Startup platforms

If your startup is still at the idea stage, the Startup Platforms program might be the right fit for you.

Startup Platforms are aimed at founders who are at the very early stages of their business journey, planning to establish a company and develop their idea through an individual incubation plan, followed by non-refundable funding offered through the program.

The key criteria for obtaining funding are innovation (at least at the national level) and the organizational potential to implement the innovative idea.

The Startup Platforms program consists of three components:

As part of Component I, the founder has the opportunity to use services offered by Startup Platform operators, which include both basic support such as access to office space, accounting, legal, tax, and marketing services, as well as more specialized services that help with product development or business model validation. When choosing a Startup Platform for your idea, it is worth paying attention to the specializations or industry preferences of individual Startup Platform operators.

The goal of the incubation program under Component I is to bring the founder’s startup idea to the MVP stage, meaning a product with minimal functionality. A positive outcome of the incubation process results in a report that allows the startup to apply for non-refundable funding of up to PLN 600,000 under Component IIa. It is important to note that the incubation process typically lasts around 6 months. The sooner we apply to Startup Platforms under Component I, the sooner we can get a chance to apply for funding under Component IIa.

As mentioned above, under Component IIa, startups that are already operating as a company and have a report from the incubation process under Component I can apply for non-refundable funding of up to PLN 600,000, with a required 15% own contribution.

Since there is Component IIa, there is also Component IIb, which allows for obtaining non-refundable funding of up to PLN 2 million, also with a required 15% own contribution. The launch of Component IIb is planned for 2025.

The Startup Platforms competition is particularly close to us. In 2022, our team achieved a 100% success rate under Component IIa. We shared our experiences in applying to Startup Platforms during a webinar.

In the current funding perspective, the following Startup Platforms have been selected:

• Unicorn Hub – Edition II (https://unicornhub.pl/) – The next call for proposals is expected in January 2025 (unofficial date).
• Wschodni Akcelerator Biznesu 2 (https://wab.biz.pl/) – The third round is currently underway, which began on August 1, 2024. It will last until November 30, 2024.
• Start In (https://startin.pl/) – The third round of recruitment began on October 8, 2024 and will last until April 7, 2025.
• Huge Tech Revolution – As part of the third round, which started on October 1, 2024, the call for applications will last until February 28, 2025.
• Hub of Talents 3 – The third round of recruitment began on October 1, 2024 and will last until March 31, 2025.
• Mazovian StartUPolis – Central Innovation Accelerator – The third round of recruitment began on October 11, 2024 and will last until March 11, 2025.

One of the changes compared to previous editions is the rule that at least 30% of startups participating in the incubation process will not receive a positive recommendation upon completion.