In the latest edition of the Report you will find mainly information about:

• quality of cooperation: startup-corporation;
• financing;
• earnings in young enterprises
• or career paths and startup profiles of success.

In addition, the study participants were asked about the main motivations that pushed them to choose the uncertain path of the entrepreneur in the start-up world. As they themselves point out, finance is the main driver of such a decision, but at the same time it is important for them to have an organization model and to have a real impact on the decisions made in the company.

Over the years, it is also evident that the percentage of companies operating in the IoT (14%) and fintech (11%) sectors is clearly increasing. In the first place, however (despite the decrease from 18% to 15%), companies operating in the big data area still persist. Companies that build solutions related to broadly defined analytics (13%) are also strong. It should be noticed, that more and more startups declare that they sell their solutions in the B2B model, which proves their greater business maturity. On the other hand, the percentage of exporting entities drops. This trend can be seen from 2015, when 54% of respondents declared that they have clients on foreign markets up to 46% in the current year.

The progressive decentralization of the ecosystem is also an interesting phenomenon. It is true that the majority of startups (respondents) are located in Warsaw (29%), but centers such as Wrocław (12%) or Kraków (10%) are beginning to trample on its heels. The situation reverses when we look at the number of high investments (over PLN 10 million), the most of which was in Kraków (40%) and in Wrocław (30%). It is from these cities that the start-ups, which are the most successful, come from.

Finally, it is worth to mention, the increase in the popularity of acceleration programs. What knowledge does the stratup need? Younger and less-paid people want to learn marketing and management, while mature people prefer to engage time in mentoring and industry meetings. For 58% of respondents, individual mentoring is undoubtedly the most important source of knowledge and an important element of networking. According to Eliza Kruczkowska, director of  Innovation Development Department in Polish Development Fund: – "In 2018, startup needs the most – apart from money – employees and contacts (network), as well as specialist knowledge obtained from experts and mentors. I observe the foundation's research from the publication of the first report and I see that the needs are unchanged. Investor financing is not a guarantee of success. An injection of money can open up some teams in the approach to spending, and thus speed up the development of the project. On the other hand, however, the same factor can lead to the collapse of business. A kind of insurance against this negative scenario is the investment into knowledge, which – as the research results show – continues to be in high demand. "

Raport is also available for free on www.startuppoland.org.