Artur Mattczak, creator of Allplayer: Many start-ups are lectured in this place

When he was a child, he built vehicles from wheels from garbage containers and several boards. He came off them from Górki in Łódź. At the end of primary school, he became interested in electronics. He says that a real breakthrough came when his colleague got ZX Spectrum, one of the first home computers, produced since 1982. Then, instead of playing with his friends, he went straight to the bookstore to look for books and materials to find out how such equipment works. This is how he began his adventure with programming.

In the 1990s he created a great ball game. – She was in almost every bank, in every office, the employees sat in front of the computer and played. Virals spread. As in television news they showed some office, there was always a view from Super Balls on computers – recalls Artur Mattczak, currently co -founder, shareholder and head of the programmers in the Allplayer Group sp. Z oo and an artificial intelligence researcher.

Many Poles also associate another application behind which they stand. – At the end of the 90s, Poles began to massively watch movies on the computers, which they downloaded from torrents, from the network. So I created the Allplayer program, a multimedia player that could also display subtitles. I contacted the editorial offices that published technology newspapers. Some of them agreed to add a disc with my program – he says in an interview with the business editors of tvn24.pl.

In 2000, his program had 12 million active users per month throughout Poland. – Initially, it was fun at home, but with such great popularity we decided to start a company. I met conscientious and valuable partners, Maciek, Marek, and we founded the ALLPlayer company – he interferes.

It is about Maciej Matuszewski, who dealt with organizational and financial matters, and Marek Cieła, who at that time returned from the United States with many contacts that helped to develop a young Polish company.

– We had great balls, so if someone entered the website to download them, he saw an AllPlayer right away. And he downloaded another program. We, in turn, earned advertising cooperation. So you could create a product without having money – he points out.

Today – as he admits – it is impossible, if only because the competition is greater. – You have to put money on advertising to break through, otherwise nobody will find our product – says Mantyczak.

Despite the passage of 25 years, for example on the DobreProgramy website, the AllPlayer is still at the forefront of the list of the most frequently downloaded applications.

We meet with Artur Majtczak in Google Campus for Startups in Warsaw, on demo day. It is an event organized by Hugetech Revolution, where most often young technological companies are looking for a chance to obtain financing and break through. 24 companies took part in the competition.

– Although we have been on the market for so many years, we start to some extent from the beginning, because this is what the innovation sector looks like. You have to constantly look, be open to new solutions and never stop – says Mattczak.

During the event, the companies tried to co -finance in the amount of six hundred thousand zlotys from the Polish Entrepreneurship Development Agency. – We won first place during Demo Day. We presented ALLPlayershare, a new, small device that revolutionizes the method of sending and managing files – he adds.

How does this equipment work? – We are on vacation, we are filming our trip and we know that we caught a great moment, for example in the 11th minute. We want to send this piece to friends. At the moment, the system works so that the film needs to be sent to the server, and the recipient must download it, hear it, find selected fragments. It takes a long time, because such a movie will be 15 GB. However, using allplayershare, we can send a link with this material from a thoroughly selected minute – he explains.

The device is in the designs, it is to be small, you will be able to take them everywhere.

– This is such a handy server, your own Netflix. The recipient can see the material in such a way as on a streaming platform. Our solution also applies to medical clinics, where you need to share X -ray files, but also where we record with a drone, for creators of content on social media or on television – says Artur Mattczak.

According to him, winning among other start-ups is associated with a predominance of experience. – We did a lot of things and there has never been a situation that we lost money in a project – he emphasizes.

– I also see that start-ups are often created by people who have no idea about programming. They come up with sensational, but only theoretically ideas. The problem is that if someone has no idea about programming, they do not know what is possible, given the current technology – he notes.

According to Artur Mattczak, “innovation is based on knowledge and experience, hence many start-ups are lectured in this place.” – I know those that have won and twenty million zlotys from investors, but I know that they will not build a solution. There is no chance for their products to be created, precisely because of technological restrictions – explains the co -owner of Allplayer.

As he says, young people think that having a business idea written on a piece of paper can go to business angels, i.e. private investors and fight for millions of subsidies.

– Or that they will pass the elevator test. If in two minutes they convince the investor in the elevator for their idea, they get one hundred million dollars. There used to be such stories, but I don't know if it would succeed today. Now you have to prove that our business idea makes sense at a much earlier stage. We have to show that we can do something, that we have a good team and that we are able to actually create a product – explains Mattczak.

At the same time, he notes that gaining financing for innovative solutions through state institutions is not easy, because it is a very formal process.

– In 2018, we wanted to create something like chatgpt. It was when no one thought about such a hut. I had a terrible problem to explain seven years ago what our idea was, what artificial intelligence is – he says.

As he recalls, to submit an application to the National Center for Research and Development, it was necessary to predict how much this solution could earn.

– It was very difficult to convince anyone that artificial intelligence is needed at all. We also came across a period when the NCBR was very bad. It was not easy to break through with a good idea, because these were the times when the ideas of colleagues associated with the institution pierced – indicates Artur Majtczak.

Stories of companies that have applied for subsidies at the NCBR: “We are frustrated and bitter”, “We trusted that the money will be any day”

He felt a prick when he found out that Chatgpt was launched by another team. – However, I still think that this is a brilliant matter and we have an idea how to do something bigger than chatgpt – he says with conviction.

And he explains that his main goal is to create Aga, i.e. strong artificial intelligence. – The creation of Chatagpt actually only shortens my path to the destination, because one of the required components is already being implemented. Chatgpt is a great, but only language model, having little to do with intelligence – he states.

Together with his team, Mantyczak created Saraai. – This is a project of strong artificial intelligence, based on many years of observations, but also tests of individual software modules. Of course, modeling on the principles of our brain, interpretation of words in the virtual world – explains the programmer.

We ask where the start-ups should look for money for the implementation of innovative ideas? – It's best to have your own resources to start, to at least start the project, show a solution. Later, it is worth reporting to accelerators and incubators, where we meet mentors, as well as future investors – says Mattczak.

It also applies to crowdfounding, i.e. dumps. He says that once a nice catchy idea was enough and you could collect “really worthy money for product development”. – Now it is still one of the easier ways to raise funds, but it requires us to be put together more hundreds than tens of thousands of zlotys – says Artur Majtczak.

Among the options for searching for financing, he also mentions business angels, venture capital funds and state institutions such as the Polish Development Fund, the National Center for Research and Development, Industrial Development Agency and the Polish Entrepreneurship Development Agency.

– One in ten start-ups will survive the first two years. Of those who survive, few will become so -called unicorns (start -up valued at over one billion dollars – editor's note). However, it is worth trying, without it: Books, ZnanyLekarz.pl, Allegro, CD Projekt or many other well -known Polish companies – smiles the creator of AllPlayer.

The report “Acceleration market in Poland” prepared by the NCBR and Antal shows that in Poland there are over 3.3 thousand. start-ups. Often associated with new technologies, ideas or products that can change the existing market or create new fields of economy.

Most of them are young companies that operate on the market for a short period, up to five years. Almost 20 percent Start-ups operate for more than five years. There are only 3 percent of over 10 years. companies.

Statistics show that the most start-ups are headquarters in the Dolnośląskie and Mazowieckie voivodships, around 20 percent.

Daniel Dereniowski, president of Hugetech Revolution explains to our editorial office that one of the biggest problems that young technology companies face are competent in the team.

– Each team should have people with technical, technological, sales and management predispositions. Our observations show that teams lack knowledge about the market and how the competition works. They also make it difficult to understand in a understandable way to clients and investors about their idea – says Daniel Dereniowski.

The development of start-ups is associated with the need to raise money for investments. We contacted the Polish Entrepreneurship Development Agency in this matter.

Luiza Nowicka from the Communication Department reports that in 2024 PARP as part of the starting platform programs for new ideas and Startup Booster Poland He granted co-financing for start-ups in the amount of PLN 350.8 million. In 2025, these programs will continue.

“PLN 70 million in funding for start -up support programs will be awarded and competitions for another PLN 60 million will be announced” – we read the answers to TVN24.pl.

We also contacted the NCBR. Until the publication of the article, we did not receive the answer to our questions regarding the subsidies transferred to companies in 2024.

Read also: Grandfather and granddaughter founded a start-up. “An avalanche of hate fell on us”

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