What a telling story. EU allocated hundreds of millions of eu | Brodetskyi. Tech, VC, startups

What a telling story.

EU allocated hundreds of millions of euros for equity-free funding for Polish startups. That created an opportunity for corruption. €12M went to a 10-day-old company founded by a 27 yo bartender; another €27M went to a company connected to the advisory board of the govt body that distributed the grants. Now all the payments are suspended because of an anti-corruption investigation. Legit startups which rely on this financing are facing huge trouble, cutting spending and firing people.

I heard from colleagues within the Ukrainian VC industry that the Polish VC market was overfilled with accessible money in the last few years, creating unrealistic valuations, etc. Now this story... One more proof that too much money is a problem, not a solution.

P.S. Can't stop thinking about the expected inflow of EU grants for Ukrainian startups in the following years.