Recently, I pointed out how All Roads Lead to … Poland. As I was writing it, Venture Beat published a piece on why Poland is ready to hit the tech big time. According to the article, Poland has plenty of innovative companies with global potential, such as Appcod.es (which proclaims to be the Swiss Army Knife for App Store Optimization), Mobeelizer (cloud sync for your mobile apps), or Positionly (to track and improve your website’s position). Plus, with over 55% of the population online due to its solid level of technical education, it’s no surprise that Poland ranks second in the world in the Top Coder ranking, with only Russia scoring higher.
And when you consider the English competency, and the relatively low wages, it makes it a very attractive destination for companies looking for an alternative to India, with companies such as 10 Clouds and Applicake looking to help you with your business. And now there is Angel and VC support in the region, including Hard Gamma Ventures, Innovation Nest and Point Nine Capital.
And blogging has hit the big time in Poland. Poland leads European markets in blog engagement, with only Japanese and South Korean visitors spending more time visiting blogs worldwide. The tech blogsphere is ablaze, with the most influential polish bloggers reaching an average of 11% of the technical blog audience.
And the fact that it still hasn’t adopted the Euro gives it an advantage in the financial crisis. Its weaker currency, the zloty, supports exports and foreign investment. Plus, as per the I Love Poland website, eating out in Poland is superb value for the money, making it very attractive to valley-types who like to travel, and dine well.
And it’s gearing up for technology. Over one quarter of its 66 industrial and technology parks, indexed on the Invest in Poland site, are dedicated to science and technology. And if you need help breaking into Poland on this side of the Atlantic, the USPTC (US-Polish Trade Council), the Canadian Trade Commissioner Service (Poland), and the Poland Trade & Information Office of North America are there to help.