How many startups in CEE go through an accelerator before raising?
About one in six have. 17% of the CEE founders who applied to BADideas in 2026 so far had been through an accelerator, about the same as in 2025. They asked for a median of €580,000, against €500,000 for founders who had not.
The figures
| CEE applicants, 2026 (to date) | Through an accelerator | Not |
|---|---|---|
| Round asked, median | €580,000 | €500,000 |
| Had revenue | 41% | 38% |
In BADideas application data, accelerator alumni are about as far along as other founders when they raise: 41% had revenue, against 38% of other founders.
What is changing
| Quarter | CEE applicants who had been through an accelerator |
|---|---|
| Q2 2025 | 16% |
| Q3 2025 | 14% |
| Q4 2025 | 21% |
| Q1 2026 | 14% |
| Q2 2026 | 18% |
| Q3 2026 | 18% |
Across CEE
CEE founders who applied in 2025 and 2026 so far, and each country with enough applicants to show. Countries with fewer applicants are still counted in the CEE row.
| Where the founder is based | Through an accelerator |
|---|---|
| All of CEE | 17% |
| Baltics | 15% |
| Latvia | 11% |
| Estonia | 21% |
| Lithuania | 12% |
| Poland | 15% |
| Ukraine | 32% |
| Romania | 12% |
| Czechia | 16% |
| Bulgaria | 12% |
Through an accelerator: highest in Ukraine (32%), lowest in Latvia (11%).
What it means for you
- An accelerator is optional. Most founders raising in CEE have not been through one.
- Judge the deal by what it buys. Compare the equity it takes with the price of a pre-seed round: if the cash and help cost more than a round would, it is expensive.
- Use it for the network, not the badge. What moves the next round is the customers and investors you meet there.
- Ask alumni what it did for them. Founders from recent cohorts tell you more than the programme's own numbers.
Also answers
How many startups raising in CEE went through an accelerator?
17% of CEE applicants in 2026 so far.
Do accelerator alumni raise bigger rounds?
A little: a median ask of €580,000, against €500,000 for founders who had not been through one.
How we measured it
- Source: applications founders sent to BADideas, enriched with publicly available information where applicable.
- Limits: these are CEE only and early-stage companies.
- On this page: An accelerator is any programme the founder names as one. Founders who do not mention an accelerator count as not having been through one.
- Updated: 27 September 2026.
BADideas.fund, "How many startups in CEE go through an accelerator before raising?", updated 27 September 2026. https://badideas.fund/answers/accelerator-before-raising-cee
Read next
- How much are pre-seed startups in Central and Eastern Europe raising?
- Do startups in CEE raise from angels before their pre-seed round?
- How many startups raising in CEE are pre-revenue?
Who we are
We are a pre-seed and seed fund for founders in Central and Eastern Europe. We have built and sold companies ourselves, and since 2022 we have backed more than 40.
We back founders who see something about their market that others do not see yet. They want to change how a whole industry works, start with something small, and learn fast.
Good founders rarely fail on the idea or the product. They fail on selling it. We give your company hands-on help from GTM operators who grew Zendesk, Square and Scale AI.
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