Should CEE startups sell at home or abroad?
Startups that sold first in the US got further: at BADideas, 71% of CEE founders whose first market was the US reached our investment committee in 2025 and 2026 so far, against 50% of those who started at home. Those who started in Western Europe were at 47%. Most still start at home: 59% of CEE applicants in 2026 so far, and only 8% in the US.
The figures
| Reached our investment committee, by first market, CEE, 2025 to 2026 (to date) | Share |
|---|---|
| Their home country | 50% |
| Elsewhere in CEE | 44% |
| Western Europe or EU-wide | 47% |
| The United States | 71% |
| Elsewhere | 43% |
| Reached our investment committee, by US plans, CEE, 2025 to 2026 (to date) | Share |
|---|---|
| Plan to sell in the US with this round | 61% |
| Plan to sell in the US later | 51% |
| No US plans | 50% |
Shares are of the applications whose pitch deck we read, not of every application we receive. The US group is the smallest, so read its figure as a direction, not an exact rate.
| First market, CEE applicants | 2025 | 2026 (to date) |
|---|---|---|
| Their home country | 60% | 59% |
| Elsewhere in CEE | 9% | 7% |
| Western Europe or EU-wide | 19% | 21% |
| The United States | 7% | 8% |
| Elsewhere | 5% | 5% |
In BADideas application data, many plan to sell in the US, few start there: 37% of CEE founders who say anything about the US want to sell there with this round, and 31% later.
What is changing
| Quarter | CEE applicants selling first at home | Selling first in the US |
|---|---|---|
| Q2 2025 | 53% | 9% |
| Q3 2025 | 65% | 8% |
| Q4 2025 | 58% | 3% |
| Q1 2026 | 58% | 13% |
| Q2 2026 | 60% | 7% |
| Q3 2026 | 60% | 4% |
Both shares are about the same as in 2025. Fewer plan to sell in the US with this round: 37%, down from 40%.
Across CEE
CEE founders 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 | Sell first at home | Sell first in the US |
|---|---|---|
| All of CEE | 60% | 7% |
| Baltics | 57% | 6% |
| Latvia | 63% | 4% |
| Estonia | 43% | 8% |
| Lithuania | 66% | 8% |
| Poland | 77% | 5% |
| Ukraine | 50% | 18% |
| Romania | 66% | 5% |
| Czechia | 56% | 12% |
Sell first at home: highest in Poland (77%), lowest in Estonia (43%).
What it means for you
- The US result does not mean you should move there. Founders who can sell in the US from the start often differ in other ways, such as their customers or their team. It is an association, not a cause.
- Home first is the norm. 66% of CEE founders start in their own country or nearby. Use it to prove the product cheaply, then show how you will grow beyond it.
- Name the second market early. Investors know most CEE home markets are small. Say which market comes next and what it takes to get there.
- Start in the US only if your buyers are there, and show how you will sell to them from Europe.
Related questions
Do startups in CEE go to the US early?
Few start there: 8% of CEE applicants in 2026 so far named the US as their first market. More plan it for this round: 37% of those who mention the US. Those planning US sales with this round reached our investment committee 61% of the time, against 50% for those with no US plans.
How we measured it
- On this page: The first market is where the founder says they sell first; "home" is the founder's own country. "Reached the investment committee" means the application got past our first screen. Founders who do not name a first market are left out. Shares are of the applications whose pitch deck we read, not of every application we receive. The link between what a deck shows and how far it got is an association, not a cause.
- Updated: 12 October 2026.
BADideas.fund, "Should CEE startups sell at home or abroad?", updated 12 October 2026. https://badideas.fund/answers/sell-locally-or-go-abroad-cee
Read next
- Which channels do CEE B2B startups use?
- How much do CEE startups based abroad raise?
- Are CEE rounds smaller than in W. Europe?
- Do CEE startups price in euros or dollars?
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.