The Most Impressive Startup Exits by Polish Female Founders
Celebrating the women behind some of the biggest tech exits in Poland’s startup scene
When we talk about successful tech exits in Central and Eastern Europe, male founders often dominate the headlines. But the truth is, Polish women are quietly and powerfully building global businesses — and exiting them with remarkable outcomes.
From fintech unicorns to influencer platforms, PR SaaS, smart home tech, and edtech, these female founders have launched companies that scaled internationally, attracted top-tier investors, and ultimately reached meaningful exits.
Here’s a curated list of the most notable startup exits involving Polish female founders, ranked by estimated exit value where data is available. These women prove that talent, resilience, and vision are genderless — and very much Polish 🇵🇱.
🚀 Top 10 Startup Exits with Polish Female Founders
1. Azimo — Marta Krupińska
💸 Acquired by Papaya Global (2022)
📈 Exit valuation: $150–200M
💰 Raised: ~$90M
🧭 Fintech / remittances
2. Callstack — Anna Lankauf
💸 Majority stake sold to Viking Global Investors (2025)
📈 Estimated valuation: ~$125M
🧪 React Native consulting + open source
3. Fibaro — Joanna Ossowska-Rodziewicz
💸 Acquired by Nice Group (Italy) in 2018
📈 Valuation: ~€60M
🏡 Smart home / IoT
4. Base CRM (FutureSimple) — Ela Madej & Agata Wierzbicka
💸 Acquired by Zendesk in 2018
📈 Undisclosed exit; raised ~$50M prior
📊 B2B SaaS / CRM
5. indaHash — Barbara Sołtysińska
💸 Acquired by ArabyAds in 2022
📈 Undisclosed valuation, but operated globally with top brands
📱 Influencer marketing
6. Kiwi Jobs — Katarzyna Godlewska
💸 Majority acquired by OLX Group (Naspers) in 2019
📈 Valuation not public
🧑🔧 Blue-collar job marketplace
7. Prowly — Joanna Drabent
💸 Acquired by Semrush in 2020
📈 ARR ~$1M at exit
📰 PR & media SaaS
8. BeyondPlay — Karolina Pelc
💸 Acquired by FanDuel (Flutter) in 2024
📈 Amount undisclosed (but prior 25% stake valued at €7.6M)
🎰 iGaming / multiplayer software
9. Gastronauci — Ola Lazar
🗓️ Acquired by Zomato (2014)
💰 Undisclosed
🍽️ Leading Polish restaurant discovery platform
10. Elab — Aleksandra Kozera
🗓️ Sold to an angel investor (2017)
💰 Valuation at exit: ~$2.5M
📚 Edtech / university admissions consulting
🎖️ Honorable Mentions
Evenea — Agnieszka Maciejowska
💸 Acquired by Wolves Summit founders (2019)
📈 Valuation undisclosed
🎟️ Event ticketing platform
Przelewy24, Bilety24 — Katarzyna Abramowicz
🗓️ Sold both (alongside Box24) around 2007–2009
💰 Profitable exits (no public valuation)
💳 Pioneering Polish fintech & ticketing
banqUp — Anna Ciesielska
🗓️ Sold to Unifiedpost Group (2020)
💳 Fintech / open banking
Szopi — Irena Kaczor
🗓️ Sold to Everli (2019)
🛒 Grocery delivery
Daily — Małgorzata Sitkowska
🗓️ Sold to Wolt
🍽️ Food delivery / logistics
Health Labs — Magdalena Górska-Warchoł
🗓️ Sold to USP Zdrowie (2023)
💪 Fast-scaling D2C supplements and wellness brand
💬 Why This List Matters
These founders are proof that you don’t need to build in Silicon Valley to create valuable companies. They’ve shown you can start in Poznań, Kraków, or Warsaw — and exit to global players like Zendesk, Zomato, Semrush, and FanDuel.
What’s even more exciting?
Many of these women are still building. Some have become investors or limited partners (LPs), others are onto their second or third ventures.
I’m especially proud that:
- Four of these founders are LPs in my fund (SMOK Ventures),
- Three are back in the arena, building again as second-time founders (part of SMOK portfolio).
✨ Let’s Grow the List Together
This list is based on the best public data available. If you know of other amazing Polish women who’ve exited their startups, let’s celebrate them too.
Drop their names and stories in the comments or share directly with me via borys@smok.vc. Let’s keep building this map of success together!
