WSE - Warsaw Stock Exchange SA

07/28/2021 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 07/28/2021 11:09

State-of-the-Art Instruments Support Polish Innovative Companies

State-of-the-Art Instruments Support Polish Innovative Companies

2021-07-28 19:04:50

PRESS RELEASE

  • NCBR Investment Fund ASI S.A. (NIF), an investment fund owned by the National Centre for Research and Development (NCBR), joins forces with Partner Funds: Enea Innowacje, BridgeOne, and PGE Ventures
  • Under the first contracts ever, NIF and the partners will invest up to PLN 1.4 billion in Polish innovative companies at the stage of growth and expansion
  • A meeting held on the Warsaw Stock Exchange Trading Floor on 27 July presented their joint investment plans

'We are not planning to limit the scope of investment areas at this time. What is key for us is that projects have a Polish component, an R&D edge, and a huge growth potential. NIF focuses on start-ups but not in the seed stage: we support their further growth and expansion,' said NIF CEO Krzysztof Szubert. 'I am positive that our partnership and co-investments with the Partner Funds will greatly support the growth and market success of many ambitious companies and projects,' added Mr Szubert.

NCBR Director Wojciech Kamieniecki presented instruments supporting companies and projects at the stage of research and commercialisation. 'We use European funds to implement among others the Bridge Alfa programme which supports start-ups at the pre-seed and seed stage. NIF closes the investment gap by financing further steps in the projects. We will jointly provide a full range of investments for Polish companies, ranging from research through implementation and commercialisation to further development t and market expansion. We urge companies to use the available opportunities,' said Mr Kamieniecki.

Warsaw Stock Exchange CEO Marek Dietl encouraged further investments of NIF and its Partner Funds. 'NIF's co-investment model is very promising. GPW wants to support this form of investments. They address global market trends. Rather than companies competing in their sectors, global competition pits different systems against one another. This is why CVC funds are so important: their investments can generate new systems,' said Mr Dietl.

The event featured an expert debate dedicated to the development and market expansion of Polish innovative companies, state-of-the-art support instruments and co-investments. The speakers included NCBR Director Wojciech Kamieniecki, GPW CEO Marek Dietl, NIF CEO Krzysztof Szubert, and representatives of the Partner Funds: Michał Smyk of Enea Innowacje, Marcin Markiewicz of BridgeOne, and Tomasz Jakubiak of PGE Ventures.
In the opinion of the speakers, digitisation, green energy and artificial intelligence will in the coming years be the strategic investment areas opening space for breakthrough solutions and biggest market success of companies.

NIF co-investment partners include:

Enea Innowacje
Enea Innowacje is a member of the Enea Group responsible for innovations, including equity investments in start-up projects, research and development.
The company provides funding and makes available the potential of the Enea Group spanning infrastructure, sales channels, business relations and industry expertise, and supports pilot projects and business scaling initiatives.
The key themes of Enea Innowacje's quest for state-of-the-art business and technology solutions include circular economy, energy storage, new RES technology, electromobility, smart city, Big Data, Artificial Intelligence, automation, Internet of Things, and customer service.
Projects can be proposed at any time here.

BridgeOne
Bridge Fund is a group of experts and market practitioners who support company owners in maximising their business value. The fund assists companies in raising capital but is also suggests and implements modern business management, innovation, and technology development solutions which help companies regain a competitive edge, rebuild an attractive product offer, and recover the market position. Bridge Fund focuses on production companies whose owners want to work together in order to improve business development, finance, organisation, management and production solutions.

PGE Ventures
PGE Ventures is Poland's first Corporate Venture Capital (CVC) fund established within the organisation of a major capital group in the energy sector. Since its inception in 2017, the company has raised PLN 60 million in public funding to establish two external-satellite investment funds:

  • Energy Research Capital (ERC) in the BRIdge Alfa Programme (NCBR) - total capitalisation PLN 40 million,
  • SpeedUp Energy Innovation in the BRIdge VC Programme (PFR Ventures and NCBR) - total capitalisation PLN 60 million.

PGE Ventures and the external funds have invested in 20 start-ups at different stages of growth, where the external funds are responsible for 13 and PGE Ventures for 7 equity investments. The start-ups in the PGE Ventures portfolio support PGE Group members across their strategic pillars including green energy and state-of-the-art energy services by reducing operating expenses, improving operational efficiency and implementing innovative products and services tailored to the PGE Group's value chain.

***

History of the WSE
On 12 May 1991, the then Ministers of Ownership Transformation and Finance signed the Deed of Incorporation of the joint stock company 'Giełda Papierów Wartościowych w Warszawie S.A.' Four days later, on the day of the WSE's inaugural session, shares of five companies were traded and the turnover amounted to PLN 1990. Since 2018, the WSE has been classified as one of the 25 developed markets by the FTSE Russell agency. The history of the capital market on Polish soil dates back to the early 19th century. The first in Poland and one of the few in Europe, the Merchant Exchange, was established in Warsaw on 2 May 1817, soon became the largest market in Tsarist Russia, responsible for 5-6% of global securities trading. A thriving stock exchange, accounting for 90% of the domestic turnover, also operated in Warsaw in the interwar period. After the period of the People's Republic of Poland and the planned economy, it was not until 1989, with the political and economic transformation, that the Polish capital market was able to develop again.

Stock exchange today
The average daily EOB equity turnover value on the WSE was PLN 1,172.8 million in June 2021. The Main Market listed 426 companies (379 domestic and 47 foreign) and the NewConnect market listed 365 companies (361 domestic and 4 foreign) as at 30 June 2021. Last year, the WSE Group generated record sales of PLN 403.8 million and one of the highest ever net profits of over PLN 151 million. According to the Federation of European Securities Exchanges, in 2020 the WSE ranked first in Europe in terms of percentage increase in equity turnover and third in terms of the value of initial offerings. At the end of 2020, the WSE was also the second market in Europe in terms of liquidity and achieved the status of world leader in terms of the number of listed companies in the gamedev sector.

WSE position in the region
The WSE is the leader among stock exchanges in Central and Eastern Europe by the number of listed companies and the total capitalisation of domestic companies. The WSE's share in trading on stock exchanges in the region is 81%. The WSE leads the initiative of the Three Seas Stock Exchanges and aspires to the role of a regional hub for young technological companies with huge potential, the so-called unicorns. Negotiations are currently underway for the WSE to acquire a majority stake in the Armenian Exchange.

***

The Warsaw Stock Exchange Group (GPW Group) operates trading platforms for shares, Treasury and corporate bonds, derivatives, electricity and gas, and provides indices and benchmarks including WIBOR and WIBID. The index agent FTSE Russell classifies the Polish capital market as a Developed Market since 2018. The markets operated by the GPW Group are the biggest in Central and Eastern Europe. For more information, visit www.gpw.pl.