Two days
structured for outcomes

Matchmaking & 1:1 Meetings (Day 1)

Throughout the day, investors, founders, corporates and ecosystem stakeholders take part in curated one-to-one meetings designed to accelerate fundraising, partnerships and business development.

Lunch Break

Coffee Break

OFFICIAL OPENING

We invite you to the official opening of this year's edition of Deep Tech Summit! We start strongly with the endorsement of main Polish Ministries, which shape the direction and culture around Deep Tech in CEE. See you there!

• Paweł MichalskiVCLeadersPaweł MichalskiCEO, VCLeadersPaweł Michalski is a Venture Partner at World Fund and the Co-Founder and CEO of VC Leaders, a platform for venture capital professionals. Prior to this, he co-managed Poland's largest business angel club and held various managerial roles in tech startups. With a strong background in finance from his tenure at PKO Bank Polski, Paweł earned a summa cum laude law degree from the University of Warsaw.Read full bio →

Who Will Fund the Next Generation of CEE Deep Tech Champions?

CEE possesses necessary science and engineering talent, but can its venture ecosystem support the capital intensity of deep tech? From hardware and quantum to biotech and dual-use tech, deep innovations demand patient capital, specialized due diligence, and cross-border syndication. This session convenes top venture capitalists, institutional backers, and sovereign innovation leaders to explore who will write the checks that turn CEE’s frontier technologies into global market leaders.

• Anna WnukPSIKAnna WnukManaging Director, PSIKManaging Director of the Polish Private Equity and Venture Capital Association (PSIK), works at the intersection of private capital, public institutions and long-term investors. She represents the PE and VC community in dialogue with government, regulators and the financial market, helping to build a mature and predictable private investment market in Poland. At PSIK she focuses on mobilising domestic capital – including family business wealth – to finance the growth of innovative companies and create Polish international champions, bridging the investor perspective with the real needs of entrepreneurs. Previously at Experior VC and European Women in VC, and Chief of Staff to former President Aleksander Kwaśniewski.Read full bio →
• Christian KumarMedTech Makers LabChristian KumarFounder & CEO, MedTech Makers LabMore than 30 years in corporate finance, investment banking, and wealth management. Runs MedTech Makers Lab, a venture builder for medical technology with programmes in the UK and Europe, including Poland, and Capital Kinetics, a corporate finance and private equity firm.Read full bio →
• Paweł MichalskiVCLeadersPaweł MichalskiCEO, VCLeadersPaweł Michalski is a Venture Partner at World Fund and the Co-Founder and CEO of VC Leaders, a platform for venture capital professionals. Prior to this, he co-managed Poland's largest business angel club and held various managerial roles in tech startups. With a strong background in finance from his tenure at PKO Bank Polski, Paweł earned a summa cum laude law degree from the University of Warsaw.Read full bio →
• Aleksander MokrzyckiPFR VenturesAleksander MokrzyckiDeputy CEO, PFR VenturesDeputy CEO at PFR Ventures, the largest institutional investor in Central and Eastern Europe in venture capital, private equity, and private debt funds. Previously, he worked as Deputy CEO at BPH TFI (2007-2017), asset management company owned by GE Group. Prior to joining BPH TFI, he worked as a director at Bank BPH and was the CEO of venture capital fund belonging to this bank.A graduate of the Faculty of Management at the University of Gdańsk. In 2005, he obtained the title of Charted Financial Analyst from the CFA Institute, and in 2009 he received an Investment Advisor license. He served as Vice President of the Management Board of CFA Society Poland from 2013 to 2023. He completed the Venture Capital program at the University of California, Berkeley. In 2022-2024, he was a member of the NATO Secretary General's Advisory Group on Emerging and Disruptive Technologies.Read full bio →

Bolstering Defences: Can Scale-up Funding Help Build New Defence Capabilities?

Necessity is a mother to an invention and with ongoing wars and increasing usage of drones bootstrapping defence capabilities is not unheard of. Nevertheless, the question of a scaling path remains. This panel explores this possibility, discussing different perspectives and mechanisms of scale-up funding in the defence context.

• Panel

• Paola Lo Bue OddoEuropean Innovation Council (EIC)Paola Lo Bue OddoPolicy Officer, European Innovation Council (EIC)Paola Lo Bue Oddo is a lawyer and policy officer at DG RTD’s European Innovation Council at the European Commission. As an EU official, Paola focuses on innovation, security and defense topics and is working on the expansion of the EIC to defense and dual-use. She has also worked at NATO and its Euro-Atlantic Disaster Response Coordination Centre.Read full bio →
• Jonas CederlöfEuropean Commission — DG DEFISJonas CederlöfDeputy Head of Unit, Strategy, Interinstitutional relations, and Security, European Commission — DG DEFISJonas Cederlöf, Deputy Head of Unit, European Commission, Directorate‑General for Defence Industry and Space (DG DEFIS) Jonas Cederlöf is the deputy head of the Strategy, Interinstitutional relations, and Security unit at the Directorate‑General for defence industry and space, reporting directly to the Director-General. His earlier responsibilities at the European Commission included programming and implementing defence related EU instruments, implementation of support measures to Ukraine, and development of measures countering hybrid attacks. Prior to his transition to the European Commission in 2021, he was responsible for military capability development programmes for more than two decades in the Finnish Defence Forces, covering domains ranging from naval warfare to cyberspace capabilities; and participating in international capability development in contexts such as Nordic Defence Cooperation (NORDEFCO), EDA, NATO CNAD and STO work strands, and the US lead MCDC (Multinational Capability Development Campaign). Jonas Cederlöf is a former naval staff officer, with masters´ degrees also in philosophy and engineering.Read full bio →
• Marcin HejkaOTB VenturesMarcin HejkaCo-founder & Managing Partner, OTB VenturesBefore co-founding OTB Ventures, Marcin spent 18 years at Intel Capital as VP, Global Investment Committee Member, and Managing Director responsible for Europe, Israel, the Middle East, Africa, and India. He was part of the European Management Team at Intel Corporation.He has sat on the supervisory boards of several public and private companies, including two banks listed on the Warsaw Stock Exchange. Throughout his career, he has successfully sourced, executed, and exited over 50 venture deals, including five unicorns and decacorns, through trade sales to companies such as Cisco, Google, and Microsoft, as well as IPOs on Nasdaq and NYSE.Marcin is an active Board Member for several companies in the OTB portfolio: Apheris, Plumerai and MatrixSpace, as well as the already successfully exited BabbleLabs and Minit.Read full bio →
• DKDawid KuchtaCEO & Co-founder | Microamp Solutions

Business Angel's Role in Advancing Deep Tech

Do you need a patron saint to develop your deep tech start-up? Our panelists will definitely think so, however today they will explore the impact a business angel makes on your company. Is it mentoring? Is it networking? Or is it purely financial? And how does the role of a business angel change, when it comes to deep tech? These questions and more won't be left unanswered.

• Panel

• Paweł MajVestbee AngelsPaweł MajPartner, Vestbee AngelsPaweł Maj is an experienced investor and fundraising expert with an extensive track record in the Polish and Central and Eastern European (CEE) startup ecosystem. He has co-managed several venture capital and private equity funds, including bValue and Skyline Venture, and previously served as a Partner at Warsaw Equity Group. Pawel is currently a partner of Vestbee Angels - the largest business angel network in Central&Eastern Europe that connects 500+ angels with seed-stage startups. Paweł supports as fundraising expert profitable tech scaleups (3M+ ARR/first take and positive EBITDA) from Poland and the CEE region that seek 5M+ eur funding from private equity growth or late-stage (growth) VCs (successfully - 100% success rate).Read full bio →
• Rafał PierzchlewiczTeaCode.ioRafał PierzchlewiczCEO, TeaCode.ioRafał Pierzchlewicz is a strategic finance executive, venture investor, and lecturer working at the intersection of corporate governance, technology, and venture capital. He has an interdisciplinary background combining engineering and an MBA from Warsaw University of Technology, where he lectures at the WUT Business School on corporate finance and risk management. His work focuses on professionalizing high-growth technology ventures, designing scalable financial models, and ensuring investment readiness. Currently, he serves as CFO and Board Advisor at TeaCode.io. Rafał combines over 30 years of international corporate leadership—including managing €5bn+ in assets at NN/ING and directing multi-billion-dollar investments at Ford—with active venture ecosystem building. As an active business angel with Vestbee Angels and former CEO of Apis Venture, he builds private investor syndicates and mentors early-stage founders to bridge the gap between technical innovation and commercial scale.Read full bio →
• Anna ProchEduTailorAnna ProchCEO and Co-founder, EduTailorAnna Proch is co-founder and CEO of EduTailor, where teams practise difficult conversations and procedures with AI characters, in a browser or in VR. EduTailor is a direct EIC Accelerator finalist with the EU Seal of Excellence and close to €2M in R&D funding from NCBR. Anna also co-founded dp.vision, a B2B tech studio, and invests as an angel in early-stage companies.Read full bio →
• Florina Daniela UngureanuEU EnterpriseFlorina Daniela UngureanuSuperconnector, EU EnterpriseFlorina works at the intersection of entrepreneurship, fundraising and sustainability, connecting founders, investors, as well as public, private and academic organizations to build inclusive innovation ecosystems across Europe. She specializes in developing strategic partnerships and scaling innovation pipelines across BioTech, ClimateTech, Dual-use, Manufacturing, and other DeepTech sectors, with a strong focus on turning connections into tangible opportunities. She also advocates for the ethical and responsible adoption of AI.Read full bio →

Evening Networking Cocktail

Let's celebrate the first day of the Deep Tech CEE Summit 2026! Entrance by invitation only.

Ecosystem Before Party with TechPL

Let's celebrate together the first day of the Deep Tech CEE Summit 2026! COCO lounge, 59A Żelazna St. (next to the Norblin Factory). Reservations are accepted from 7:00 p.m. to midnight, for groups of 15–20 people initially, up to a maximum of 40.