B2R Law (legacy Zieba & Partners) ventures further into venture capital with the hire of Szymon Syp as Partner

B2R Law (legacy Zieba & Partners) has appointed Dr Szymon Syp as a Partner.

Dr Szymon Syp LL.M. (Maurer School of Law, Indiana University) is an Advocate (Warsaw Bar Association), who has over 10 years of professional experience and specializes in corporate law, M&A transactions (with a particular focus on VC deals) and capital markets law. He has advised on M&A transactions in the private and public market, including domestic and cross-border deals (for family businesses, PE/VC funds, listed companies, start-ups as well as conglomerates), the issuance of securities and complex restructuring processes of undertakings. Szymon is the author of a doctoral dissertation concerning convertible bonds and is in the process of writing another regarding the economics of competition law. He has co-authored commentaries to MAR, Postal Law, the Law on Bonds and Capital Markets Law (in preparation), and has authored over 30 scientific articles and given speeches at more than 40 conferences. In 2016 he was ranked as a “Rising star – lawyers leaders of tomorrow” organized by the Dziennik Gazeta Prawna and Wolters Kluwer Polska, and listed as one of the 25 hot names in Polish law by „Gentleman” magazine (2016). He is recommended by Legal 500 (2019) within commercial, corporate and M&A (Poland).

Senior Partner Rafal Zieba comments, “We are very pleased to welcome Szymon to team B2R. Poland is yet to produce a global brand in the same way that some of our neighbours have (e.g. Czech – Skoda) and we believe that this is to come. We are certain that this will emanate from Poland’s exciting tech industry. However, for this to happen Polish tech companies need access to capital and B2RLaw is now the go-to law firm in Poland in respect to venture capital transactions connecting that capital (in particular from abroad) to the Polish tech companies. Szymon also vastly strengthens our M&A and Capital Markets offering.”

Adam Piwakowski, Partner, adds, “We see that more and more international venture capital money is coming into Poland and the wider CEE region, combined with the fact that US VC funds are moving to Europe and targeting European companies. For the past year, team B2R has taken the pioneering approach of developing relations and encouraging international venture capital money into the Polish market and connecting it to Polish VCs and their portfolio companies. This has led us to work with venture capital funds from all over the globe, whether this be from India, Turkey, Japan, or of course, the UK and US. With Szymon joining us, we intend to take this a step further.”

“I am very pleased and excited to have joined B2RLaw who have a similar plan and mindset in respect to venture capital and the Polish tech industry. Our goal is to provide a 360 degree service to the blossoming Polish tech industry and to be the premium law firm for tech transactions, helping Polish companies and Polish VCs not only in Poland, but on the global stage working closely with our unique international contacts and relations. The value of venture capital transactions in Poland shot up from just under PLN 156 million in 2018 to PLN 1.266 billion in 2019 and we predict this figure to grow dramatically over the years. I am confident B2RLaw will be at the heart of this growth,” remarks Szymon.