Warsaw-based venture capital firm Vastpoint has launched with an €18 million debut vehicle, Vastpoint I, aimed at backing Poland’s next wave of early-stage technology founders. The fund, anchored by PFR Ventures, Central and Eastern Europe’s largest fund-of-funds manager, is part of the European Funds for Smart Economy programme.
The new firm, which has offices in both Warsaw and New York, says it intends to connect local entrepreneurs with international investors and partners, giving Polish startups the chance to scale globally from their earliest stages.
The timing comes as Poland cements its position among the world’s 20 largest economies and builds recognition as a hub of engineering and technical talent. Companies such as ElevenLabs, Iceye and Booksy have already gained international traction, but local venture firms argue more needs to be done to turn strong domestic innovation into global commercial successes.
Leadership team with global experience
Vastpoint is led by three Polish women with varied international backgrounds. Aleksandra Pedraszewska brings experience from her early role at AI company ElevenLabs as well as deeptech startups and mentoring in UK accelerator programmes. Karolina Kukiełka has spent nearly a decade working in London venture capital, where she supported SaaS founders through the seed to Series A stages. Zuzanna Brzosko, trained in neuroscience at Cambridge, previously founded Sixfold Bioscience, secured Y Combinator backing, and later held senior roles at Eli Lilly, managing large-scale transactions.
The team is joined by advisors including Thomas Clozel, founder of French biotech Owkin, and Mati Staniszewski, cofounder of ElevenLabs. Their involvement is expected to strengthen the firm’s healthtech and AI focus.
Vastpoint plans to write initial cheques of between €500,000 and €750,000, concentrating on AI, B2B SaaS and healthtech – sectors where Poland’s emerging founders are increasingly active.
Strategy to link Poland with global capital
A central part of the firm’s strategy will be co-investing with European and US venture firms that are keen to expand into Central and Eastern Europe but often look for local partners. Vastpoint says it aims to act as that bridge, drawing more foreign capital into Polish startups while reducing risk for international investors.
The firm has a particular interest in technical founders who studied or worked abroad at institutions or companies such as Google, Microsoft or OpenAI. Brzosko said this international exposure provides a “benchmark of excellence” that can be transferred to Poland’s startup ecosystem.
Although multinationals including Google, Microsoft and Nvidia are already expanding operations in Poland, the domestic startup scene is still smaller in scale compared with Western Europe. Vastpoint’s founders argue their mission is to support high-potential entrepreneurs early on, enabling them to compete internationally and contribute to the next generation of global tech leaders from Poland.
