POLISH INDUSTRY 4.0 CLOSER THAN EVER

17 March 2022

Technology startups can receive up to 66 000 euro of non-refundable equity free grant to conduct their business in Poland. The largest Polish accelerator of Industry 4.0 KPT ScaleUP invites young companies to cooperate and offers comprehensive support in implementing solutions for large business.

KPT ScaleUP is the leading Industry 4.0 accelerator in Poland. For 4 years it has been successfully connecting the domestic startup community with large industrial companies. During 7 six-month editions of the acceleration, its team together with a wide range of experts, supported 85 young technological companies. The best proof of KPT ScaleUP's effectiveness is the number of commercial implementations carried out by the accelerated startups at industrial partners.

Now KPT ScaleUP extends its invitation for cooperation to foreign startups.

We are looking for companies that want to develop Industry 4.0 based on such technologies as IIoT, VR, AR, AI, big data and others helping to digitalize business processes. Such products and services are awaited by Polish plants or factories which seriously think about strengthening their market position. We offer such startups up to EUR 66,000 of non-refundable equity free grant. Plus, at the very beginning we provide direct cooperation with a large industrial company that is our partner

Małgorzata Chmielewska, project manager of KPT ScaleUP powered by Poland Prize

Additional forms of support include access to a group of Polish industry experts, networking with Polish founders and mentoring and consulting of specialists in law, finance, marketing, sales and management. The KPT ScaleUP ecosystem includes more than 200 industrial companies and several investment funds that will be kept informed about solutions developed within the acceleration.

Polish Industry 4.0 - an attractive development direction

In addition to a wide range of support, the macroeconomic context also speaks for participation in the KPT ScaleUP accelerator. According to the report "EY's European Attractiveness Survey 2019" Poland was recognized as the sixth most attractive business destination in Europe and the first in Central and Eastern Europe. Poland is also the fifth largest economy in the European Union. Young companies can take advantage of a wide range of European and privately funded grants and subsidies to develop their business. The country's startup scene is thriving, with more than 3,000 young companies, 130 venture capitals and over a hundred accelerators and incubators.

Hand in hand with industrial giants

Foreign startups are awaited not only by the gas pedal team, but also by a group of Polish industrial companies that have joined the acceleration program. Each of the companies has submitted their own technological challenges, which they want to solve in cooperation with selected startups. For young companies this means that already during the acceleration they will cooperate with their potential customers. The industrial partners of KPT ScaleUP are:

one of the leaders in the fertilizer and chemical industry in Europe, operating in the mineral fertilizer sector Grupa Azoty
world leader in innovative and sustainable low carbon building solutions Lafarge Poland
Poland's largest private company in the food industry and one of the largest in Central and Eastern Europe Maspex
one of the European leaders in bus and trolleybus production Solaris Bus & Coach
robotics leader ASTOR
solution provider for aviation and industrial markets Woodward Polska.

How does acceleration with KPT ScaleUP work?

To take advantage of the support offered by the KPT ScaleUP accelerator, you first need to participate in the call for applications. Applications will be accepted till 15th April. Startups whose solutions best match the needs of industrial partners will be invited to the first stage, soft landing. Startups receive money to start business activity in Poland and establish cooperation with technology recipient. After three months the actual six-month acceleration begins. The KPT ScaleUP team helps with the implementation of the startup's solution by, among other things, financing the costs of its development or validation.

What is characteristic for our model is to enable startups to work closely with a large company from the very beginning. Thanks to this a startup develops its technology or product together with a potential client, based on real market needs and in a real environment for which the startup's solution was created.

Rafał Oświęcimka, acceleration specialist in KPT ScaleUP

Recruitment for KPT ScaleUP will last until April 15th. Recruitment form, regulations and all the information regarding acceleration can be found here.

KPT Poland Prize project implemented under Measure 2.5 Acceleration Programs - Poland Prize of the Operational Programme Intelligent Development 2014-2020, co-financed by the European Regional Development Fund.