Spire Capital Partners Closes EUR 90M Fund to Back CEE’s Growth-Stage Tech Firms: Exclusive Insights

• Spire Capital Partners’s new EUR 90M Fund I bridges funding gap between venture capital and large buyout private equity players
• The Fund’s investment focus encompasses software, e-commerce, tech-enabled services with strong cash flow and scalability
• The firm promises operational and strategic support, aiming to professionalize and expand portfolio companies

This August, the proactive Polish private equity fund Spire Capital Partners (exited Thulium to SALESmanago earlier this summer, for instance) announced the final closing of its Fund I. The amount of Spire Capital Partners Fund I is EUR 90M and the funding comes from PFR, EBRD, EIF, and a group of Polish family offices and individual investors.

Launched in 2021, Spire Capital Partners is a private equity firm based in Poland and focused on investing in growth-stage companies in the CEE region. The firm primarily targets such sectors as software, e-commerce, and tech-enabled services, with an emphasis on adding operational and strategic value to its portfolio. The said portfolio includes such companies as Bioseco, Chocolissimo, Mooveno, etc.

Private Equity Fuelling Growth for Tech-Enabled Businesses in CEE

With backing from PFR, EIF, and EBRD, Spire Capital Partners aims to drive long-term growth and value creation for its companies, positioning them for successful exits in the future. A typical ticket will range between EUR 5M and 20M, acquiring majority or significant minority stakes in companies with established market positions, positive cash flows and strong growth potential.

Interestingly, PFR (through its venture arm) and EBRD have jointly funded Fund 2 of Movens Capital, a well-known Polish VC firm earlier this summer. One might guess that these organisations are looking to take on a more profound approach to supporting tech SMBs throughout various stages of their development through the respectively specialized firms.

‘We’re proud to support the emergence of new fund managers such as Spire Capital. The EBRD’s commitment to funds is contributing to the development of the private equity ecosystem and providing companies with an alternative source of financing. This is crucial to make the region’s enterprises more competitive and innovative,’ the EBRD’s Regional Director for Poland and the Baltic States Andreea Moraru notes.

ITKeyMedia approached Krzysztof Konopinski, Partner at Spire Capital Partners, to find out more about the firm and what the partners have in mind in view of the new funding.

Why was it decided to launch a new private equity firm, Spire Capital Partners, in the Polish and CEE market back in 2021? What gap or opportunity did you see in the market that prompted you to step in?

Krzysztof Konopinski: When we launched Spire Capital Partners, we saw a clear funding gap in the market. On the one hand, there are venture capital funds and bootstrapped companies. On the other, there are larger private equity players writing bigger checks for already scaled businesses. But for high-growth SME tech businesses in CEE—already generating positive EBITDA/cash-flow and with potential for rapid scaling—there was very limited capital available if any. We felt this underserved “missing middle” created an opportunity for a dedicated fund to help these companies professionalize, expand, and accelerate growth.

How do you source your dealflow?

KK: We put significant emphasis on proprietary sourcing. Of course, we maintain strong relationships with intermediaries and advisors, but we do not rely on them exclusively. Much of our pipeline comes from direct outreach, long-standing networks, and relationships we have built with entrepreneurs and executives over years. We believe our hands-on, reputation-driven approach gives us access to opportunities before they become broadly marketed.

What are the ‘green flags’ or ‘red flags’ you look for in the leadership teams and business models of potential investments, especially when the company is already established and operational, seeing how private equity often deals with more mature companies as opposed to startups?

KK: For us, the key green flags include mission-critical solutions/high switching costs, strong margins, a recurring revenue base, clear growth potential, operational leverage, and leadership teams willing to professionalize. Conversely, red flags arise when organizations are too small or structurally underdeveloped—where the absence of professional management or scalable processes makes it difficult to build a platform. In short, we seek businesses with proven economics that still have room to institutionalize and scale.

While your fund targets growth-stage investments across software, e-commerce, and tech-enabled services, are there specific niche sectors or sub-sectors within these broader categories (like AI, automation, or sustainability-focused tech) that you view as having particularly high growth potential in the CEE region?

KK: We don’t narrowly focus on subsectors. Our approach is deliberately broad, because we want to back exceptional entrepreneurs and scalable business models across technology. But for instance, we are actively thinking about how emerging technologies like AI can boost growth, improve effectiveness, or deliver meaningful margin uplift. For us, it’s less about betting on one subvertical and more about integrating transformative tools to help our portfolio companies grow.

Arkadiusz Podziewski said that closing Spire Capital Fund I in today’s challenging geopolitical and macroeconomic environment was a strong signal that investors viewed the firm’s strategy as compelling. What particular geopolitical and macroeconomic challenges do you specifically point out? And what, in your opinion, makes your strategy compelling?

KK: Clearly, the Russian invasion on Ukraine is a major geopolitical challenge that continues to affect the region, alongside broader macroeconomic volatility. Yet our strategy is precisely designed to address such an environment: we target high-growth technology businesses that already generate stable EBITDA and cash flow, with recurring revenues and exposure to relatively early-stage markets. This creates room for buy-and-build strategies, which in turn support resilience and scalability. We believe this combination of stability and growth potential is compelling for investors, even in uncertain times.

Łukasz Wierdak said that partnering with Spire was about more than just securing capital but gaining access to operational and strategic support. What does it mean in your case specifically?

KK: Our team brings a mix of operational, consulting, private equity, and investment banking experience. Because the companies we back are at a stage where attracting top-tier senior talent can still be difficult, we take a very active role—still without crossing the line between non-executive and executive roles. We not only help professionalize organizations but also coach and mentor younger, ambitious managers who are eager to grow. This hands-on approach is what differentiates us—we don’t just provide capital, we help shape teams and build capabilities that allow companies to reach their next stage.

Looking forward five years, how do you envision Spire Capital Partners influencing the growth and maturity of the Polish and broader CEE PE ecosystem? How do you see your firm contributing to the region’s shift from emerging markets to more developed market characteristics?

KK: We see Spire Capital becoming a leading technology private equity fund in the CEE region—operating with likely the same investment philosophy we have today, but at a much larger scale with a significantly expanded team. Our ambition is to help CEE technology companies not only grow domestically but also expand successfully into Western European markets. By doing so, we believe we can contribute meaningfully to the maturity of the regional PE ecosystem, helping the shift from an “emerging market” profile towards characteristics of a more developed investment landscape.

Looking beyond that horizon, perhaps over a decade or more, I could imagine Spire Capital evolving into a truly pan-European fund. That would mean playing an active role across the continent—bridging East and West, and helping to position our region as an equal contributor to Europe’s innovation landscape. While our current focus is clear, we remain open to this longer-term possibility.

To summarize in the words of the EBRD’s Head of Equity Funds Anne Fossemalle, ‘There is a missing layer of capital for companies that are profitable but require a professional investor to prepare them for the next stage of their evolution. Spire Capital will help to bridge this financing gap between early growth and mature buy-out investments and use its technological expertise to support the development of companies.’

Private equity indeed plays a crucial role in supporting high-growth, tech-enabled SMEs in Poland and the broader CEE region by bridging the funding gap between early-stage venture capital and larger buy-out investments. Focusing on growth-stage companies that are already profitable but require additional professional expertise and capital to scale further, especially in the rapidly evolving tech sector, firms like Spire Capital Partners provide them with critical strategic and operational support and help them navigate challenges, scale effectively, and prepare for successful global expansion.