Will an AI startup stand out to investors in the Baltics and CEE?
Not because of the AI alone. 57% of the CEE founders who applied to BADideas in 2026 so far put AI at the core of their product, up from 48% in 2025. Across all applicants it was 23% in 2023 and 32% in 2024. An AI label is now the norm, so what stands out is what sits around it.
The figures
| Applicants who put AI at the core of the product | 2025 | 2026 (to date) |
|---|---|---|
| CEE | 48% | 57% |
| Baltics | 47% | 55% |
| CEE, raising pre-seed | 58% | 56% |
In BADideas application data, AI is now the majority pitch in CEE, not a niche: more than half of applicants build their product on it.
What is changing
| Quarter | CEE applicants with AI at the core |
|---|---|
| Q2 2025 | 48% |
| Q3 2025 | 42% |
| Q4 2025 | 54% |
| Q1 2026 | 54% |
| Q2 2026 | 63% |
| Q3 2026 | 55% |
Across all applicants the share went from 23% in 2023 to 32% in 2024 and 50% in 2025, and it is 59% in 2026 so far.
What it means for you
- Being an AI startup is no longer a differentiator. Half the founders pitching next to you say the same. Lead with the customer problem and the proof that you solve it.
- Show what is yours. Investors will ask what a competitor could not copy by calling the same model: your data, your distribution, the workflow you own.
- Say what the AI does for the customer, in their terms: time saved, errors avoided, revenue won.
Also answers
How many startups raising in CEE are AI startups?
More than half: 57% of CEE founders who applied in 2026 so far put AI at the core of their product, against 48% in 2025.
How we measured it
- Source: applications founders sent to BADideas in 2025 and 2026 to date. CEE means the company is in a Central or Eastern European country. "AI at the core" means the product would not work without it; AI as one feature does not count.
- Limits: these are founders who applied to one CEE pre-seed fund, so the sample leans towards companies that see themselves as a fit for it. A single quarter can swing, so read the change between years first. Whether AI is core is judged from the founder's own description.
- Read: 26 September 2026. Updated every quarter.
BADideas.fund, "Will an AI startup stand out to investors in the Baltics and CEE?", founder application data read 26 September 2026. https://badideas.fund/answers/ai-startup-stand-out-cee
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. So that is where we help: operators who grew Zendesk, Square and Scale AI work on your go-to-market.
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