- The EIB will provide Tylko with a €7.5 million loan to support its R&D investment.
- The financing is backed by the InvestEU programme to foster the development of innovative SMEs.
The European Investment Bank (EIB) has signed a financing agreement with Tylko, an innovative Polish company that is modernising the furniture industry. Tylko capitalises on the manufacturing know-how in Poland, now the world’s second largest furniture exporter (after China). The €7.5 million in financing will go to bolster Tylko’s research and development (R&D) capabilities in the field of innovative product development. This EIB support will enable Tylko to further develop its software platform, strengthen its competitiveness and expand globally. The Bank’s investment is backed by the European Commission’s InvestEU programme under the Future Technologies window.
EIB Vice-President Teresa Czerwińska stated, “The EIB is proud to support Tylko, an innovative Polish company cross-pollinating the country’s strategic furniture industry. This long-term financing will strengthen Tylko’s R&D capabilities. It will catalyse its international expansion, promote employment and skills, and consolidate its competitive positioning on the market.”
Tylko digitises the furniture industry by delivering high-quality personalised furniture through a reinvented, scalable customer journey. The company has developed a new technology — “furniture as software” — offering personalised design with 3D augmented reality visualisation. Tylko is fully integrated with manufacturers, ensuring timely delivery and superior quality of service and production.
“This is a great milestone for Tylko. Entering this long-term partnership with the EIB will help us build a global business, in line with our values, while having Europe’s largest investor by our side,” said Mikołaj Molenda, Co-CEO and co-founder of Tylko.
The EIB is one of the world’s main financiers of small and medium-sized businesses (SMEs). In 2022, the volume of EIB financing devoted to the development of Polish SMEs reached €695 million — supporting 69 192 companies and sustaining 650 888 jobs. In 2018-22, EIB Group support for entrepreneurship in Poland amounted to €7.03 billion.
Background information
The activities of the EIB focus on the following priority areas: climate and environment; development, innovation and skills; SMEs; and infrastructure and cohesion. The EIB works closely with other EU institutions to foster European integration, promote the development of the European Union and support EU policies in over 140 countries around the world.
The InvestEU programme provides the European Union with long-term funding by leveraging substantial private and public funds in support of a sustainable economy. It helps generate additional investments in line with EU policy priorities, such as the European Green Deal, the digital transition and support for SMEs. InvestEU brings all EU financial instruments together under one roof, making funding for investment projects in Europe simpler, more efficient and more flexible. The programme consists of three components: the InvestEU Fund, the InvestEU Advisory Hub and the InvestEU Portal. The InvestEU Fund is implemented through financial partners who invest in projects using the EU budget guarantee of €26.2 billion. This guarantee increases their risk-bearing capacity, thus mobilising at least €372 billion in additional investment.
Since its founding in 2015, Tylko has been on a mission to make online furniture shopping seamless, personal and sustainable. With a team of over 200 experts, the company powers the crucial transition towards conscious consumption by offering bespoke storage solutions, produced locally in Poland and made from responsibly sourced materials.
Aiming to set new standards across the industry, Tylko specialises in providing modern, personalised shelving, allowing buyers to easily customise their furniture down to the last detail with the use of an online configurator and AR app.
Through the democratisation of bespoke design, Tylko is able to meet the needs of unique spaces, offering better-suited and better-looking storage solutions — and, ultimately, more harmonious and sustainable living.
To date, Tylko has served around 140 000 satisfied customers across the globe.
