A new Polish VC fund backing Europe’s industrial future — TFN

Europe’s industrial and power techniques are being reshaped by new applied sciences, rising infrastructure wants, and the push for better financial resilience. Montis VC desires to be a part of that shift.

The enterprise capital agency has launched a brand new fund with a €50 million first shut, concentrating on early-stage startups constructing applied sciences for the power and industrial transition whereas additionally supporting wider adoption of synthetic intelligence throughout the economic system. The fund is backed by the European Investment Fund by means of the REPowerEU programme, the Polish Improvement Fund, and a mixture of household places of work and personal buyers from throughout Central and Japanese Europe.

Montis VC plans to spend money on 20 to 25 startups on the pre-seed and seed phases. Preliminary cheques will vary from €0.5 million to €2 million, whereas half of the full funding price range has been reserved for follow-on rounds. Its focus is on scalable corporations that may enhance productiveness, strengthen Europe’s competitiveness, and assist extra sustainable financial techniques. 

Investing the place business meets transformation

The timing of the launch displays a wider shift within the European market. As AI, industrial automation and new mobility fashions develop into extra widespread, demand is rising for applied sciences that may assist cleaner, extra environment friendly and extra versatile infrastructure.

Montis VC is positioning itself round that chance. Its technique centres on startups working throughout the power and industrial transition, whereas additionally backing options that may assist Europe construct stronger long-term financial capability. The fund is on the lookout for companies with world potential, significantly these able to utilizing synthetic intelligence as a sensible instrument for quicker scaling and broader real-world impression.

This implies the agency will not be chasing slender themes. As an alternative, it’s trying on the techniques that sit beneath the trendy economic system, from how items transfer to how power is managed and the way industrial operations can develop into smarter and extra environment friendly.

A group constructing on a longtime monitor report

Montis VC was based in 2019 by Łukasz Dziekoński, Wojciech Szwankowski, and Michał Gawęda in Warsaw. The group has additionally been strengthened by the addition of Michał Baś, who was beforehand related to pan-European enterprise capital agency Enterprise Associates. The identical group beforehand launched and managed Montis Capital. It has invested round €30 million throughout 9 corporations working on the intersection of know-how and business.

With the brand new automobile, Montis VC is scaling up each its construction and ambitions. The agency now has a bigger group, a broader worldwide community and a extra lively funding technique throughout European markets..

Worldwide community, broader ambition

Its worldwide attain extends past the core funding group. Enterprise companions embody former Estonian Prime Minister Taavi Rõivas, entrepreneur and Harvard Enterprise College graduate Tomasz Misiak, and renewable power specialist Bart Dujczyński, whose expertise spans Western European markets. Their function will probably be to assist the fund construct relationships throughout the broader know-how ecosystem and assist portfolio corporations as they broaden internationally.

Montis VC says velocity and a founder-first method will probably be central to the way it operates. The agency desires to work carefully with founders on technique, cross-border development and future fundraising. The €50 million first shut will not be the endpoint both. It marks the beginning of a broader fundraising course of, with plans to extend the fund’s capitalisation within the months forward.

Funding portfolio 

Montis Capital’s portfolio spans business, life sciences and digital infrastructure, backing corporations that pair technical depth with industrial traction. The portfolio contains:

• Talkin’ Issues: RFID know-how that helps digitise merchandise at scale.
• PlumResearch: Viewers measurement for OTT and TV markets.
• Proteon Prescribed drugs: Animal well being options primarily based on bacteriophages.
• Recent Inset: Publish-harvest freshness know-how for meals.
• Biotts: proprietary drug growth in oncology, dermatology and autoimmune illnesses. 
• Plenti: Subscription-based tech leases supporting the round economic system.
• Autofixer: Managed market for automobile elements. 
• Port: Final-mile supply infrastructure for e-mobility companies. 

“We spend money on founders who need to construct the way forward for the European economic system by means of know-how and power effectivity. We’re significantly targeted on areas such because the power and industrial transition, the place synthetic intelligence can develop into a robust driver of innovation and world scale,” says Michał Gawęda, Companion at Montis VC.

“We’re constructing Montis VC as a new-generation fund that’s quick, versatile and works carefully with founders. There may be nonetheless a scarcity of buyers who actively assist startups scale quicker and put together for the subsequent phases of development. That’s the hole we need to fill,” says Michał Baś, Principal at Montis VC.

“Europe has distinctive technological potential and a deep pool of expertise. At Montis VC, we need to assist startups unlock that potential globally by supporting initiatives which have the ambition to rework whole sectors of the economic system,” provides Wojciech Szwankowski, Companion at Montis VC.

“Earlier, PFR Ventures additionally joined the investor base, allocating €10 million to the brand new Montis VC fund. – Montis VC is one other group from Poland that first constructed its monitor report utilizing capital backed by European Union funds and is now efficiently attracting non-public and institutional buyers for its subsequent fund. Tales like this assist transfer the Polish enterprise ecosystem to the subsequent degree,” says Bartłomiej Samsonowicz, Funding Director at PFR Ventures.

“Our purpose is to ship above-average funding returns whereas backing applied sciences that genuinely enhance financial productiveness. We’re significantly desirous about initiatives making use of AI in sectors corresponding to business, power and infrastructure. These are the areas the place we see the strongest potential for constructing world know-how corporations from Europe,” says Łukasz Dziekoński, Companion at Montis VC – The €50 million first shut is barely a place to begin. Over the approaching months we plan to proceed scaling the fund and are already in superior discussions with extra buyers – he provides.