OTB Ventures is the largest venture capital fund in the CEE region, founded in 2017 by Adam Niewinski and Marcin Hejka. Prior to founding the fund, the two men gained experience at a number of internationally renowned companies, including Boston Consulting Group, Pekao SA and Intel Capital. Adam Niewinski was also associated with Singularity University and NASA.

Raising funding for a new project, the OTB2 fund, which aims to invest in so-called deeptech, a sector with a huge emphasis on engineering and the development of new technologies, is their latest success. Undoubtedly, the most outstanding partner in the new venture is the NATO Innovation Fund, i.e. a fund established in 2022 to support the development of space technology, bioengineering, artificial intelligence and energy [1].

As the Forbes article mentions, in cooperation with NATO, OTB2 will focus on the aforementioned technologies in terms of their applicability in the defense and security sphere [2]. The plans don’t stop there, however, as the fund’s interest extends beyond strictly military issues. The key will be to invest in so-called ‘dual use’ technologies. These are useful not only in the defense field, but also have huge applications in the civilian sphere. In the aforementioned article, Adam Niewinski gives the example of satellite technologies, which are used both for observing the military activities of the enemy and monitoring climate change and fighting natural disasters.

Evidently, the issue of satellites occupies a key position in the fund managers’ plans. After all, one of OTB’s largest investments is in ICEYE, a manufacturer of microsatellites native to Poland and Finland. ICEYE itself also boasts cooperation with key American institutions in this sector – the State Department and the CIA [4]. It is also impossible not to mention other companies in OTB’s portfolio – FintechOS, Scalarr and Ondato [5].

As Adam Niewinski declares, he is excited by the prospect of developing more Polish companies that can fight for an important position on the global market. OTB2 itself also intends to use investments to develop the technology sector in Poland by creating R&D centers of companies with such a profile in our country [6]. Marcin Hejka also mentions investment plans covering the entire continent [7]. A number of the fund’s projects to date have been successful, which gives a very positive prognosis for its further performance. We ought to mention investments such as Veridion, Semron and KYP.ai that have contributed to the development of artificial intelligence and automation, as well as enterprise productivity analysis [8].

While listing the fund’s largest partners, one should also remember the European Investment Fund that supports OTB Ventures using the InvestEU program. EIF CEO Marjut Falkstedt emphasizes the importance of OTB for the competitiveness not only of Poland, but even of the entire European Union on the global market [9]. Therefore it looks like Poland has lived to see another entity that has broken through to the top of the continent’s major players with its activities. We will be happy to watch the further deeds of OTB Ventures, as well as the careers of Adam Niewinski and Marcin Hejka.

Bibliography:

[1] Nato Investment Fund, [online], [accessed at 20 April 2024], accessible at: https://www.nif.fund/

[2] Domaradzki K., “Polski fundusz z pieniędzmi od NATO. Chodzi o technologie podwójnego zastosowania”, Forbes,, [online], 21 March 2024, [accessed at 20 April 2024], accessible at::  https://www.forbes.pl/biznes/nato-inwestuje-w-otb-ventures-fundusz-wyda-750-mln-zlotych-na-start-upy/3d0ezm7

[3] Domaradzki K., “Polski fundusz z pieniędzmi od NATO. Chodzi o technologie podwójnego zastosowania”, Forbes,, [online], 21 March 2024, [accessed at 20 April 2024], accessible at:: https://www.forbes.pl/biznes/nato-inwestuje-w-otb-ventures-fundusz-wyda-750-mln-zlotych-na-start-upy/3d0ezm7

[4] Domaradzki K., “Polski fundusz z pieniędzmi od NATO. Chodzi o technologie podwójnego zastosowania”, Forbes,, [online], 21 March 2024, [accessed at 20 April 2024], accessible at:: https://www.forbes.pl/biznes/nato-inwestuje-w-otb-ventures-fundusz-wyda-750-mln-zlotych-na-start-upy/3d0ezm7

[5] Startup Poland, [online], [accessed at 20 April 2024], accessible at:: https://startuppoland.org/fundusz/otb/

[6] Domaradzki K., “Polski fundusz z pieniędzmi od NATO. Chodzi o technologie podwójnego zastosowania”, Forbes,, [online], 21 March 2024, [accessed at 20 April 2024], accessible at:: https://www.forbes.pl/biznes/nato-inwestuje-w-otb-ventures-fundusz-wyda-750-mln-zlotych-na-start-upy/3d0ezm7

[7] Bank.pl, “OTB Fund stał się największym funduszem Venture Capital w Europie Środkowo-Wschodniej”, [online], 21 March 2024, [accessed at 20 April 2024], accessible at:: https://bank.pl/otb-fund-2-stal-sie-najwiekszym-funduszem-venture-capital-w-europie-srodkowo-wschodniej/

[8] Bank.pl, “OTB Fund stał się największym funduszem Venture Capital w Europie Środkowo-Wschodniej”, [online], 21 March 2024, [accessed at 20 April 2024], accessible at:: https://bank.pl/otb-fund-2-stal-sie-najwiekszym-funduszem-venture-capital-w-europie-srodkowo-wschodniej/

[9] Polski Fundusz Rozwoju, “OTB Ventures tworzy swój Drugi Fundusz o wartości 185 milionów dolarów mający na celu wsparcie innowacji w obszarze DeepTech w Europie”, [online], 21 March 2024, [accessed at 20 April 2024], accessible at:: https://startup.pfr.pl/pl/otb-ventures-tworzy-swoj-drugi-fundusz-o-wartosci-185-milionow-dolarow-majacy-na-celu-wsparcie-innowacji-w-obszarze-deeptech-w-europie/