Those who know us, know: finding funding for startups is one of our specializations.
If your start-up is at the idea stage (or is not at MVP stage yet), the appropriate program for you might be Platformy Startowe (Starting Platforms).
The Startup Platforms are designed for founders who are at a very early stage of their business journey, in particular, those who are planning to establish a company and develop their idea within an individual incubation plan followed by the non-refundable funding offered by the programme.
The basic criterion for obtaining funding is an idea being an innovation at least on a national scale and organizational potential to realize this innovative idea.
The Startup Platforms program is divided into three components.
In Component I, the founder has the opportunity to use the services offered by the operators of Platformy Startowes, including basic support in terms of access to office space, accounting, legal, tax, and marketing services. The Component I offers also a more specialized services helping to develop the product or verify the business model. When choosing a proper operator of Platformy Startowe for your idea, it is worth paying attention to the specializations or industry preferences of each operator of Platformy Startowe.
The goal of the incubation program within Component I is to bring the founder’s startup idea to the MVP stage, which is a product with minimal functionality. A successful incubation process results in a report that allows for an application for non-repayable support of up to PLN 600,000 within Component IIa. Importantly, it should be noted that the incubation process typically lasts about 6 months. Therefore, the sooner we apply to Startup Platforms within Component I, the sooner we will have the opportunity to apply for funding within Component IIa.
As we signaled earlier, within Component IIa, startups already operating as companies and possessing a report from the incubation process within Component I can apply for non-repayable funding of up to PLN 600,000, with a mandatory own contribution of 15%.
Since there is Component IIa, it means there is also Component IIb, which allows for obtaining non-repayable funding of up to PLN 2 million, also with a mandatory own contribution of 15%. The launch of Component IIb is planned for 2025.
The Startup Platforms competition is particularly close to us. In 2022, within Component IIa, our team achieved a 100% success rate. We shared our experiences in applying to Startup Platforms during a webinar.
In the current financial perspective, the following operators of Platformy Startowe have been selected:
1. Startup Platform Unicorn Hub – Edition II (Unicorn Hub), in the first round, applications could be submitted from March 18 to April 2. We are now waiting for the deadlines for the second round.
2. Eastern Business Accelerator 2 (Wschodni Akcelerator Biznesu), in the second round, applications can be submitted from May 16 to July 31.
3. Startup Platforms Start in (Start in), in the second round, applications can be submitted from April 15 to October 30, 2024.
4. The HugeTECH Revolution Startup Platform – within the second round, applications can be submitted from May 16 to October 15, 2024.
5. Startup Platform for New Ideas – Hub of Talents 3 – within the second round, applications can be submitted from May 23 to September 30, 2024.
6. Startup Platform – Central Innovation Accelerator “Mazovian StartUPolis” – was launched on May 29, 2024.
One of the changes compared to previous editions of the program is the top-down rule: at least 30% of startups participating in the incubation process will not receive a positive recommendation at the end of the incubation.
How Can We Help?
- We will match your planned expenditures to the current or upcoming competition.
- We will prepare the incubation application.
- We will analyze the level of innovation of your idea and organizational potential in accordance with the documentation requirements.
- We will organize comprehensive expense accounting for the project.
