This is where the most interesting start-ups are heading. Poland is losing out

Piotr Mietkowski, Managing Director of Investment Banking CEE at BNP Paribas Bank, was a guest at the 17th European Economic Congress in Katowice. We talked to him about the condition of the Polish investment market, the barriers that limit young companies and the directions they prefer on their development path.

Venture capital investments are non-public capital investments in companies at an early stage of development (start-ups), while private equity is external financing of companies that are not listed on the stock exchange.

The size of the Polish market is an advantage, the lack of capital is a significant development barrier

- What attracts private equity and venture capital investors to Poland is certainly the size of the market. We are by far the largest market in our region, for comparison, the second largest market in the region - Romania - is approximately half of the Polish market - said Piotr Mietkowski.

- Throughout the region, when asked what is missing, we hear a clear answer from investors and companies: there is a lack of capital. There are not many institutional investors in this market in Poland, you can count them on the fingers of one hand, and private capital alone is not enough - he added.

Piotr Mietkowski pointed out that often just one transaction can completely change the market landscape.

- The value of the transaction will always determine the attractiveness of the market. Only those large transactions attract the largest funds and thus drive market development - explained Mietkowski.

The most promising startups are fleeing to the US. Why is this happening?

When asked why the most promising start-ups choose the United States over Western Europe, especially Poland, he replied that it is a question of capital availability. But not only.

- Above all, the capital base is strong across the ocean, having been built for a long time. In Western Europe, there is also capital, but good regulations are needed. The Draghi report clearly shows that we have a problem of excessive regulation - Mietkowski explained.