Innovation Funding Incentives: Poland

Poland has made significant strides in fostering its innovation ecosystem, implementing a diverse array of funding incentives to encourage research, development, and entrepreneurship. These initiatives, spanning tax reliefs, direct grants from national agencies, and substantial support from EU funds, aim to enhance the country’s competitiveness, drive technological advancement, and support the growth of innovative enterprises. This report will detail the primary innovation funding mechanisms available in Poland and their collective impact on the nation’s vibrant innovation landscape.

Key Funding Incentives

1 | R&D Tax Relief

Poland offers a robust R&D tax relief designed to incentivise companies to invest in research and development activities.

Mechanism: Taxpayers can deduct 200% of their eligible R&D costs from their tax base. This means that for every zloty spent on R&D, two zlotys can be deducted, first as normal operating costs, and then an additional 100% from the tax base. For Research and Development Centres (CBRs), the deduction can be as high as 250%.

Eligible Costs: This relief covers a broad range of expenses, including remuneration for R&D staff, materials and raw materials directly used in R&D, depreciation of fixed assets (excluding certain categories), and costs of external expertise from scientific units.

Impact: This incentive significantly reduces the financial burden of R&D, encouraging companies of all sizes to engage in innovative projects. It is a key tool for driving technological advancements across various sectors.

2 | IP Box (Innovation Box)

The IP Box regime offers a preferential tax rate for income derived from commercialised intellectual property (IP).

Mechanism: Companies that generate income from qualifying intellectual property rights (such as patents, utility models, industrial designs, and copyrighted software) developed from their own R&D activities can benefit from a reduced corporate income tax rate of 5%, significantly lower than the standard 19%.

Eligibility: This relief is available to all entrepreneurs, regardless of their size, who commercialise IP rights obtained from their R&D efforts.

Impact: The IP Box incentivises companies to protect and commercialise their innovations, fostering a stronger IP ecosystem and generating higher after-tax profits from successful R&D outcomes. This relief can be combined with the R&D tax relief for synergistic benefits.

3 | Other Specific Tax Reliefs

Poland has introduced several other targeted tax reliefs to stimulate specific areas of innovation:

Relief for Prototype: Allows a deduction of 30% of the costs of trial production of a new product and its launch, covering the stage between R&D completion and mass production.

Robotisation Tax Relief: Introduced for a five-year period (2022-2026), this relief allows for an additional 50% deduction of costs incurred for investments in robotisation (e.g., purchase of new robots, software, and accessories).

Relief for Expansion: Aims to stimulate revenue growth by allowing an additional deduction for expenses related to increasing sales of new products, such as participation in fairs, promotional activities, and packaging adaptation.

Relief for Innovative Employees: An extension of the R&D relief, this mechanism allows taxpayers to deduct specific costs related to employees dedicated to R&D activities, particularly for those spending at least 50% of their time on such work.

4 | National Centre for Research and Development (NCBR)

NCBR is a pivotal implementing agency in Poland, responsible for managing and financing national and international R&D programmes.

Programmes: NCBR offers extensive financial support for projects across all levels of technological readiness, from preliminary industrial research to the development of innovative products. It implements programmes funded by both the State Treasury and EU funds, including “European Funds for a Modern Economy (FENG)” and “European Funds for Eastern Poland (FEPW).”

Strategic Focus: NCBR’s objectives align with Poland’s innovation policy, focusing on digitisation (Industry 4.0, AI development), supporting citizen competencies, promoting a green economy, and fostering startups and new technologies.

Collaboration: NCBR actively strengthens collaboration between business and science, encouraging entrepreneurs to engage in research funding and promoting effective commercialisation of research results. It also supports young scientists and international intellectual property protection.

Impact: NCBR is highly effective in channelling public funds into R&D activities, driving innovation and increasing the competitiveness of the Polish economy.

5 | Polish Agency for Enterprise Development (PARP)

PARP is another key authority focused on creating a business-friendly environment and implementing economic development programmes.

Support for SMEs and Startups: PARP offers funding programmes for startups, training, and skills improvement, and various activities to facilitate international expansion, with a particular emphasis on the needs of the SME sector.

Cluster Policy: PARP implements cluster policy, including grants for Polish clusters, to foster collaboration between companies and knowledge institutions.

Impact: PARP plays a crucial role in supporting the growth and adaptability of Polish enterprises, especially SMEs, and promoting the use of new technologies in business.

6 | Venture Capital Landscape

Poland’s venture capital (VC) market has shown significant growth and resilience, attracting increasing investment.

Growth and Focus: The Polish VC scene has had a strong start to 2025, with increasing investment value and a growing interest in later-stage deals. While seed rounds remain dominant, more mature companies are attracting larger funding tickets. International funds contribute a significant portion of the total capital, indicating strong confidence in Poland’s innovation ecosystem.

Public Co-financing: Institutions like PFR Ventures (a state-backed fund) play a strong role in co-financing deals, reinforcing the stability and growth of the ecosystem.

Impact: A maturing and professionalising VC landscape, combined with public capital mechanisms, provides essential funding for Polish startups and scale-ups, enabling them to expand domestically and internationally.

Conclusion

Poland’s comprehensive approach to innovation funding is characterised by its diverse tax reliefs (R&D, IP Box, Robotisation, Prototype, Expansion, Innovative Employees) and robust direct funding mechanisms from national agencies like NCBR and PARP.

This multi-faceted public support, significantly complemented by EU structural funds and a growing venture capital landscape, effectively reduces financial barriers and risks for innovative businesses. This integrated strategy is fundamental to Poland’s continued success in fostering technological advancement, enhancing its economic competitiveness, and building a dynamic innovation ecosystem.