Arkley and Brinc Launch New VC Fund in Poland, Raising $15 Million

Monday 15th October, Warsaw

Arkley and Brinc, two of the biggest names in hardware investments, have joined forces in a move to become Europe’s leading investor in IoT & Connected Hardware.

In a round led by PFR Ventures, joined by Group One, Arkley Brinc VC has raised a $15 Million USD (55,850,000 PLN) fund to invest into early-stage technology startups building IoT and hardware businesses. With Arkley’s well-established position as a seed investor in Europe and Brinc’s access to China and manufacturing expertise, portfolio teams will be able to tap into a global support network to bring their innovations from concept to commercialisation.

Arkley Brinc VC will invest up to $1,000,000 USD per team (4 Million PLN), helping to propel startups from prototype to IPO. Living up to the term ‘smart money’, the fund will advise founders on everything from go-to-market approach, to raising follow-on funding, to exit strategies. On top of its global experience, Brinc also brings its proven thesis to the table. The company lives by a simple yet noble rule: invest in companies that change the way we all live, move, feel and eat.

The Perfect Match

Both companies have a successful track record of accelerating hardware and IoT startups; Brinc through its global accelerator programs & services (Hong Kong, China, Bahrain, Spain and Poland) which invests up to $150,000 USD per team, and Arkley through its seed VC funds and Arkley Launchpad accelerator (in Warsaw, Poland). Their joint portfolio of past and present investments comprises of over 50 companies, including ZMorph, Tespack, Robo Wunderkind, Lovely, Soundbrenner, PillDrill, Kiddo, Lantrn, and Glassy. Some success stories from their joint portfolio include a $2M follow-on round raised by Tespack, a $2M follow-on round raised by Soundbrenner Pulse (and they hit their Kickstarter goal for their new product, Soundbrenner Core, in less than 15 minutes). Kiddo, ZMorph, Lantrn and Pill Drill each went on to raise over $2 Million in follow-on rounds.

A crucial and unique benefit of this partnership is the end-to-end ecosystem that supports startups along every step of the way. By working closely with more than 250 startups, Arkley and Brinc have cultivated a network that reaches deep into Silicon Valley and the Pearl River Delta region; their combined network includes over 100 partners, which can support with product development (prototyping agencies, maker spaces and engineers), manufacturing (vetted factories in China), project management for production, an extensive supply chain of vendors and suppliers, plus sales and distribution (US, EU and MENA networks).

Who's Involved in the Fund?

Among the private investors that supported Arkley Brinc VC is Poland’s largest independent media communication group - Group One. The group members are media agencies, employing over 350 specialists which support each other whilst building leading brands in the market. This partnership has the potential to create added value through services for startups and their large client base.

The new VC fund is led by Piotr Wasowski (Managing General Partner), and Bryony Cooper (Partner). With 20 years of experience in the investment market and three IPO’s under his belt, Piotr Wasowski is a pioneer in European hardware investments. Currently, Piotr specializes in early stage hardware startups, IoT, fintech, and e-commerce. He mentors and helps manage the Arkley portfolio startups by sharing his experiences from two decades of entrepreneurship. He said:

“Hardware and IoT innovations have the potential to change the world around us, and create incredible business opportunities; until now the ecosystem for supporting startups in this space has been limited. Together with Brinc, we have a global network that can leverage the amazing ideas coming out of Europe.”

Bryony Cooper is a former tech startup co-founder and CEO herself; T Dispatch (a Berlin-based software company) raised over $2 Million and won clients around the globe. She later ran IXDS labs, a company builder and innovation lab for connected hardware ventures, which eventually lead her to Brinc, where she lead the MENA IoT accelerator program, mentored teams in the Hong Kong program and served on Brinc’s Investment Committee.

Why Poland?

Brinc’s Co-Founder Bashar Aboudaoud is also a private investor in the new VC fund. He explained:

“When I first visited Poland and Arkley in 2017, I was impressed by the quality of hardware startups Arkley had invested in and attracted to pitch at their event. This really was the catalyst for Brinc to prioritise joining Piotr in Poland and making it our hub for Europe. Moreover, the support from PFR is truly unparalleled and really makes Poland a leader in Venture Capital support.”

The Polish Government has committed over €3 Billion to invest into startups over the next 4 years, making Poland the new juggernaut in Europe’s tech scene. With all the support, expertise, funding, product development and manufacturing now accessible to hardware startups, Arkley Brinc VC can play a key role in becoming a pioneer for IoT innovation in Europe.

 

About Arkley

Arkley is an Accelerator VC that focuses on early-stage hardware startups to help them grow from prototype to IPO. They help startups validate their products, connect them with distributors, and introduce them to partners in Silicon Valley. In a previous Arkley fund, the company invested 1M USD in five startups, all of which managed to successfully raise follow-on rounds of 6,3M USD in total. Among these startups, four founders were selected as Best Founders by Forbes, proving the fund’s astute market instinct. Arkley also runs acceleration program Launchpad preparing startups for fundraising. For more information, please visit http://arkley.ventures/.

About Brinc

Brinc is a venture accelerator that supports entrepreneurs looking to unlock the world’s data through connected businesses. Brinc offers comprehensive programs for networked devices, connected hardware, drones and robotics and most recently food technologies. To date, Brinc has evaluated over 5,000 companies and accepted 58 into its portfolio - a sub 3% acceptance rate. Teams are global hailing from 26 countries and go on to raise an average of 1.7M USD post Brinc’s accelerator programs. With Brinc, founders get access to resources in Hong Kong and the Greater Bay Area with a proven approach that de-risks and accelerates the product development process. For more information about Brinc and their programs and services, please visit www.brinc.io.

About PFR Ventures

PFR Ventures is an entity managing a fund of funds, providing financing via VC funds and groups of business angels for innovative SMEs at a different stage of development. PFR Starter FIZ is the program addressed to innovative companies at their earliest stage of development. For more information, please visit https://pfrventures.pl/en/.

About Group One

Group One provides clients with integrated strategic, creative, media and technological services both in online and offline channels. The group consist of media agencies, with leading Value Media, two full-service creative agencies, e-commerce performance agency and a content agency. The group employs over 350 specialists, supporting each other while building leading brands on the market. For more information, please visit https://www.groupone.pl/homepage

 

For more information please contact:

Bryony Cooper |  bryony@arkleybrinc.vc