How many users does a consumer (B2C) startup have when it raises pre-seed in CEE?
Fewer than most founders think, and 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.
What "users" means here
Founders use the word for very different things. This page keeps them apart:
| Kind of user | What it means |
|---|---|
| Waitlist | People who signed up before the product launched |
| Registered | People who created an account, installed the app or signed up after launch |
| Active | People using the product regularly, usually counted monthly |
| Paying | People paying for the product, one-off or by subscription |
The figures
| What consumer startups reported | Typical | Range for the middle half |
|---|---|---|
| No users yet (pre-launch) | A third of startups | |
| Waitlist, if pre-launch | 200 people | 50 to 2,000 |
| Registered users | 1,000 | 100 to 10,000 |
| Paying users, any at all | One in four launched startups |
A third of the consumer startups had not launched when they applied. Those with a waitlist typically had 200 people on it. Those that had launched typically reported 1,000 registered users, with the middle half between 100 and 10,000. In BADideas application data, only one in four launched consumer startups reported any paying users.
What it means for you
- You don't need a big user number to raise pre-seed. Many consumer startups raise before launch or with a few hundred users. What the round pays for is finding out whether people stay and pay.
- Say which kind of users you mean. "10,000 users" means little if they are sign-ups from one post. Investors will ask how many are active, and how many pay. Give those numbers first.
- A small number of paying or returning users beats a large number of sign-ups. Most consumer startups at this stage have no paying users, so even a few dozen who pay, or come back every week, stands out.
Also answers
Can I raise pre-seed before my consumer app has launched?
Yes. A third of the consumer startups applying to BADideas had not launched. They showed a waitlist, test users or research instead.
Do I need paying users to raise pre-seed?
No. Only one in four launched consumer startups reported paying users. Paying users make your case much stronger, but they are not the norm at this stage.
What counts as a user?
Anyone who uses the product, but always say which kind: waitlist, registered, active or paying. The table at the top of this page defines each.
How we measured it
- Source: the traction notes consumer startups shared with BADideas when applying, from hundreds of applications reviewed between May 2025 and July 2026. Each note was sorted by the kind of user it described. Forecasts, targets and market sizes were left out.
- What it measures: what founders reported, not verified figures, and not whether they went on to raise. The startups were at the stage of applying to a pre-seed fund, mostly building their first version or with their first users.
- Limits: only consumer (B2C) startups. Figures are rounded, and the ranges are rough, because founders count users in different ways.
- Read: 25 September 2026. Reviewed by 25 March 2027.
Cite as
BADideas.fund, "How many users does a consumer startup have when it raises pre-seed in CEE?", founder application data read 25 September 2026. https://badideas.fund/answers/b2c-users-before-pre-seed-cee