Solowow pulls in $130M from Polish entrepreneurs for small nuclear reactors
What's the deal? Synthos Green Energy (SGE)Dealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, the small modular reactor company founded by Polish billionaire Michal Solowow, has raised US$125M in an angel round. Backers include InPost founder Rafal Brzoska and ElevenLabs co-founder Mati Staniszewski.
Who else is in? MaspexDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → chief executive Krzysztof Pawinski is investing alongside his daughter Marta Pawinska, as is OsheeDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → co-founder Dariusz Galezewski. Michal Wypychewicz, Dominik Dolinski, Michal Branski, and Bruno Wejchert also took part.
The frame: This is the largest angel round on record in Poland's energy sector — top of 609 comparable deals tracked all-time.
Why now? SGE has also secured about US$337.5M (roughly $350 million) in equity commitments from foreign investors, bringing total pledged capital to about US$462.5M. Solowow, widely ranked as Poland's richest person, built his fortune in chemicals and has become one of the most prominent private backers of nuclear power in a country still heavily reliant on coal.
What's the endgame? SGE, set up in 2019, is developing reactors based on the BWRX-300 design from GE Vernova Hitachi Nuclear EnergyDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →. Its joint venture with state-controlled refiner Orlen SADealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → now expects the first reactor, planned for Wloclawek, to start up in 2032 — though Solowow said in May he expected the first unit online in late 2030.
What could go wrong? The Orlen partnership has been slowed by long negotiations; chief executive Ireneusz Fafara said on September 24 that only a handful of obstacles remained and a deal could close by year-end. No BWRX-300 unit, a 300-megawatt boiling water reactor, has started operating anywhere in the world.
The signal: Solowow is betting big beyond Poland too — a consortium he leads is planning 14 BWRX-300 reactors across three UK sites, a project estimated at £35 billion, with first units due in 2034. Pulling in a roster of Poland's best-known entrepreneurs signals growing private appetite for nuclear as Europe hunts for low-carbon baseload power.
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Image credit: Synthos Green Energy
