The full report is available for download HERE.
Business angels are private individuals who invest their capital in startups in exchange for shares in the company. In addition, these types of investors are involved in the companies’ growth through consulting, support or assistance in reaching new customers. This also gives them a direct influence over their investments’ development. It is also invaluable for early-stage startups in the early days of their journey. What's more, the returns achieved from this form of investment can reach several hundred or even several thousand percent over several years.
"I fully believe in the potential of startups, which, if well managed, can turn an idea into a high-profit business. They can be an excellent testing ground for future mass consumer trends. With the financial support and know-how of experienced managers and a larger entities, they often succeed in scaling emerging concepts," commented Rafał Brzoska, Founder and CEO of InPost, who actively invests in startups.
More importantly, to become a business angel you don't have to be one of the richest Poles, referred to in the report as Super Angels (people who invest larger amounts of money and have been doing so for several years). Angel investments often start from as little as PLN 50,000. Even with such an amount, the return on investment after a few years can be significant - examples of exits, i.e. the sale of shares, indicate as much as 2,000 or 1,200 percent return. Business angels who made the so-called exits in 2021 can boast an average exit of PLN 3.99 million.
The new Report on the angel market in Poland shows how this area of investment activity is shaping up. Dominik Krawczyk, Chief Operations Officer at COBIN Angels said: "The business angel market is still young in Poland, but it has a huge potential for growth due to, among other things, the rapidly developing area of innovation, the increasing interest of foreign investors in the Polish market, and, above all, due to the growing number of wealthy individuals who are looking for new ways to allocate and multiply their capital."
Venture Capital funds have been operating on the Polish market for a long time, but the sector of private investors is still at an early stage of development. The authors of the report estimate that there are currently 680 active business angels in Poland. In Western European countries there are usually at least several thousand. The results of the survey confirm that the angel investment market in Poland is still growing. As many as 40% of the surveyed business angels have been investing for only three years or less, and more than half of the business angels (53%) have made between one and six investments during their entire business angel activity.
According to the report, investments in startups are, for the time being, the domain of men (80% of those surveyed), but the 20% share of female investors in the market is a result that stands out among European countries - Spain, Croatia, Latvia, Slovakia, Ireland or Finland have lower results.
Business angels in Poland are mainly middle-aged, most of them are between 35 and 49 years old - this age bracket accounts for as much as 70%. To date, they have most often been entrepreneurs (55% of those surveyed) and corporate managers (30%). The report shows that these two professional groups are joined by doctors, lawyers or IT professionals.
All of these groups have the necessary knowledge to support the development of startups and the motivation to try this type of investment. Wojciech Kostrzewa, the Polish Business Roundtable’s President, business angel, CEO of Billon Group said: "Being a business angel is one of the professional development paths for top managers and mature entrepreneurs. Cooperation with startups can be a source of inspiration and new knowledge, and for some, an idea for a further career path. In this context, the development of the business angel market is a highly desirable phenomenon, both from the economic and individual perspective.”
The COBIN Angels report "How do the best business angels invest in Poland? Poland's angel investment market in2021" was created in cooperation with partners OVHcloud and PolishAngels, as well as content partner Warsaw School of Economics.
Media partners of the Report are Comparic, Fintek.pl, FX MAG, and ITwiz.
The ecosystem partners are Ashoka, CIC Warsaw, European Business Angels Network, Warsaw Stock Exchange, Startup Hub Poland, Startup Poland, Trend House, VCLeaders, Youth Business Forum and the Polish Bank Association.
The full report is available for download HERE.
