Insights from what we see and research as an early stage fund.

Selling to consumers, CEE startups that start in the US reach our investment committee twice as often. Selling to businesses, home is no disadvantage.

Startups from ten CEE countries raised €1.83bn from January to September 2026, up 25% on a year earlier, while seed and later rounds fell 11%. Capital, rounds, stages, sectors, founders, investors and exits, updated every quarter.

Startups that pitch AI reach our investment committee 56% of the time against 34% without AI. This year, decks that only say AI get less credit. What to show instead.

Solo founders reach our investment committee 31% of the time against 54% for teams. Once there they score about the same. What that means if you build alone.

Product-market fit meaning, in plain words: a retention curve that stops falling. How to read yours, and why a curve that falls to zero often means the wrong customers, not a bad product.

Building is nearly free, so distribution is the new moat: reaching customers first is what protects you. Ben Leblois on what BADideas.fund believes, with 7 Bad Advice clips and polls.

Nordigen co-founder Roberts Bernans spent a year on a startup he could have killed in an hour. His fix for how to make a business plan: validate fast, then pre-check your deck with our free Pitch Evaluator.

A go-to-market strategy framework for early-stage founders from operator Suhas Ghante: get buyer, pain and trust right. Plus a free AI VP of Marketing tool.

Most B2B SaaS companies enter a new market with a good product and one global message they expect to work everywhere. It often does not. Markets differ, buyers differ, and expansion needs local work.

Fundraising School ended its third year with a Demo Day on Friday, 24 October. Over 40% of the founders are already talking to investors. BADideas.fund runs it with LIAA and RITA, the Latvian and Riga investment agencies.