Santander X supports Polish start-ups
Lack of investment capital and a rapidly changing market are the challenges faced by Polish startups. Santander Bank Polska has decided to support the development of innovative enterprises through the Santander X project and the Santander X Global Award Poland competition.
Polish startups play a key role in shaping the country’s economic future. However, the problem of unavailability of investment capital poses a serious challenge to their growth. The recently completed programmes such as the Polish Development Fund’s Starter or the Bridge Alpha of the National Centre for Reasearch and Development have been important sources of funding for many young companies. Moreover, changes in the investment fund market and a decline in global venture capital activity have further increased the pressure on Polish startups. Investments in Europe fell by 66% and in the US by more than 54%1. The situation has also been impacted by the development of artificial intelligence, which has significantly lowered the entry threshold in some industries. This has made it possible to create entirely new markets with previously unknown growth rates.
The data published by PFR Ventures for Q2 2023 shows that the capital invested and the number of companies funded is falling from quarter to quarter. In H1 2022, more than PLN 2 billion was invested in startups, while in H1 2023 only PLN 875 million. The decline in the value of funding at the beginning of the year (Q1’23 vs. Q1’22) was seen across all of Europe at -66%, and in Poland at -27%. Now, however, comparing Q2’23 to Q1’23, it can be seen that the European market is starting to grow again (+28%) and the Polish market is continuing on a downward trend (-4%).
The lack of investment capital, the rising role of technology and the AI revolution have all intertwined at once to create entirely new challenges in the market. As a bank, we want to be the bridge that connects the vision of business founders with the investment funds needed. Our job is to support innovative ventures and help entrepreneurs achieve their goals. Financial institutions such as Santander Bank Polska have many solutions with which they can support the development of young companies.
As an example of such solutions, the Santander Bank Polska expert cites venture debt financing, which is an alternative to VC. It allows founders to keep their shares, while providing the same opportunity for the development of the company and a better valuation in the next round of financing.
The bank can also finance the development of interesting projects by sharing the risk with a fund. In this context in particular, Venture Debt (Growth Debt) is an interesting form of financing. This is a financing model similar to a bank loan, aimed at fast-growing companies whose valuation will increase significantly in the near future.
In response to the challenges faced by young companies today, Santander Bank Polska is targeting entrepreneurs with the Santander X programme. It is a global ecosystem that aims to promote talent and innovation. Santander X helps startups, scaleups, micro-entrepreneurs and SMEs get the necessary training and mentoring support needed to scale up projects or validate ideas. The programme also facilitates access to resources and brings together professionals and innovators from different industries to create an environment conducive to the development of businesses.
This is why Santander X is organising a competition for startups in Poland. In its first stage, 10 companies will be selected and invited to the Mentoring phase. From among them, 3 winners will be selected. The highest scoring projects will receive cash prizes of: EUR 10,000, EUR 6,000 and EUR 4,000 as well as promotion of the projects with the involvement of Santander Bank Polska. The winners will also receive an invitation to participate in the Santander X Global Award, where they will compete at international level with the winners of the competition from 8 other countries.
Winners of the local edition of the competition will also receive access to Santander X 100 – a global community of the best startups and scaleups awarded in Santander X competitions and programmes. Among other things, the platform provides them with access to further development, mentoring, training, capital, clients, talent and acceleration, as well as the opportunity to share experiences.
Details on the terms and conditions of participation can be found at https://app.santanderx.com/calls/santander-x-award-poland-startup-23.
1 A report “Transactions on the Polish VC market in Q1 2023″ PFR Ventures and Inovo VC.
