The European Investment Fund (EIF) and Poland’s state development bank, Bank Gospodarstwa Krajowego (BGK), have committed €85 million to three Polish venture capital funds: Expeditions, Cogito Capital Partners, and Balnord. The institutional funding will go towards startups and scaleups operating in defence, cybersecurity, and space technologies.
- The investments were made under Future Tech Poland, a €350 million fund of funds launched by the EIF and BGK as part of the Innovate Poland national investment programme. The vehicle — the EIF’s largest financial mandate in Poland to date — aims to mobilize private capital for strategic investments in innovative companies, with BGK contributing €235 million and the EIF at least €115 million.
- The fund is expected to make additional investments throughout 2026 and reach full deployment by 2027, supporting the development of Poland’s venture capital market and broader innovation ecosystem in the CEE region.
Details of the investments
- Expeditions received €31 million to invest in early-stage companies, with a focus on defence. In 2025, the firm announced the first close of its second fund at €100 million to back deeptech and defence startups from pre-seed to Series A.
- Balnord received €24 million to back frontier and dual-use technologies, supporting early-stage companies around the Baltic Sea. In 2025, the firm raised €70 million for its first fund to invest in startups operating in strategically important sectors, including space and defence.
- Cogito Capital Partners, which focuses on growth-stage companies in AI, fintech, and other technology sectors, received €30 million for its second fund. The firm launched the €125 million vehicle in 2024, raising €90 million in its first close. The new funding will support both early- and later-stage tech companies across CEE.
“Consequently, FTP’s participation in the Cogito II fund will enable us to increase the number of investments in local companies seeking financing in Series B-D rounds, and will enable the broader ecosystem to capture a greater share of the value created by the technology sector at its growth phase," claims Sylwester Janik, Managing Partner at Cogito Capital Partners.
- These investments mark the first disbursements under Future Tech Poland, which is designed to strengthen Poland’s venture capital ecosystem and increase access to funding for innovative companies at various stages of development.
