Borubar Ventures

Industries: We do not focus specifically on one or more industries; in fact, we really like projects outside the field of programming or technology. The production of shoes, meat or bull breeding is just as interesting to us, as you can see when you look at the companies in our portfolio.

Activity: Borubar Ventures is an entity created by a group of entrepreneurs experienced in building their own companies from scratch. The founders of the fund now want to help other entrepreneurs who are thinking of entering the market with their products and services. The aim is to help young business practitioners develop their ideas, but also to show them that company development is primarily about the ability to sell and manage the company effectively, and not necessarily about networking and attending various events, conferences or meetings for start-ups.

Origins and founders: the idea of creating the fund was born in mid-2015, and the fund itself started operating in the fall of 2015. The founders of the fund are:

Grzegorz Błażewicz – has over 15 years of experience in the Polish and international marketing industry. Former CEO of the Interia.pl portal. Co-founder and CEO of SALESmanago Marketing Automation – the world's leading Marketing Automation platform, used by 4,000 companies worldwide.

Konrad Pawlus – over 15 years of experience in the development of new technologies. He worked in startups in Ireland, and in Poland he held managerial positions in the IT department of the American company Sabre for several years, being responsible for the development of one of the largest travel websites in the world. Co-founder and Vice President of the Management Board of SALESmanago Marketing Automation.

Rafał Brzoska – a man who needs no introduction. A guru of Polish entrepreneurs, founder and head of the largest Polish companies such as Integer, InPost and Paczkomaty, he actively invests in numerous Polish start-ups and ventures of young Polish entrepreneurs.

What stage the project must be at: we invite any team that has a prototype of a service or product to collaborate with us. In particular, we value having any form of Proof of Concept for your business idea. We make a decision on whether or not to invest after the first meeting. If someone sends a comprehensive presentation, they will receive a decision even faster.

Investment amount: from the fund level, we invest from PLN 100,000 to PLN 1 million at the initial stage (the so-called seed phase), and in the case of rapid growth of a given company, the fund will engage partner institutions from Poland and abroad in subsequent financing rounds.

Examples of investments:

• DreamJay – a company based in Silicon Valley, founded by Poles, which develops a mobile application, technology and algorithms enabling the generation of dreams and combating the effects of post-traumatic stress disorder.
• TurboEgg – a company operating in the Internet of Things segment that creates the technology and environment enabling the creation of its own products controlled by a mobile phone application using Bluetooth Smart. TurboEgg is also a manufacturer of its own solutions. One of the first is a mobile phone-controlled electrical outlet. (www.turboegg.com).
• APP Manago – one of the world's first Mobile Marketing Automation systems that analyzes customer behavior in mobile applications and implements automated personalized marketing processes within the customer's mobile phone. APPmanago also provides fully advanced analytics of the customer's mobile application usage. (www.appmanago.com)
• Pastrami Deli – producer of meat created according to the best 18th-century recipes. One of the most popular meats in the United States. In Poland, available in the best meat delicatessens and in a growing number of restaurants. (www.pastramideli.pl)
• ExMetrix – a company that creates software for innovative search of economic dependencies between data series and building econometric models based on hundreds of thousands of economic data series and more.
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Advantages and disadvantages of Polish originators: when it comes to advantages, Poles certainly know how to think outside the box and approach certain issues in a non-standard way. Many entrepreneurs strive to put the principle of “think globally - act locally” into practice. However, one cannot think, as some originators do, that the idea and the product will defend themselves - the most important thing is their execution and consistency in implementing them on the market. Nowadays, technology and ideas are not a challenge, those who win are those who have greater motivation and a real network of cooperating people.