While in the US, he met Paul Bragiel, an American angel investor and venture capitalist who had previously invested in companies like Uber and Stripe. So, when deciding to cofound SMOK Ventures in Poland with Diana Koziarska, with whom he had previously cofounded an acceleration program, Borys reached out to Paul, who became the third managing partner at SMOK. SMOK Ventures is a Polish-American venture capital firm that typically invests between $50,000 to $1 million in the very early stages of startups in CEE. However, while its main focus is the software and game-development sector, it does not limit itself to specific industries. SMOK’s prime targets are top founders with proven track records. This is what allows it to identify and receive top projects from serial founders and to invest in their projects even as early as the pre-revenue stage. But it does not shy away from investing into first-time founders with product traction or useful experience. Some of the notable startups in SMOK’s portfolio include SunRoof, a solar roof company; ProperGate, a smart delivery-management system that provides real-time information of materials on complex construction sites; and Rezuro, a click-to-rent platform for tenants and landlords. What makes SMOK stand out in the market is that it’s not only a highly diverse and international team but also a firm ready to invest in something crazy. It thinks big and expects its founders to think globally as well. Currently, the SMOK Ventures team is working on developing its second fund, which is expected to be five times bigger than SMOK 1.

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