Do CEE startups use angels before pre-seed?
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.
The figures
| CEE applicants who had raised before | 2025 | 2026 (to date) |
|---|---|---|
| Raising pre-seed | 30% | 22% |
| Raising seed | 55% | 38% |
Those who had raised before usually name one or two investors already on board. In BADideas application data, the typical pre-seed founder arrives with no angels and no lead, and builds the round from there.
What is changing
| Quarter | CEE founders raising pre-seed who had raised before |
|---|---|
| Q2 2025 | 26% |
| Q3 2025 | 32% |
| Q4 2025 | 27% |
| Q1 2026 | 25% |
| Q2 2026 | 21% |
| Q3 2026 | 19% |
Across CEE
CEE founders raising pre-seed who applied in 2025 and 2026 so far. We show each country with enough applicants; smaller countries count only in the CEE row.
| Where the founder is based | Had raised before |
|---|---|
| All of CEE | 25% |
| Baltics | 23% |
| Latvia | 18% |
| Estonia | 31% |
| Lithuania | 19% |
| Poland | 32% |
Had raised before: highest in Poland (32%), lowest in Latvia (18%).
What it means for you
- You do not need angels first. Most founders raising pre-seed in CEE start without them.
- But a first investor makes the rest of the round easier to raise. A named angel or lead makes the next conversation easier; look for the first commitment early, from someone who knows your market.
- Name who has already invested. If anyone has committed, name them in the deck; investors look for it.
- Pick angels who add something. An angel who knows your buyers or your market is worth more to the next investor than a larger cheque from someone who does not.
Related questions
How many startups raising seed in CEE had an earlier round?
38% of CEE founders raising seed in 2026 so far named an earlier round.
How we measured it
- On this page: An earlier round is any round of outside money the founder names, from angels to funds; grants do not count. A founder who does not mention an earlier round counts as having none.
- Updated: 27 September 2026.
BADideas.fund, "Do CEE startups use angels before pre-seed?", updated 27 September 2026. https://badideas.fund/answers/angels-before-pre-seed-cee
Read next
- Do CEE founders pitch with money committed?
- How much do pre-seed startups in CEE raise?
- Do CEE startups take grants before pre-seed?
- How many users to raise B2C pre-seed in CEE?
- Is an MVP with no revenue too early in 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, and they start small.
Good founders rarely fail on the idea or the product. They fail on selling it. We give your company hands-on help from go-to-market operators who grew Zendesk, Square and Scale AI.