This document profiles Krzysztof Kowalczyk, the founder and managing partner of GammaRebels and HardGamma Ventures. It provides details about his background, experience, and the accelerator and venture capital programs he runs in Poland. GammaRebels is a startup accelerator that provides seed funding and mentorship to early-stage companies. HardGamma Ventures is an early-stage venture capital fund that invests in startups from GammaRebels and other programs. The document discusses the Polish startup ecosystem and highlights some of GammaRebels' and HardGamma's portfolio companies.

1. Krzysztof (Chris) Kowalczyk
Founder & Managing Partner GammaRebels / HardGamma Ventures
chris@hardgamma.com
European Entrepreneurship & Innovation (ME421)
Stanford Engineering School
March 11, 2013
#gammarebels
#hardgamma
www.gammarebels.com chris@hardgamma.com @kkowalcz

2. Poland? Between which countries :)?
www.gammarebels.com chris@hardgamma.com @kkowalcz

3. About me
• Studied in Poland and Germany (M.Sc. in Qualitative Methods and
Information Systems + Masters in International Management from
CEMS)
• Founded first company in the 90s (IT Support), joined Internet
startup in 2000 (ISP+Web) and launched current company 2005
(consulting) / 2010 (fund)
• Corporate experience: P&G (UK,US), PwC, Lycos, McKinsey&Co.
• Academic experience (2000-2008): WSE Assistant Professor,
WEMBA (CSOM, UoM) MIS Lecturer
www.gammarebels.com chris@hardgamma.com @kkowalcz

4. Startup Weekend, E-nnovation, BitSpiration
www.gammarebels.com chris@hardgamma.com @kkowalcz

5. (2010) (2005)
(till 2011 as
UBIK Business Consulting)
(2011)
(2013)
www.gammarebels.com chris@hardgamma.com @kkowalcz

6. GammaRebels
• A cash investment of up to $15,500 in return for 10% equity +
$80.000 worth of cloud services from Google and Microsoft Support
from 70 mentors (40% international) Office space in the center of
Warsaw (GammaFactory) Demo Days in Warsaw and London plus
‘digital mission’ to SV
• Part of HardGamma Ventures Fund (follow-up opportunity)
• 6 startups in GR1, 7 in GR2
www.gammarebels.com chris@hardgamma.com @kkowalcz

7. GammaRebels - Demo Day
www.gammarebels.com chris@hardgamma.com @kkowalcz

8. GAMMAFACTORY - creative tech space
Big ideas & innovation area
At Hoża 51 street, in the Centre of Warsaw, old
and renovated cheese factory, special place
bristling with creativity and innovation.
>8000 sqf (750 sqm)
Event space
Conference room ∼ 120 persons
Tech showroom
Co-working for ∼ 40 persons
HardGamma offices
Internal wine bar :)
Hewlett-Packard and Microsoft official technology
partners of GF
www.gammarebels.com chris@hardgamma.com @kkowalcz

9. PORTFOLIO: 38 entries (24 PL, 13 UK, 1 US) / 31 active
Angel HGV Fund Accelerator Advisorship
A
C
T
I
V
E
stealth
Non-active
www.gammarebels.com chris@hardgamma.com @kkowalcz

10. Among most recognized in Europe
•(2013) GammaRebels shortlisted as "Best European Startup Accelerator/Incubator"
•(2011) GammaRebels Highly Commended as "Best European Startup Accelerator"(2011)
HardGamma Ventures Highly Commended as "Best VC of the Year 2011"(2011) Chris
Kowalczyk Highly Commended as "Best VC Partner of the Year"(2011) BusyFlow (portfolio)
nominated 'Best Startup Tool For Startups'(2010) Codility (portfolio) awarded 'Best Startup Tool
For Startups'
www.gammarebels.com chris@hardgamma.com @kkowalcz

11. Early stage investment ecosystem in Poland
45 EU 14 govt. Funds with
backed backed VCs Accelerators
only private
incubators ($300M) (YC-like)
LPs
($70M)
www.gammarebels.com chris@hardgamma.com @kkowalcz

12. ENGINEERING TALENT (PL)
www.gammarebels.com chris@hardgamma.com @kkowalcz

13. ENGINEERING TALENT (PL,US)
www.gammarebels.com chris@hardgamma.com @kkowalcz

14. ENGINEERING TALENT (PL, US, EU)
www.gammarebels.com chris@hardgamma.com @kkowalcz

15. ECONOMY IN A (RELATIVELY) GOOD SHAPE
www.gammarebels.com chris@hardgamma.com @kkowalcz

16. POLES (RELATIVELY) HAPPY ;)
www.gammarebels.com chris@hardgamma.com @kkowalcz

17. Challenges
• EU money = easy money => higher valuations
• lack of experienced, serial tech entrepreneurs
• Poland is mostly a “sales” market, no serious R&D (besides Google & Intel)
• No clear success story so far (i.e. no Polish Skype so far)
• No country branding (i.e. no “Estonian mafia” notion)
• Wrocław and Cracow became hubs for software development outsourcing,
draining the talent pool
www.gammarebels.com chris@hardgamma.com @kkowalcz

18. Doubts about acceleration model
• Startups solving too narrow problems
• Dealflow drain
• Network effects?
• That’s why HGV invests in
Springboard / TechStars London
www.gammarebels.com chris@hardgamma.com @kkowalcz

19. SELECTED PORTFOLIO
COMPANIES
#gammarebels #hardgamma
www.gammarebels.com chris@hardgamma.com @kkowalcz

20. SHOWROOM - Series A from Burda International
www.gammarebels.com chris@hardgamma.com @kkowalcz

21. CubeYourMind / Hacienda HD
www.gammarebels.com chris@hardgamma.com @kkowalcz

22. Appvetica (mobile lab)
www.gammarebels.com chris@hardgamma.com @kkowalcz

23. Manubia (e-commerce analytics)
www.gammarebels.com chris@hardgamma.com @kkowalcz

24. Intelclinic (IoT)
www.gammarebels.com chris@hardgamma.com @kkowalcz

25. BusyFlow
www.gammarebels.com chris@hardgamma.com @kkowalcz

26. Codility (testing coders)
www.gammarebels.com chris@hardgamma.com @kkowalcz

27. Macoscope (iOS/MacOS lab)
www.gammarebels.com chris@hardgamma.com @kkowalcz

28. Thanks for having us!
Krzysztof Kowalczyk Magda Kwoska
HardGamma Founder GammaRebels Program Director
+1.415.657.6616 (US) +1.415.657.6434 (US)
+48.602.366.675 (PL) +48.501715538 (PL)
chris@hardgamma.com magda.kwoska@hardgamma.com
@kkowalcz @mkwoska
www.gammarebels.com chris@hardgamma.com @kkowalcz