How many CEE startups raise a Series A?
Startups in Central and Eastern Europe closed 29 Series A rounds from January to September 2026, against 40 a year earlier, with a median round of €7.1 million. Baltic startups closed six of them, against 12 in the same months of 2025.
The figures
| Series A, January to September | 2025 | 2026 |
|---|---|---|
| Rounds, CEE | 40 | 29 |
| Capital raised, CEE | €401 million | €360 million |
| Rounds, Baltics | 12 | 6 |
| Capital raised, Baltics | €84 million | €78 million |
In the BADideas funding report, Series A rounds got fewer and the largest got larger. Half of this year's Series A rounds closed between €5.9 million and €13.8 million. The top quarter starts at €13.8 million, against €10 million in 2025. The largest are Viktor (€68 million), Cyber Swarm (€46 million) and Frankenburg Technologies (€30 million).
What is changing
| Calendar year | Series A rounds | Capital raised | Median round | Top quarter from |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | 45 | €274 million | €6.2 million | €9.1 million |
| 2025 | 51 | €483 million | €8 million | €10 million |
| 2026, January to September | 29 | €360 million | €7.1 million | €13.8 million |
| Series A rounds with known investors that included a fund based outside CEE | Share |
|---|---|
| 2024 | 67% |
| 2025 | 78% |
| 2026, January to September | 88% |
From Series A on, most rounds include money from outside the region. At pre-seed the share has stayed at about two in five every year.
Across CEE
| Series A, January to September 2026 | Rounds | Capital raised |
|---|---|---|
| Poland | 6 | €116 million |
| Romania | 2 | €64 million |
| Ukraine | 7 | €52 million |
| Estonia | 3 | €47 million |
| Lithuania | 3 | €31 million |
| Czechia | 4 | €21 million |
| Hungary | 2 | €13 million |
| Bulgaria | 1 | €9 million |
| Slovakia | 1 | €5 million |
| Latvia | 0 | - |
In the Baltics, Frankenburg Technologies (€30 million) and Saltz App (€20 million) are the largest Series A rounds this year.
What it means for you
- Plan for a Series A from investors outside the region. 21 of 24 Series A rounds with known investors this year included one.
- €7.1 million is the middle of the market. Half of Series A rounds closed between €5.9 million and €13.8 million.
- Fewer companies get there. Series A rounds fell to 29 from 40, while seed rounds fell only to 185 from 198.
Related questions
Is it harder to raise a Series A in CEE in 2026?
Fewer startups did it: 29 Series A rounds from January to September 2026, against 40 in the same months of 2025. The largest rounds got larger: the median round is €7.1 million and the top quarter starts at €13.8 million, against €10 million in 2025.
Do CEE Series A rounds need foreign investors?
Nearly all include one. In the BADideas funding report, 88% of Series A rounds with known investors in 2026 so far included a fund based outside the ten countries, up from 78% in 2025 and 67% in 2024.
How many Baltic startups raised a Series A in 2026?
Six Series A rounds from January to September 2026: three in Estonia, three in Lithuania and none in Latvia, raising €78 million together. In the same months of 2025 there were 12.
How we measured it
- On this page: Series A is the label the company announced or the source assigned; a round is placed by its size only where the label clearly does not fit. Round sizes are of rounds with a disclosed amount, in euros at about 1.10 US dollars to the euro. The foreign-fund share counts rounds with known investors where at least one investor is headquartered outside the ten countries. 2024 and 2025 are full calendar years in the table of years; 2026 runs to 30 September 2026. This is the Q3 2026 edition. Full method: CEE startup funding report.
- Updated: 18 October 2026.
BADideas.fund, "How many CEE startups raise a Series A?", updated 18 October 2026. https://badideas.fund/answers/series-a-rounds-cee
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