both the commercial sector and the consumer sector. These vehicles include a range of autonomous robots to assist companies with their manufacturing and production facilities, lowering overall running costs and improving on-site safety.
VersaBox’s robotics technology has led to the company getting a notable level of attention from outside investors, with the Warsaw-based startup having received $4.8 Million in startup funding from four investors. With the money and the technical expertise to improve their already impressive product offerings, 2021 could be a really exciting and interesting year for the company.
19. Airly
Year Founded: 2016
HQ: Krakow, Poland
Size: 11–50
Founder(s): Wiktor Warchałowski
Airly is a WeatherTech startup that provides a specialist service in the form of providing hyper-local data relating to air pollution. The company’s aim is to empower people and communities with information about the air they’re breathing so that ndividuals with breathing difficulties can greatly benefit from their reports.
This Polish startup’s mission to provide concrete and accurate information about air pollution has caught the attention of ten investors, which includes the Polish National Center for Research and Development. Collectively, this Poland startup has managed to raise $3.1 Million, which will go towards its groundbreaking work in that field.
20. Survicate
Year Founded: 2013
HQ: Warsaw, Poland
Size: 11–50
Founder(s): Kamil Rejent, Lukasz Anwajler
Survicate is an analytics company that gives its customers access to an all-in-one customer feedback suite. They offer a number of different services, including targeted website surveys, user-initiated feedback systems, email surveys that can be accessed with one click, NPS email surveys, and standard questionnaires. Survicate makes getting feedback from your customers much easier.
Survicate has managed to attain a good level of investment from a group of three investors who see the potential in their customer survey and feedback systems, which validates the viability of this business in general. This Poland startup has collected $1.1 Million from these investors and with customer retention more important than ever, the company could be in for a blockbuster year in 2021.
21. BETEGY
Year Founded: 2012
HQ: Warsaw, Poland
Size: 1–10
Founder(s): Alex Kornilov
BETEGY is a Sports Data and Technology startup that uses an advanced self-learning algorithm to crunch the numbers about the latest football games and give you predictions about the results. The company can also provide data and analytics to assist with bettering its digital content and engagement rates.
The company itself hasn’t sought very much by way of outside investment funding, with the company’s only investment coming in the form of a $700,000 pledge from the German e-commerce group, Sleepz in 2012. Just because this Polish startup hasn’t received additional investment does not mean that it won’t continue to succeed in 2021. We’re excited to see how they fare.
Originally published at https://startupstash.com.
