Anna Hejka

Anna Karolina Hejka was a Polish entrepreneur, investment banker and startup mentor, born in Gdańsk on November 3, 1958, and died in Otwock on September 9, 2018. She studied international economic relations at the University of Gdańsk from 1977 to 1981 and completed an MBA at IESE Business School in Barcelona from 1982 to 1984.

Her early career included financial analysis at Cargill in Barcelona, corporate banking at JPMorgan Chase in Madrid from 1984 to 1986, investment banking at Salomon Brothers/Citigroup in the United States from 1987 to 1989, and a vice-president role at Security Pacific Bank in New York from 1989 to 1991.

In 1991 she founded Heyka Capital Markets, Inc., later Heyka Capital Markets Group, described by Polish sources as the first investment bank focused on Central Europe. Her work spanned investment banking, venture capital, private equity, M&A, restructuring and corporate governance. MCI Management appointed her as a partner in 2006 to prepare large-ticket investments and help launch new investment funds; in 2007 she joined the board of MCI Capital TFI.

She was also active as a public mentor and ecosystem builder: a juror on the Polish edition of “Dragons’ Den – Jak zostać milionerem,” a MIT Technology Review Innovators Under 35 Europe judge in 2017-2018, and an adviser to Polish and European institutions on innovation. She was recognized by the World Economic Forum as a Global Leader for Tomorrow, named or nominated by EBAN in connection with Business Angel of the Year honors, and listed by Home & Market among “25 Best Managers in Finance.”

• Hejka’s investing and advisory style combined capital markets structuring with operational help. Heyka Capital Markets described its model as matching capital, institutional networks, operational experience and transaction expertise with promising, attractively valued companies.
• HCM’s historic focus covered companies “from idea” through sector leaders, including corporate finance, M&A, privatizations, PE fund management, restructuring, strategic advisory and valuation.
• At MCI, her mandate was explicitly large-ticket private-equity work: investments above PLN 50 million, MBOs/LBOs, new fund formation and buyout/growth opportunities.
• The MCI.EuroVentures mandate targeted Polish and Central European private companies with PLN 5-200 million investments for MBOs, LBOs, growth/expansion, pre-IPO and restructuring.
• In technology, she publicly emphasized exponential change and sectors such as blockchain, AI, big data and smart cities. In a 2018 interview she framed leadership around “fall in love with a problem, not the solution.”
• Current HCMG positioning after her death continues a narrower energy-transition focus: energy efficiency, renewable energy, photovoltaic projects and battery energy storage systems in Poland.