The Warsaw-based fund, supported by the European Investment Fund and the Polish Development Fund, aims to make 20–25 pre-seed and seed investments in companies focused on energy transition, industrial automation, and AI.
The team at Warsaw-based Montis Capital has secured €50 million at the initial closing of a new fund, Montis VC, targeting European startups at the intersection of energy transition, industrial technology, and artificial intelligence.
The fund is supported by the European Investment Fund through the REPowerEU program, an EU initiative to boost energy security and cut dependence on fossil fuels, along with the Polish Development Fund (PFR), which contributed €10 million, plus family offices and private investors from Central and Eastern Europe.
The team has managed Montis Capital since about 2018 from Warsaw, investing approximately €30 million into nine companies in the industry, technology, and climate sectors.
The previous portfolio includes Autofixer, an auto parts e-commerce platform; Fresh Inset, an agri-food technology startup; and Micromobility Port, a major provider of last-mile logistics infrastructure in the UK.
The Montis VC fund aims to operate on a larger scale, with initial investments ranging from €0.5 million to €2 million and half of the capital set aside for follow-on rounds for the most promising portfolio companies.
The fund plans 20 to 25 investments at the pre-seed and seed stages, focusing on “energy and industrial transition,” which includes electrification, industrial automation, new energy infrastructure, and AI applied to sectors like manufacturing, energy grids, and logistics.
This trend reflects the tendency of Central and Eastern European venture funds to become specialists in hard-tech and deep-tech fields as Western European capital focuses on software and consumer platforms.
The fund is led by Managing Partners Łukasz Dziekoski, Wojciech Szwankowski, and Michał Gawęda, who also managed the previous Montis Capital fund. The team recently added Michał Baś, previously linked with pan-European fund Venture Friends, though this connection is not independently confirmed.
The fund has also established a network of venture partners, including Taavi Rõivas, former Prime Minister of Estonia; Tomasz Misiak, an entrepreneur and Harvard Business School graduate; and Bart Dujczynski, a renewable energy expert with experience in Western European markets.
“Europe has exceptional technological potential and a deep pool of talent. At Montis VC, we want to help startups unlock that potential globally by supporting projects with ambitions to transform entire sectors of the economy,” said Wojciech Szwankowski, Partner at Montis VC.
The €50 million initial close is seen as a starting point rather than a final target. Dziekoski mentioned that the fund is “already in advanced discussions with additional investors” and plans to further scale its capitalisation in the following months, without specifying a final target size. The fund has started investing, but no portfolio companies were disclosed with the announcement.
The involvement of the EIF through REPowerEU and PFR Ventures as anchor investors aligns with their roles in the Polish and broader CEE venture ecosystem. PFR Ventures has supported Montis Capital since its earlier version, with a relationship that extends back to the predecessor fund, and the EIF has significantly expanded its presence in CEE in recent years through programs related to the EU’s green transition agenda.
“Montis VC is another team from Poland that first built its track record using capital backed by European Union funds and is now successfully attracting private and institutional investors for its next fund,” said Bartłomiej Samsonowicz, Investment Director at PFR Ventures.
“Stories like this help move the Polish venture ecosystem to the next level.”