How many startups raising in CEE bootstrapped first?
Many do both: bootstrap first, then raise. 16% of the CEE founders who applied to BADideas in 2026 so far said they had bootstrapped the company, up from 11% in 2025. 57% of them had revenue, against 35% of other founders.
The figures
| CEE applicants, 2026 (to date) | Bootstrapped | Others |
|---|---|---|
| Had revenue | 57% | 35% |
| Round asked, median | €380,000 | €500,000 |
Bootstrapped founders with recurring revenue had a median ARR of €100,000. In BADideas application data, bootstrapping is a route to raising, not an alternative to it.
What is changing
| Quarter | CEE applicants who say they bootstrapped |
|---|---|
| Q2 2025 | 6% |
| Q3 2025 | 14% |
| Q4 2025 | 14% |
| Q1 2026 | 16% |
| Q2 2026 | 19% |
| Q3 2026 | 15% |
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 | Bootstrapped first |
|---|---|
| All of CEE | 14% |
| Baltics | 14% |
| Latvia | 16% |
| Estonia | 14% |
| Lithuania | 12% |
| Poland | 12% |
| Ukraine | 12% |
| Romania | 18% |
| Czechia | 13% |
| Bulgaria | 12% |
Bootstrapped first: highest in Romania (18%), lowest in Bulgaria (12%).
What it means for you
- Bootstrap while it is cheap to learn. Revenue you earn before raising improves the terms you get.
- Raise when money buys speed you cannot get otherwise. A round makes sense when growth is limited by cash, not by product.
- Say why now. Investors backing a bootstrapped company want to know what the money changes.
Also answers
How many startups raising in CEE bootstrapped first?
16% of CEE applicants in 2026 so far said so.
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: Bootstrapped means the founder says the company was funded by its founders or its revenue, without outside investors. Founders who do not say so count as not bootstrapped.
- Updated: 27 September 2026.
BADideas.fund, "How many startups raising in CEE bootstrapped first?", updated 27 September 2026. https://badideas.fund/answers/bootstrap-or-raise-cee
Read next
- How much ARR do you need to raise a seed round in CEE?
- How many startups raising in CEE are pre-revenue?
- How much are pre-seed startups in Central and Eastern Europe raising?
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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