Frequently Asked Questions

With evidence, not a plan. On pitch and diligence calls between founders and BADideas, a concern the founder answered with evidence (a number, a customer, a result) was settled on the call 36% of the time. Answered with a plan for what the company will do, it was settled 9% of the time.

Mostly about the product and how you will sell it. In more than a hundred first calls between founders and BADideas, the investor side asked about the product in 66% of calls and about how the company finds and wins customers in 60%. Business model, traction and what stops others copying you each came up in about half.

Ask how the fund decides, what it does after investing, and who you can call. On first calls with BADideas, 56% of founders asked the fund anything at all. Most of those questions were about the process and timing; very few founders asked for references from founders the fund already backs.

€60,000 for 8% values your startup at €750,000 after the money, while CEE founders raising pre-seed asked BADideas for a median pre-money valuation of €3.2 million in 2025 and 2026 so far. The median ask is about four times that. The accelerator is buying its stake at a much lower price than a pre-seed investor would, so the deal is worth it only for what the programme gives you beyond the cash.

No. Most founders raising pre-seed in CEE have raised nothing before. Only 22% of the CEE founders raising pre-seed who applied to BADideas in 2026 so far had an earlier round, down from 30% in 2025. Almost none, 2%, had a lead investor named for this round when they applied.

They ask for larger rounds. Founders from Western Europe raising pre-seed who applied to BADideas in 2025 and 2026 so far asked for a median of €580,000, against €400,000 for founders from Central and Eastern Europe. At seed the gap was €1.3 million against €1 million.

About one in seven founders raising in CEE already has one. 15% of the CEE founders who applied to BADideas in 2026 so far had won a grant, about the same as in 2025. Founders with a grant asked for a median of €640,000, against €500,000 for those without.

Most founders pitch with nothing committed. Only 10% of the CEE founders raising pre-seed who applied to BADideas in 2026 so far stated money already committed to the round, down from 18% in 2025. Those who had commitments had typically filled about 35% of the round.

Pre-revenue is the norm when founders raise in CEE. 70% of the CEE founders raising pre-seed who applied to BADideas in 2026 so far had no revenue, and so did 46% of those raising seed.

18 months. That is the typical runway CEE founders raising pre-seed planned for when they applied to BADideas in 2026 so far, against 12 months in 2025.

About a third on product, a third on sales, and the rest on people and running costs. CEE founders raising pre-seed who applied to BADideas in 2026 so far planned to spend 34% of the round on product and technology, 30% on sales and marketing and 17% on hiring.

About the same: founders at MVP stage ask for €450,000, those with revenue €500,000. CEE founders still building their first version asked for a median of €450,000 when they applied to BADideas in 2026 so far, against €500,000 for those with early users or revenue. The big step comes at scale: €1 million.

No, but you are earlier than most. In 2026 so far, 31% of the CEE founders who applied to BADideas were still building their first version or earlier, against 38% in 2025. Most now arrive with users.

Often none. Across the consumer startups that applied to BADideas, a third had no users yet, and those that had launched typically reported 1,000 registered users.

CEE founders raising pre-seed ask for about €400,000. Half ask for between €220,000 and €640,000. That is what CEE founders raising pre-seed asked for when they applied to BADideas in 2026 so far, about the same as in 2025.

The median round closed by startups in Central and Eastern Europe from January to September 2026 was €410,000 at pre-seed, €2 million at seed and €7.6 million at Series A. In the Baltics, the median seed round was €2.5 million in Estonia and €1.9 million in Lithuania.

Startups in Central and Eastern Europe closed 27 Series A rounds from January to September 2026, against 39 a year earlier, with a median round of €7.6 million. Baltic startups closed five of them, against 12 in the same months of 2025.

Founders with revenue who asked for €1–2 million got through often: at BADideas, 75% of CEE founders asking for that much with revenue reached our investment committee in 2025 and 2026 so far, against 47% of those asking for the same with no revenue. 50% of the CEE founders asking for €1–2 million had revenue, at a median ARR of about €250,000. Having bootstrapped did not add to that: among founders with revenue, those who bootstrapped got through less often than the rest.

Founders raising seed typically have €250,000 in annual recurring revenue, about 2.5 times what founders raising pre-seed have. That is the median among founders who applied to BADideas in 2026 so far and had revenue. But 50% of founders raising seed applied with no revenue at all.

Mostly help deciding what to focus on, and introductions. On calls between BADideas and the founders it backs, the fund side helped with strategy and priorities in 84% of calls and introduced experts or operators in 51%. Money is a smaller part: follow-on investment came up in 12% of calls.

Usually 10% to 20% of the company. CEE founders raising pre-seed who applied to BADideas in 2025 and 2026 so far and stated terms planned to sell a median of 10%, with half between 9% and 20%. At seed the median was 15%.

Mostly locally. Of the CEE founders who applied to BADideas in 2025 and 2026 so far and named their company, 69% had it in their own country and 14% in the US. Only 1% of CEE applicants in 2026 mentioned Delaware. Most never name their company. Those who do more often have a company abroad.

Founders ask for about €3.2 million pre-money at pre-seed and €5 million at seed. These are the medians for CEE founders who stated a valuation when they applied to BADideas in 2025 and 2026 so far. Half of those raising pre-seed asked for between €1.8 million and €5 million.

A typical cap is around €4.2 million. CEE founders raising pre-seed on a SAFE or convertible who applied to BADideas in 2025 and 2026 so far and stated a cap asked for a median of €4.2 million, with half between €2.3 million and €6 million. 65% asked for €5 million or less.

At pre-seed, a SAFE is the most common choice; at seed, equity is. Among CEE founders raising pre-seed who applied to BADideas in 2026 so far and named an instrument, 46% planned a SAFE and 32% an equity round. At seed, 72% planned equity.

Mostly from other startups. Of the CEE founding teams who applied to BADideas in 2026 so far and described where they had worked, 63% had been at an earlier startup, and 52% included a founder who had started a company before. 13% had a founder with an exit.

Two in three teams that say where they studied have a founder who studied abroad. Most CEE founders who applied to BADideas in 2025 and 2026 so far did not say where they studied. Of the teams that did, 66% included a founder who studied outside the company's country, most often in the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany or the Netherlands.

A small team. CEE founders raising pre-seed who applied to BADideas in 2026 so far and stated their team size had a median of 3 people; those raising seed had 7. The round typically pays for 3 more hires.

Three in four teams have one. 74% of the CEE founding teams who applied to BADideas in 2026 so far included a technical founder, about the same as in 2025. Both kinds of team asked for the same median round, €500,000.

29% of teams include a woman founder. Of the CEE founding teams who applied to BADideas in 2026 so far, 29% had at least one woman founder, down from 33% in 2025. Women were 15% of all founders.

Solo founders are common, and they ask for smaller rounds. 26% of the CEE founders who applied to BADideas in 2026 so far were building alone, up from 18% in 2025. Solo founders asked for a median of €400,000, against €520,000 for teams.

Direct sales and partnerships. Of the CEE founders selling to businesses who applied to BADideas in 2026 so far, 84% plan to sell directly and 70% through partners. Every other channel, from content and SEO to events and paid ads, is named by one founder in five or fewer.

Mostly sales-led. 77% of the CEE founders selling to businesses who applied to BADideas in 2026 so far sell through founders or a sales team, up from 73% in 2025. 19% combine sales with self-serve sign-up, and 4% rely on self-serve alone.

Venture-backed startups in Central and Eastern Europe had 19 exits from January to September 2026, against 31 in the same months of 2025. Six of them were in the Baltics: four in Estonia and two in Lithuania.

From January to September 2026, Czech startups raised the most capital in Central and Eastern Europe, €458 million, and Polish startups closed the most rounds, 62. The Baltics together raised €309 million on 68 rounds, more capital than Poland, against €500 million on 132 rounds a year earlier.

Startups in Central and Eastern Europe raised €1.70 billion from January to September 2026, up 23% from €1.39 billion a year earlier. Baltic startups raised €309 million of it, against €500 million in the same months of 2025.

Startups that began in Central and Eastern Europe and moved their headquarters abroad raised €717 million from January to September 2026, 42% of all capital raised by CEE startups, against 35% a year earlier. In the Baltics the share is much smaller: Baltic startups based abroad raised €17 million, 6% of the Baltics' €309 million.

Finding customers, by a wide margin. Sales and go-to-market came up as a problem in 86% of calls between BADideas and the founders it backs, more than any other area. Product followed in about half of calls, then raising the next round.

Price in dollars if your first buyers are in the US: 95% of CEE founders who sell to the US first and applied to BADideas in 2026 so far price in dollars. Across all CEE founders who showed prices, 68% quoted them in euros and 28% in US dollars.

A typical monthly price is €49. That is the median entry-level monthly price shown by the CEE founders who applied to BADideas in 2026 so far. Half priced between €12 and €211 a month. B2B founders charged a median of €99, consumer founders €12.

Startups that sold first in the US got further: at BADideas, 71% of CEE founders whose first market was the US reached our investment committee in 2025 and 2026 so far, against 50% of those who started at home. Those who started in Western Europe were at 47%. Most still start at home: 59% of CEE applicants in 2026 so far, and only 8% in the US.

Few show any. Only 25% of the CEE founders raising pre-seed who applied to BADideas in 2026 so far showed a measured unit economics figure in their deck, up from 21% in 2025. Across 2025 and 2026 so far, 6% showed a measured CAC, 4% a gross margin and 4% churn or retention.

Talk for a few minutes, then let the investor in. On a typical first call between founders and BADideas, the investor asked the first real question about 9 minutes in; on a quarter of calls it took 16 minutes or more. About half of founders opened with their own background (49%), and their calls ran longer before the first question.

Four is typical. CEE founders who applied to BADideas in 2026 so far named a median of 4 competitors in their pitch deck, with half naming between 3 and 7. Almost none claimed to have no competition.

Most claim billions. CEE founders who applied to BADideas in 2026 so far and sized their market put the total at a median of €23 billion, with half between €4 billion and €103 billion. 24% built the number from the bottom up, from customers and prices, up from 14% in 2025.

Google Slides is now the most common, ahead of Canva. Among the CEE founders who applied to BADideas in 2026 so far and whose deck shows the tool it was made in, 34% used Google Slides.

About 9 times their current revenue. We looked at CEE founders who applied to BADideas in 2026 so far and showed current revenue and a forecast. The median founder expects next year's revenue to be 9.4 times what they earn now. Half forecast between 4.0× and 33×.

14 slides, with about 90 words on each. That is the typical pitch deck CEE founders applied to BADideas with in 2026 so far. The length is the same as in 2025; the text on each slide has grown, from 75 words to 86.

Almost every deck has problem, solution, team, market and the ask. Most leave out financials. That is what CEE founders raising pre-seed put in the decks they applied to BADideas with in 2026 so far.

AI startups took 69% of the venture capital raised in Central and Eastern Europe from January to September 2026, €1.17 billion, up from 48% and €667 million a year earlier. In the Baltics, the largest round of the year, Oxylabs' €118 million, went to an AI company, and AI is the sector that raised the most capital in both Estonia and Lithuania.

Defence and security startups in Central and Eastern Europe raised €222 million from January to September 2026, against €245 million in the same months of 2025. They closed 48 rounds, 30 of them at seed and six at Series A.

A consumer app can get through, but less often: at BADideas, 35% of CEE consumer (B2C) startups reached our investment committee in 2025 and 2026 so far, against 57% of B2B startups. Startups selling to consumers through businesses (B2B2C) were in between, at 46%, and 50% of all CEE applicants got that far.

GDPR first, and the EU AI Act is rising fast. 28% of the CEE founders who applied to BADideas in 2026 so far named a regulation in their pitch deck. Among them, 37% named GDPR and 22% the EU AI Act, up from 15% in 2025.

The most common sectors among CEE founders who applied to BADideas in 2026 so far are developer tools and infrastructure (12%), fintech (11%) and marketing and sales tools (10%). Of the eight most common sectors at BADideas, developer tools and infrastructure reached our investment committee most often in 2025 and 2026 so far, 69% of the time, and consumer and social least often, at 33%. Across all sectors, 50% got that far.

Far fewer than say so. 24% of the CEE founders who applied to BADideas in 2026 so far call their product an AI agent, up from 17% in 2025. 8% are building one, up from 3% in 2025. Most of the rest write a draft or give an answer for a person to act on, or only use the word.

Yes, if the pitch deck shows what the AI does. At BADideas, CEE startups whose deck mentions AI reached our investment committee 56% of the time in 2025 and 2026 so far, against 33% for startups without AI. Decks that only name AI get less credit than they did: 54% of them reached the committee in 2025 and 47% in 2026, while decks built on AI stayed at about 62%.