PolskiImagine a film as thin as a sheet of paper that you put under a regular desk lamp, and it… charges your phone. Sound like sci-fi? The best part is that it was invented by a Polish woman who is said to be a modern-day Nikola Tesla. That person is Olga Malinkiewicz – physicist, co-founder of Saule Technologies, pioneer of perovskite solar cells. For years she has been a symbol of Polish innovation, and today she is also the heroine of a high-profile dispute with investors, which reached the prosecutor’s office and the media. This story is not a simple tale of success or failure. Rather, it is a study of the clash between the world of science and the logic of the stock market, as well as the very human price one pays for dreams – especially when one is a woman in a tough, world of technology and capital.
Table of Contents:
- Genesis: Olga Malinkiewicz, the girl who tamed the sun
- Saule – the third child of Olga Malinkiewicz
- Saule’s high hopes and stock market rollercoaster
- May earthquake: “half a billion,” prosecution and charges
- November gloom: what’s happening with Saule Technologies today?
- Where does the truth lie? Lessons from history by Olga Malinkiewicz for GentleWoman readers
Genesis: Olga Malinkiewicz, the girl who tamed the sun
Olga Malinkiewicz’s story does indeed sound like a movie script at times. While working as a scientist in Spain, she developed a breakthrough method for applying perovskites – chemical compounds capable of absorbing light – at room temperature, to flexible substrates.
Previously, it seemed that such a process required high temperatures and complicated ovens. Her idea paved the way for the production of lightweight, flexible solar panels that can be printed on film or glass.
In an interview with Gazeta Wyborcza, Malinkiewicz admits that at the beginning of this journey she was “very naive” and did not know the behind-the-scenes workings of large companies and corporations. This is an important theme – because it shows the gap between the world of laboratories and the world of finance.
In 2014, Olga returns to Poland. Instead of choosing Silicon Valley, Japan or Germany, she decides that she wants the energy revolution to have a “Made in Poland” label. This is how Saule Technologies – named after the Baltic sun goddess – is created.
In 2021, the company, together with Columbus Energy and Japanese company H.I.S., opens the world’s first commercial perovskite materials factory in Wroclaw. This is the moment when Olga Malinkiewicz hits the media covers, wins prestigious awards – including the European Inventor Award – and becomes a symbol of the new generation of women in technology.
Saule – the third child of Olga Malinkiewicz
Looking from the outside, it seems that Olga is winning everything at once: science, business, recognition. In reality, her life is much more complicated. She is a mother of two, and at the same time a co-founder and face of a company that requires constant presence and responsibility.
Speaking to the media, Malinkiewicz stresses that she protects her family’s privacy very consistently. What we don’t see in the conference photos are the hundreds of hours shared between the lab, the production floor and home.
Saule Technologies becomes the “third child” in this arrangement. This term reflects well the emotional relationship between Olga and the company – any crisis of the company affects her personally, and any attack on Saule easily turns into an attack on her as a person.
The construction of the factory in Wroclaw, the launch of the production lines, discussions with partners from Poland, Japan and other countries – all of this required enormous sacrifice, including on a family level. For many GentleWoman readers, this element of the story may sound familiar: trying to balance a demanding job with the role of mother and partner.
Saule’s high hopes and stock market rollercoaster
To develop the technology and the factory, Saule Technologies needed capital. At this stage, Columbus Energy, a photovoltaic company led by David Zielinski, came into play.
Columbus is investing in Saucer, with news of a financial commitment of tens of millions of zlotysin the public space. The company goes public on the NewConnect market, more investors join, and the buzz around perovskites gets louder.
In an interview with “Wyborcza” Malinkiewicz recalls the moment of opening the factory in Wroclaw: the ceremonies, the media, a bouquet of white roses from the CEO of Columbus Energy. The atmosphere then is enthusiastic, and investors do not interfere with the daily work of the Saule team.
Over time, however, differences in expectations begin to emerge.
In simple terms:
- For Olga Malinkiewicz, technological excellence, security and patent development in the long term are key.
- For investors – natural in the logic of the market – financial results, the pace of commercialization and the share price become more important.
This is not a Polish exception, but a common conflict in deep-tech companies: learning takes time, trial and error, while the stock market expects quick, measurable results.
There is also the theme of financing and loans in the background. In the interview notes referenced by the media, the name of Piotr Kurczewski appears and a proposal for a structure in which Malinkiewicz would take out a private loan, contribute funds to the company, and then be repaid from subsequent tranches of financing. This is one of the points where, according to reports, plans and reality began to diverge.
May earthquake: “half a billion,” prosecution and charges
The groundbreaking comes in May 2025. Olga Malinkiewicz resigns from Saule’s board of directors and files a notice with the National Prosecutor’s Office. She says publicly that she believes the actions of some investors and board members could harm the company.
In her official June 2025 post, Malinkiewicz points out, among other things:
- objections to the presentation of the company’s financial statements,
- Concerns about possible acquisition of full control of key assets – including patents – by financiers.
Columbus Energy and related entities, on the other hand, vehemently reject the allegations. There is a high-profile storyline in the media: the valuation of the claims against Malinkievich, which some headlines simplify to the formula that “she is expected to return nearly half a billion zlotys.”
Important: at this stage we are talking about a legal and business dispute, with each side presenting its own interpretation of the facts. The case is going to the prosecutor’s office, and the final outcome – from the perspective of the end of 2025 – is not yet known.
At the same time, there is a dispute over the acquisition of control of the key operating company Saule S.A. (the one that owns the factory and patents). The proposal described by Malinkiewicz was said to boil down to Columbus getting a dominant stake, while she herself is offered a minority stake, which she views as unfavorable and unethical.
November gloom: what’s happening with Saule Technologies today?
The situation at the end of November 2025 – from the point of view of an observer following the market – looks very serious.
On November 17, the Stock Exchange suspended trading in Saule Technologies sharesdue to the absence of a Q3 report. For a public company, this is a wake-up call, which usually means serious organizational or financial problems.
Trade and economic media write about:
- possible loss of liquidity,
- The risk of bankruptcy or restructuring,
- The departure of some of the key people associated with the project,
as well as a dispute over the composition of the supervisory board and control of companies in the Saule group. In the interview notes, Malinkiewicz points out that, in her view, the supervisory board has been dominated by representatives of elected investors, which upsets the original balance enshrined in the charter.
At the same time, there is also a judicial thread – information about Olga Malinkiewicz removal from the board of directors comes after her own public statements, in which she claimed that she still considers herself a member of the company’s authorities. This shows how dynamic and complicated the case is.
Where does the truth lie? Lessons from history by Olga Malinkiewicz for GentleWoman readers
Is it possible today from the outside to say unequivocally who is “right”? The honest answer is no.
We are dealing with several simultaneous processes:
- a complex legal and corporate dispute,
- conflict of interest between the innovator-technologist and financial investors,
- pressure from the capital market, which demands results in the “here and now.”
Olga Malinkiewicz perspective
Her public statements paint a picture of someone who primarily wants to defend the technology, patents and the work of her team. She fears that as a result of debt and disputes, control of the project may be taken over by entities that will not necessarily think about long-term development in Poland. For her, Saule is not just a company, but a long-term life project.
Investors’ perspective
Investors stress that they have put a lot of money into the project and are accountable to their own shareholders. If a company is generating losses and results are not keeping up with promises, they feel obliged to take corrective action – even if that means deep restructuring, selling assets or changing management.
The truth in such conflicts rarely lies perfectly in the middle, but is usually more complex than the headlines suggest.
For GentleWoman readers, Olga Malinkiewicz story can be both an inspiration and a warning:
- Inspiration – because it shows that a Polish woman with a scientific background can co-create technology that the whole world is talking about.
- A cautionary tale – because even the most spectacular idea needs a well-secured legal and business side, partners we trust, and an awareness that in the world of big capital, emotion and idealism often lose out to the excel.
If you are in business, developing a startup, entering into partnerships with investors – this story can be a good impetus to:
- Take care of independent legal advice,
- Understand the entry and exit mechanisms of investors,
- think of intellectual property as a real, quantifiable resource, not just “paper somewhere in the background.”
The story of Nikola Tesla brutally demonstrated that a brilliant mind is not enough to survive in the jungle of business. Let’s hope that in the case of the “Polish Tesla” this scenario will not be repeated. Because regardless of how the fate of perovskites turns out,
Sources
- Europe’s Future: Open Innovation, Open Science, Open to the World – European Commission Report (Scribd).
- “Polish solar startup faces bankruptcy” – English Section, Polish Radio.
- “Who is Olga Malinkiewicz? Polish woman has developed a revolutionary solution,” Radio ZET.
- “Statement by Olga Malinkiewicz, Member of the Management Board of the Saule Group of Companies,” Saule Technologies, June 16, 2025.
- “Malinkievich to return nearly half a billion zlotys. ‘The fight to defend Saule technology continues'” – CIS.co.uk.
- Announcement “SAULE TECHNOLOGIES SA (16/2025) Further suspension of trading in the Company’s shares” – PAP Business.
- “Further suspension of stock trading,” SAULETECH’s announcement on StockWatch.co.uk (18.11.2025).
- “Saule Technologies may be heading toward bankruptcy” – Perovskite-Info.
- “Polish Perovskite Solar Cell Pioneer Saule Technologies Teeters on Brink of Bankruptcy Amid Leadership Dispute” – Solar Be Global.
- “Polish Perovskite Sale Sparks Ownership Dispute” – List.Solar.
- “Investors have recognized the conflict. Columbus shares react to Saule dispute” – Money.co.uk.
- Interview with Olga Malinkievich in Gazeta Wyborcza – press materials detailing Saule Technologies’ history, investor relations and behind-the-scenes corporate litigation.
