Two years of supporting space innovation: empowering startups and building space community
As ESA BIC Poland celebrates its second anniversary, we reflect on the progress and milestones that have marked our journey. Over the past two years, we have supported innovation, fostered collaboration, and contributed to the growth of Poland’s space ecosystem.
Since our launch, we have successfully completed four open calls, during which 44 projects were evaluated by the Tender Evaluation Boards. As a result, we have welcomed 12 startups into our incubation program, with 3 from the Podkarpackie consortium and 9 from the Mazovian consortium. Currently, 9 startups are actively developing their projects, while 3 have successfully completed their incubation. In addition, we are pleased to announce that new startups have been selected to sign agreements in the coming weeks.
In total, we have signed contracts worth €600,000, providing each incubated startup with €50,000 in financial support. To date, €400,000 has already been distributed. In addition, we managed to sign an annex with ESA, under which 2 startups will receive an additional €100,000 per year as part of the new support mechanism – Incubation Boost.
The success of our program would not be possible without the involvement of 34 partners. These organizations, including technological, business, and legal experts, have supported our startups, enabling them to navigate challenges and accelerate their growth.
Over the past two years, we have participated in around 35 events, where we actively promoted the ESA BIC Poland program and showcased the innovative solutions developed by our incubated startups. Notably, 10 of these events were organized by us, providing a platform for knowledge exchange, networking, and collaboration within the space and innovation ecosystems.
Among these was our first ESA BIC Poland Demo Day, an event where incubated startups had the opportunity to showcase their innovative project to a group of investors. This event highlighted the progress made by the startups and created new opportunities for funding and strategic partnerships.
In addition to our incubation efforts, we have organized two pre-incubation Bootcamps, where 20 teams refined their ideas. These intensive programs provided participants with access to expert workshops, mentoring sessions, and hands-on support to refine their business models and technical solutions. As a result, 12 teams from these bootcamps were selected to join the incubation program, providing the effectiveness of this initiative.
None of this would have been possible without the incredible startups, partners, and supporters who have joined us on this journey. Thank you for being a part of our story—we can’t wait to see what the next years will bring!
