PinnedInVenturebyBorys Musielak·Dec 29, 2025SMOK Ventures in 2025: Doubling Down on the CEE Diaspora2025 was the year SMOK Ventures fully committed to a direction we had been testing before: becoming the go-to early-stage fund for Central…
Borys Musielak·Oct 5The hidden CEE founders of Y Combinator, and who funds themYC’s directory sees 30 startups from Central & Eastern Europe, but counting founders, there are 155. SMOK is #1 in CEE in terms of backing…
Borys Musielak·Jul 22Top VC Funds Investing in CEE Founders in 2026This is a list of funds actively investing in CEE founders in 2026 — pre-seed first, then seed. The filter is simple: who backs founders…
Borys Musielak·Jul 19Who are the VC funds writing pre-seed checks in Poland in 2026?I set up a VC fund because I hated the venture capital landscape in Poland in early 2010s when I was raising money as a founder.
Borys Musielak·May 11The Ultimate CEE Founder FAQI’ve published 700+ posts over the last five years. Scattered through them is the same advice I keep repeating in DMs and 1:1s with…
Borys Musielak·Apr 20This Is The Only Way To Break Into Venture Capital In 2026I get these emails all the time. They usually go something like:
Borys Musielak·Jan 28Modern Founders Are Like the Great ExplorersWe like to pretend that startups are a modern invention. Pitch decks, venture capital, accelerators, growth hacks — all very 21st century.
Borys Musielak·Jul 30, 2025🚀 Poland’s Top 20 Startup Exits (2000–2025)From Warsaw to Silicon Valley, Polish founders have built and exited names that resonate globally. Below is a curated list of the 20…
Borys Musielak·Jul 26, 2025The Most Impressive Startup Exits by Polish Female FoundersCelebrating the women behind some of the biggest tech exits in Poland’s startup scene
Borys Musielak·Jan 7, 2025SMOK Ventures in 2024: New Fund, 10 Investments, and Focus on CEE Diaspora2024 was a pivotal year for SMOK. We announced our second fund focused on Eastern European startups launching in the US.A response icon1A response icon1
