How many CEE startups exited in 2026?
Venture-backed startups in Central and Eastern Europe had 21 exits from January to September 2026, against 31 in the same months of 2025. Six of them were in the Baltics: four in Estonia and two in Lithuania.
The figures
| Exits, January to September 2026 | Number |
|---|---|
| Acquisitions | 17 |
| Buyouts | 2 |
| Stock market listings | 2 |
| All exits | 21 |
In the BADideas funding report, two of this year's exits were listings, after none in 2025. Swarmer listed on Nasdaq in March, the first Ukrainian defence-tech company to go public, and IT Genetics of Romania listed in May.
Most buyers are foreign companies buying a product they need: Apple bought Motionvfx (Poland), Coupa bought Rossum (Czechia), Sectra bought Oxipit (Lithuania) and Polymarket bought Craft (Hungary). Companies built in the region buy too: Pipedrive bought Outfunnel and Veriff bought Vespia, both in Estonia.
What is changing
| Calendar year | Exits | Of which listings |
|---|---|---|
| 2024 | 43 | 3 |
| 2025 | 40 | 0 |
| 2026, January to September | 21 | 2 |
A third fewer exits than in the same months of 2025. Deal values are rarely disclosed, so the report counts exits instead of summing them.
Across CEE
| Exits, January to September 2026 | Number |
|---|---|
| Czechia | 4 |
| Estonia | 4 |
| Romania | 4 |
| Poland | 3 |
| Lithuania | 2 |
| Ukraine | 2 |
| Hungary | 2 |
| Latvia, Slovakia, Bulgaria | 0 |
| Baltics | 6 |
In 2025 the Baltics had 12 exits over the full year: eight in Estonia and four in Lithuania.
What it means for you
- The likely exit is a sale to a foreign company. 17 of 21 exits this year were acquisitions, and most buyers were foreign companies.
- Build a product a larger company would buy. Buyers such as Apple, Coupa and Sectra bought a product to add to their own.
- Listings are rare. Two this year, none in 2025 and three in 2024.
Related questions
Who buys startups in CEE?
Mostly foreign companies buying a product: in 2026 so far, Apple, Coupa, Sectra, Polymarket and Quantum Systems. Pipedrive and Veriff, both built in Estonia, also bought companies in the region.
How many CEE startups went public in 2026?
The BADideas funding report records two from January to September 2026: Swarmer on Nasdaq in March and IT Genetics in Romania in May. There were none in 2025 and three in 2024.
How many Baltic startups exited in 2026?
Six from January to September 2026: four in Estonia and two in Lithuania, out of 21 across CEE. Among them, Pipedrive bought Outfunnel, Veriff bought Vespia and Sectra bought Oxipit.
How we measured it
- On this page: An exit is an acquisition, a buyout or a stock market listing of a venture-backed startup in Poland, Estonia, Lithuania, Latvia, Czechia, Slovakia, Romania, Ukraine, Hungary or Bulgaria. Deal values are rarely disclosed, so exits are counted and their values are not added up. Exits of hardware and consumer startups are less completely recorded for 2026 than for earlier years. January to September 2026 against the same months of 2025. This is the Q3 2026 edition. Full method: CEE startup funding report.
- Updated: 14 October 2026.
BADideas.fund, "How many CEE startups exited in 2026?", updated 14 October 2026. https://badideas.fund/answers/startup-exits-cee
Read next
- How much did CEE startups raise in 2026?
- Which CEE country raises the most VC?
- How much do CEE startups based abroad raise?
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.