Poland’s mBank to invest €50m in fintech start-ups
Poland-based mBank will set up the “first” fund in Central and Eastern Europe that will specialise in developing and selling new technologies.
The Polish bank says it has an ambition to influence digital transformation in the banking sector and its mAccelerator project will provide €50 million in investment to start-ups.
mBank CEO Cezary Stypułkowski says it will also “help us strengthen our position as a company that is well-prepared for the challenges of the digital economy and is able to respond to the expectations of increasingly mobile customers”.
During the initial phase of the investment the firms will work with mBank, to “help them reach critical mass”. With the fund’s financial support, the companies can then offer their solutions to customers from around the world.
The fund will be headed by Jarosław Mastalerz, currently one of the vice-presidents of mBank’s management board and its COO; and Wojciech Chmielewski, the director of mBank’s strategy department. They will leave mBank and take the helm of the new project.
mBank says it has over five million customers in Poland, the Czech Republic and Slovakia.
