One of the fastest-growing crowdfunding giants, FundedByMe sets up their newest branch in Poland. The platform had successfully collected more than €50 million for some 470 companies from 25 different countries.
The launch of the Polish office was announced on 17 April at Google Campus in Warsaw marking the fifth time that FundedByMe has expanded to an international location. In Poland, it is the first foreign platform that offers capital through equity crowdfunding from an expanding network of more than 110.000 investors.
"Within the first year, we want to show the most innovative startups with great potential, which are ready to expand globally. We want to build a bridge between the experienced Swedish investment market and Polish startups and investors." says Maciej Gajewski, CEO and co-founder of FundedByMe Poland, whose previous credits include project management at the MIT Enterprise Forum Startup Accelerator.
FundedByMe aims at startups from Poland that generate revenues and are seeking to raise up to €1 million in Sweden and other countries. FundedByMe founders have high hopes for the Polish market due to the quality of technology startups and a startup-friendly ecosystem.
"We believe in cross-border investments helping innovative startups expand across all borders more easily. Polish entrepreneurs have a reputation of being diligent, meticulous and executive." explains Lovisa Strömsholm, who is responsible for Investor Relations and International Growth at the company. Based in Stockholm, she has so far been responsible for coordinating and launching the crowdfunding concept of FundedByMe to new markets in Europe and Asia.
The launch event in Warsaw featured high-profile presentations of Ronald Domelid, Swedish entrepreneur and co-founder of Stonefactory.se, the largest online retailer in its category, as well as Alicja Domelid, founder of Ecoliving and Naturalbox, which raised over €200.000 through FundedByMe.
Moreover, three Polish startups that gained international attention showcased their products. Karol Górnowicz, CEO Skriware, a 3D printing startup from Warsaw, presented their newest fully integrated educational ecosystem consisting of robots, e-learning platform and easy-to-use 3D printers. Furthermore, Marcin Maliszewski, co-founder of Blinkee.city, an electric scooter sharing startup, announced their newest battery stations which are going to be deployed around the cities, providing battery recharge and checking the current battery level. In addition, Jakub Olek, co-founder of Hyper Poland, a startup developing the new mode of transportation - Hyperloop that allows people to travel near the speed of sound, mentioned their work on the most innovative logistics solutions.
According to Erik Friberg, the Swedish Trade and Invest Council Business Sweden, Sweden is second after the Silicon Valley in terms of global innovation and opportunities for startups.
The branch in Poland has been set up in cooperation with local partners through a new joint venture.
FundedByMe is one of the only full-service crowdfunding platforms offering capital through equity crowdfunding. The platform has strategically grown into attractive markets in Europe and Asia. Furthermore, it grabbed the top spot in the Alternative Finance category in the First Round of the European Fintech Awards 2017. The public and a panel of judges have chosen FundedByMe as one of most promising European FinTech companies.
