Biography
Eliza Kruczkowska is a senior innovation strategist with over fifteen years of experience working at the intersection of public policy, venture capital and startup ecosystems in Europe.
For nearly nine years, she served as Director of Innovation Development at the Polish Development Fund, where she helped build the institution from its early stage into a central actor in Poland’s innovation and venture capital ecosystem. In this role, she co-created and led national programmes supporting startups and emerging entrepreneurs, contributed to the development of Poland’s VC market, and supported thousands of founders. She also initiated and developed major entrepreneurship and STEAM education initiatives, including the Central Technology Hub, the PFR Pioneers School, and the Good Idea Programme.
Earlier in her career, Eliza led Startup Poland, a leading startup advocacy organisation, where she worked closely with founders, investors and government institutions, contributing to the shaping of innovation policy at both national and European levels. She has advised public institutions and innovation agencies across Europe on innovation governance, ecosystem development and digital transformation, and served as an expert for the European Innovation Council and the European Commission’s Startup Europe initiative.
Alongside her policy and programme leadership, Eliza has held advisory and supervisory roles in technology-driven and applied research organisations, including the Łukasiewicz Research Network and a national cloud infrastructure provider. From December 2025, she serves as Managing Director of the Foundation for Entrepreneurship Support, where she is building an entrepreneur-led think tank focused on regulatory reform and deregulation initiatives, including the SprawdzaMY programme.
Eliza has completed advanced executive education programmes at Harvard, Singularity University and the Oxford Internet Institute, and brings a cross-sector, execution-focused perspective to innovation and scale-up policy in Europe.