The study sets out to identify barriers to the financing of innovation resulting from the country’s overall level of development and the structure of Poland’s financial system. The author recommends action to remedy the system’s inefficiency in the area of financing business innovations. The article describes the theoretical aspects of innovation financing and its characteristic features in Poland on the basis of an analysis of the size, structure and changes of the overall system. On the basis of her analysis, Pełka concludes that financial barriers to the spread of innovation can only be eliminated by developing a market for “instruments typical of a knowledge-based economy.” Domestic savings need to be mobilized for the development of innovative businesses with the involvement of the public sector. It is also necessary to create a system of tax incentives and specialized capital market institutions, Pełka says, and some projects must be co-financed from public funds. Poland’s financial system should evolve toward a model based on capital market institutions, with an increased share of private capital in the process of financing business innovation, Pełka concludes.