ERC VC

What ERC VC does

ERC VC is a Wrocław-based venture capital fund that invests in early-stage, R&D-intensive technology startups across three thematic pillars: energy solutions (electromobility, renewables, digitization, extraction technologies), the Internet of Things (smart industry, transport, energy, city, building automation, health), and ICT (big data, communication, blockchain). The fund was established in December 2017 under the NCBiR Bridge Alfa program as the Epic Alfa fund, with a total project value of 40 million PLN (approximately 9.3 million EUR), of which 32 million PLN is EU co-financing and the remainder is private capital led by PGE Ventures, the corporate venture arm of PGE Capital Group. Operations commenced in July 2018, deploying approximately 1 million PLN per project at the PoP and PoC phases and building a portfolio of more than 20 startups including Virdis, Graphene Energy, Runflair, Escola LMS, AISeeMo, Velma, Daave, SmartSpine, Optimatik, WSA Solutions, Snarto, and Savvy Design.

The fund does not develop proprietary technology itself; rather, its competitive value is its expertise in evaluating R&D-heavy projects, providing seed and pre-seed capital, and supporting portfolio companies with follow-on financing, talent recruiting, and intellectual property strategy. Its distribution advantage derives from the PGE Ventures partnership, which provides access to PGE Group infrastructure for testing and pilot implementations and a pipeline of follow-on capital, supplemented by relationships with Polish scientific centers including AGH University of Science and Technology (Krakow), the University of Wrocław, and Wrocław University of Technology. The fund is managed by ERC sp. z o.o. as the external manager of the fund vehicle ASI ERC sp. z o.o. sp. k.

ERC VC's revenue model is that of a closed-end VC fund: returns are generated from equity participation in portfolio companies at exit, alongside ongoing management fees on committed capital. Pricing is structured as a per-project ticket size of approximately 1 million PLN, with explicit value-add services including patent application support, contract negotiation assistance, interim manager and engineer placement, and brokered introductions to industry partners. The company has 1-10 employees as of the most recent disclosure, with leadership comprising Andrzej Babiarz as President of the Management Board and Sebastian Kwiecień as Investment Director.

Name

ERC VC

Legal name

ERC sp. z o.o.

Website

https://erc.vc

Company type

Private

Founded year

2017

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

ERC VC is a Wrocław-based venture capital fund that invests pre-seed and seed capital in R&D-intensive Polish technology startups across energy solutions, IoT, and ICT, backed by NCBiR Bridge Alfa public funding and PGE Ventures as private investor.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Venture Capital

NAICS

Other Investment Pools and Funds (5259), Portfolio Management and Investment Advice (523940)

SIC

Investment Advice (6282)

akta.pro primary industry

Early-Stage Venture Capital (Pre-Seed/Seed) (FSANAAAA)

akta.pro secondary industry

Early-Stage Venture Capital (Series A/B) (FSANAAAB)

Keywords

• Venture capital funding
• Seed stage investing
• R&D project financing
• Technology startup investment
• Deep tech fund

Headquarters

HQ city

Wroclaw

HQ country

Poland

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Capital returns from portfolio investments: As a venture capital fund, ERC VC generates returns through equity participation in portfolio companies. The fund invests in early-stage R&D projects with potential for significant returns upon exit, typically through follow-on investments from PGE Ventures or other investors.

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels3 records

Core offering

ERC VC is a private Polish venture capital fund (Epic Alfa) that invests pre-seed equity, typically around 1 million PLN per project, into early-stage technology startups with significant R&D components in three sectors: energy solutions, Internet of Things, and ICT/data processing. The fund provides not only capital but also ongoing investment oversight, assistance with follow-on funding rounds, access to PGE Group infrastructure for pilot deployments, and operational support including patent applications and team building. Selection is governed by a formal evaluation conducted by the Investment Director and final approval by the Investment Committee for PoP and PoC stage projects.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Epic Alfa Fund (Bridge Alfa Pre-Seed Investment Program) Pre-seed equity investment vehicle providing approximately 1 million PLN per project to early-stage technology startups with significant R&D components in energy solutions, Internet of Things, and ICT/data processing, accompanied by hands-on portfolio support through PoP and PoC stages.
• Entrepreneur Support and Portfolio Operations Service Post-investment operational service for portfolio companies covering patent application support, contract and negotiation assistance, follow-on funding round sourcing, identification and recruitment of missing team members (interim managers and engineers), and access to PGE Group infrastructure for testing and pilot deployments.

Quantifiable outcome

• Projects with potential for unique intellectual property that can be patented
• +1 more outcomes

Named customers10 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature1 record

Partnerships

Four partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• GK PGE (PGE Capital Group)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerERC VC closely cooperates with GK PGE in project verification at earlier stages than those qualifying for PGE Ventures investment, follow-on investments by PGE Ventures in appropriate ERC projects, utilization of PGE Ventures expert networks for technology evaluation of submitted projects, utilization of PGE Ventures scouting networks to increase project deal flow, and use of GK PGE infrastructure for testing and pilot implementations.
• AGH University of Science and Technology (Krakow)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerAISeeMo company was established in 2021 at the initiative of a team of scientists from AGH University of Science and Technology in Krakow. The team has many years of scientific and business experience gained through participation in numerous national and international R&D projects.
• University of Wrocław, Faculty of Earth Sciences and Environmental ManagementminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerSAR-UAV project was created as a result of several years of work by scientists from University of Wrocław, Faculty of Earth Sciences and Environmental Management, Institute of Geography and Regional Development, Geoinformatics and Cartography Department.
• Wrocław University of TechnologyminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerSavvy Design project includes industrial research complemented by material analysis and strength tests conducted in cooperation with Wrocław University of Technology, as well as verification of key construction parameters.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• PGE Ventures: Polish energy-sector corporate venture capital arm of PGE Capital Group; functions both as anchor LP to ERC VC and as a direct CVC investor in Polish energy-tech startups, making it the closest structural and thematic peer.
• SpeedUp Group: One of Poland's most active early-stage tech VC platforms running multiple seed/early-stage funds for Polish startups; overlaps with ERC in funding early-stage tech companies and offers a direct comparison on fund mechanics and ticket sizing in Poland.
• Market One Capital: Polish seed-stage VC focusing on B2B software, IoT, and industrial technology; directly comparable as a Polish early-stage investor sharing the ICT/IoT sub-themes that ERC targets.
• Hiventures: Venture capital fund of funds / direct investor managed under PFR (Polish Development Fund) with PFR Starter, PFR Open Innovation, and PFR Green Innovation vehicles; parallels ERC as a publicly-backed Polish VC, but with broader sector scope.
• Sunfish Partners: Polish/European early-stage VC investing in deeptech and science-based startups out of universities, with first-check model similar to ERC's PoP/PoC-stage approach; explicit peer on early-stage R&D commercialization thesis.
• CofounderVC: Polish seed VC run by successful founders, focused on early-stage tech and SaaS; peer in fund-stage and ticket-size rather than sector, useful for benchmarking Polish seed-stage VC economics.
• Addventure Fund: Polish early-stage fund investing in consumer and tech startups; comparable as a domestically focused early-stage Polish VC with similar AUM and team scale.
• SATUS VC: Polish early/seed-stage VC investing in Polish and CEE tech startups; direct peer on fund stage, ticket size, and Polish geographic focus.

Broad incumbents

• EIT InnoEnergy: Europe's largest energy-tech venture investor, funded under EIT and EIB/European Commission frameworks; broader geographic mandate and significantly larger AUM than ERC, but directly comparable in its focus on energy transition innovation.
• Equinor Ventures: Energy-major CVC investing in upstream/midstream energy transition startups globally; comparable as an energy-sector corporate VC anchor in Poland/CEE and useful for understanding European energy-CVC economics, though much larger scale.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/epic-alfa

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments18 records

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about ERC VC