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Last Thursday we were up against each other in an Oxford debate based on the thesis 'Public funding of start-ups does more harm than good'.
The result? The side advocating the wise use of public funds to support the private sector won. The Foundation was represented by Piotr Mieczkowski, supported by Anni Wnuk and Magda Jabłońska.
The most important arguments in favour of financing start-ups with public money include:
- reduction of entry barriers, e.g. support in the seed and pre-seed phase, when private capital is afraid of risk. This allows start-ups to survive the ‘valley of death’.
- leverage effect, because every zloty of public money attracts PLN 2-3 from the private market.
- development of the VC ecosystem in Poland, because instead of a brain drain, we have talent development and new VC funds investing locally.
- Stimulation of innovation in strategic sectors (e.g. AI, health, energy) that are too risky for private investors.
- building synergies with politics and taxation, because support for start-ups goes hand in hand with R&D tax relief and regulatory simplification.
- smart support means social and strategic benefits and creates jobs, competitiveness and digital sovereignty for countries.
The conclusion from the debate? Public money, if spent wisely and in synergy with private capital, can be one of the most important drivers of innovation and technological sovereignty in Europe.
We would like to thank Dominika Duda for inviting us to CIC Warsaw and Michał Kruszyński for moderating the debate. Thank you to all the debaters!