Back in 2017, I attended the Economic Forum in Nowy Sącz/Krynica-Zdrój. I still remember the energy of that panel on access to innovation and youth entrepreneurship — a room full of ambition, early-stage ideas, and the belief that young founders can change the game if given the right tools.
Looking at Poland today, that belief has been validated many times over. University incubators like AIP, government programs such as Start In Poland, ScaleUP, and Connect Poland Prize, open hubs like Campus Warsaw, and mentoring networks like Youth Business Poland (YBP) didn’t just support entrepreneurs — they built a reliable pipeline.
The results are visible in the companies that scaled far beyond the region: Docplanner, Booksy, Brainly, Infermedica, and many others that started as local experiments and became global products.
What stayed with me from that event is something simple, but still underrated in many places:
Ideas grow faster when community, corporate pilots, and early funding sit at the same table.
It’s a model that doesn’t require a major capital city or a perfect market.
It requires intent, structure, and a system that believes in its own talent.
A formula worth adapting across the region — with ambition, but also with pragmatism.
