Recently, a new player joined the Polish VC scene — vastpoint. Founded by Aleksandra Pedraszewska, ex-ElevenLabs, neuroscientist-turned-entrepreneur Zuzanna Brzosko, and former investor Karolina Kukiełka, the fund works with a network of mentors, including ElevenLabs' Mati Staniszewski, to help Polish tech talent grow with both capital and expertise.
We talked to Aleksandra Pedraszewska about her move from scaling a breakout startup to launching a fund, how vastpoint plans to bring Polish startups closer to the global tech ecosystem, and what makes the team uniquely positioned to support founders at every stage of growth.
You played a pivotal role at ElevenLabs. What made you decide it was the right moment to transition from operating at a breakout startup to launching a VC fund?
I was extremely fortunate to join ElevenLabs when there were still fewer than 40 employees, and to witness almost 10x growth in less than 2 years. In my roles, I established high-impact partnerships, spearheaded the AI Safety team, and led many initiatives to limit audio AI’s misuse. It was an exciting journey that allowed me to learn a lot, most importantly, that I feel most comfortable and fulfilled during the 0-1 startup journey.
The challenges of scaling from 100 to 400 people are quite a different cup of tea (laugh). Running a VC fund is a little bit like launching multiple 0 to 1 journeys at once, and I’ve known for a while that this was the next step I wanted to take in my career. Fortunately, Zuzanna and Karolina, two other partners at the fund whom I had known for over 5 years, shared the same vision, giving me the confidence to make that move now.
Are you still involved with ElevenLabs in any advisory or partnership capacity, and how do those experiences influence the way you now support founders at Vastpoint?
Since we (at ElevenLabs) opened a Warsaw office in November 2024, and I decided to move back to Poland from London, I’ve built a very close relationship with the Polish team across engineering, product, and go-to-market functions. The partnerships I set up with the Polish Presidency in the EU, Polish Olympiads, and AI societies allowed me to get to know the public policy and tech ecosystems very well, after over a decade spent abroad. While my formal relationship with ElevenLabs remains solely through equity options, which I was lucky to get during my time on the team, I am happy to have built lasting relationships with early team members, investors, and partners, and to count Mati among vastpoint’s supporters.
I think what’s even more important is that vastpoint will be one of the first funds in our region where the entire investment team has prior entrepreneurial experience. We’ve built companies both with venture capital support and by bootstrapping. From my perspective, as a founder and angel investor, I know how crucial it is for a team to focus on the product and customer as quickly as possible, instead of spending time and energy on a prolonged investment process. We want to be a partner, not just another "task to manage."
vastpoint is entering a market where several new funds are emerging. What do you see as the unique advantage of your team and thesis compared to others in the region?
Our unique edge is that we’ve sat on both sides of the table. As founders, we’ve lived the early-stage grind ourselves: Zuzanna as CEO of a YC-backed startup, myself as COO of a deep tech venture, and Karolina by building and scaling her D2C business.
On top of that, we bring scale-up experience from ElevenLabs, together with investment expertise from leading global firms. Having gone from building from scratch to raising seed and scaling internationally, we know exactly what founders need at every stage of growth.
And finally, our network is a real differentiator. We collaborate with unicorn founders, alongside others with global reach, who are eager to support the next generation of Polish startups. Our deep ties across Europe, the US, and Poland will prove especially useful in opening doors to leading tech firms as potential partners and buyers.
You’re targeting AI, SaaS, and healthtech. Why do you believe Poland is especially well-positioned to lead in these verticals, and what will you look for in early-stage teams?
Poland has an exceptional pool of tech talent, which makes us particularly well-positioned to invest in AI and software solutions. Healthtech is one of the application areas where our team brings especially strong and relevant expertise, though we will take a broad view across applications and industry verticals.
At the pre-seed and seed stage, we believe investing is first and foremost about backing people. We’ll prioritize founders with strong technical backgrounds, and we’re not afraid to back first-time teams, provided they demonstrate grit, the ability to iterate quickly, a deep understanding of their domain, product obsession, and their potential to raise future rounds from top-tier investors.
From your perspective, what is the biggest bottleneck holding Polish founders back today — is it access to international customers, commercialization know-how, global networks, or something else?
Poland’s startup landscape is evolving rapidly and in the right direction, with growing activity and increasing amounts of risk capital fueling innovation. Yet, the region still has relatively few large-scale success stories.
From vastpoint’s perspective, we’d like to see more successful founders reinvesting their experience and capital into the next generation of entrepreneurs. We also aim to attract more top-tier venture firms to Poland, which have the capacity for meaningful follow-on investments that can support companies beyond the seed stage.
Poland and the broader CEE region are excellent places to start a business. But to reach unicorn scale, founders must be able to expand beyond local markets and tap into international opportunities.
And how will vastpoint, with its Warsaw-New York presence and co-investment strategy, directly address that gap?
Our Warsaw-New York presence and the network of top international founders and VCs are exactly what will bring Polish founders closer to the global tech ecosystem. But we are not going to stop there. We have been deepening ties not only with leading investors but also with major international tech firms, which will allow us to support founders with business development opportunities, and access to global talent.
You mentioned a network that includes unicorn founders like Mati Staniszewski and Thomas Clozel. How will mentorship actually work in practice for your founders — is it structured, ad-hoc, or built into the investment process?
When it comes to mentorship, we’re taking inspiration directly from Y Combinator, known for its intense, hands-on guidance and strong community for its cohort members. Zuzanna herself went through YC in 2018 with her startup back when Sam Altman was still actively working with the teams.
This experience has shaped our approach: we’ll offer opportunities where our portfolio founders can learn firsthand from top entrepreneurs, tapping into their practical insights. Beyond that, we want to expand beyond the tech bubble, relying on experienced operators from other industries who can act as sounding boards on issues like team building or well-being.
Beyond financial returns, what impact do you hope vastpoint will have on Poland’s startup ecosystem over the next few years?
Beyond financial returns, our ambition is to unlock Poland's tremendous, often underestimated, potential. As a country that has joined the G20 in terms of GDP size, Poland is ripe for greater global tech recognition.
We aim to actively connect top-tier international VCs and the broader global tech community with the Polish ecosystem, so it becomes one of the best places in Europe to build the next generation of category-defining startups.
