Polish Startups 2023 – Wroclaw and Lower Silesia “Polish Silicon Valley”! The most startups in the country are being created here!

According to the “Polish Startups 2023” report prepared by Startup Poland, the map of Polish young technology companies has remained almost unchanged in recent years. It is the Lower Silesia region that is the undeniable leader. It is here that as many as 28 percent of all Polish startups are registered. The second place in this regard is occupied by Mazovia (19 percent), and the third place is Malopolska (12 percent).

Polish Startups 2023: The power is in the economic strength.

According to the report’s authors, the strength of Lower Silesia, which tops the rankings each year in terms of the number of both emerging and locally operating startups, lies in its economic strength. On top of that, the academic and scientific communities here are thriving, and there is better infrastructure than in many other areas of the country. These factors are the pillars of entrepreneurship development as such.

Added to this is the favorable geographic location – including, above all, proximity to the German border. Many Lower Silesian companies also have the opportunity to join the chain of subcontractors for German industry, and this in turn stimulates further development and, in a way, can be an impetus for the creation of innovations and development of technologies by local startups, the report says.

A better result than a year ago. Polish Startups 2023

According to Jacek Sutryk, mayor of Wroclaw, the local startup ecosystem is proving its strength, value, creativity and commitment for another year in a row.

“Many entities are working for this success, which means that we have a community in Wroclaw that is very much focused around innovation and technology. The companies that are created in our city are not afraid of challenges and in many cases are leaders on a global scale. Importantly, in this year’s report we scored even better than in 2022. This shows how well business is doing in our city. Because the strength of Wroclaw is, above all, its residents. Great pride!”
– says Jacek Sutryk

Polish Startups 2023 – potential well used

According to Paulina Muszyńska, head of Startup Wroclaw, the leading position among regions, achieved for the second time in a row, is a great pride and motivation.

“It’s not a coincidence, but a well-utilized creative potential, location and, above all, a wonderfully cooperative ecosystem.”
– comments Paulina Muszyńska

In turn, Magdalena Okulowska, president of the Wroclaw Agglomeration Development Agency, believes that startups are the main driver of innovation and building competitive advantages.

“I congratulate them, as well as institutions, incubators, universities, many great people who are able to co-create conditions for development and action. I would also like to thank the entire Startup Wroclaw team, which, within the framework of ARAW, has created a recognizable and integrative platform for cooperation between startups and business environment institutions.”
– adds Magdalena Okulowska

Artificial intelligence reigns supreme

Among the information from the report were those concerning the functioning of Polish startups, such as the type of activity, financing, employment, revenues or barriers to development.

The main conclusions of the report “Polish Startups 2023”:

• Lower Silesia was named “Polish Silicon Valley” for the second time. – as many as 28 percent of all Polish startups are registered here.
• AI is the keyword most often indicated by Polish startups, best reflecting the nature of their main product or service.
• 34 percent of startups employ between 4 and 10 people. Most of their employees are men.
• The revenue situation of startups is better at the moment than it was a year ago – more than half (51 percent) of them generate significantly more revenue than last year, and in 26 percent they are slightly better than a year ago. For 8 percent, the revenue situation is the same as in 2022.
• Among external sources of funding for startups, the most frequently cited are domestic VC funds, whose support was used by 25 percent of respondents, followed by business angels at 24 percent.
• A key barrier to the development of startups is the cost of hiring an employee – this answer is indicated by the most, 54 percent of respondents. The second most frequently mentioned barrier, signaled by almost every second startup (49 percent), is the problem of obtaining financing in the next phases of development, and too much bureaucracy when running operations (37 percent).

Nearly 5,000 startups were surveyed. Polish Startups 2023

The “Polish Startups” report was compiled for the ninth time. For its purposes, an online survey was conducted using the SurveyLab tool. A report with its results was created automatically, in real time. The survey was conducted between July 4 and September 4, 2023. It was participated by 4841 opinion leaders. Among them, the vast majority were startup founders, with a small share of non-founder employees of startups.