REPORT / Q3 2026 UPDATE / DATA TO 30 SEPTEMBER 2026
Western Balkan startup funding report
Western Balkan startups raised €38m in 18 rounds in the first nine months of 2026, against €99m in 19 rounds a year earlier.
Funding data for Western Balkan startups is scattered. Rounds are announced by companies, funds, angel networks and the press, often months after they close, and no single database has them all or has them right.
This report builds one record from all of them. We cross check startup databases against company, investor and press announcements, take out grants and loans that are reported as rounds, and add the rounds that were never fully recorded.
It covers venture rounds and exits of startups headquartered in Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Albania and Kosovo, and of startups that started there and moved their headquarters abroad. The six countries are set against each other and against the rest of the region on the same record and rules.
We add a quarter every three months. If you are raising in the Western Balkans, it shows how many rounds close, at what size, and who writes the first cheques.
Highlights
€38m in the first nine months, down 61% on a year earlier (€99m). The largest round is Tive's €18m growth round, 48% of the total.
9 seed and later rounds this year, against 11 a year earlier, and 18 rounds in all against 19. Pre-seed is where the record of recent rounds is least complete, and its count will rise as late rounds surface.
No venture-backed exits by September, against none in the same months of 2025.
01 / THE MARKET
The market
Capital down 61% on the same months of 2025. Rounds: 18 against 19.
SHOW DATA
| Row | Pre-seed | Seed | Series A | Growth | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | 3.1 | 17 | 0.0 | 37 | 58 |
| 2025 | 0.9 | 13 | 43 | 42 | 99 |
| 9M 2026 | 1.3 | 7.8 | 11 | 18 | 38 |
The Western Balkans raised €58m in 2024 and €99m in 2025. The largest 2025 round, hellocare.ai's €43m, was 43% of that year. 2026 has €38m so far.
9M 2026 covers January to September 2026. The dashed line marks the same months of 2025.
SHOW DATA
| Row | Pre-seed | Seed | Series A | Growth | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | 12 | 10 | 0 | 2 | 24 |
| 2025 | 8 | 9 | 1 | 2 | 20 |
| 9M 2026 | 9 | 5 | 1 | 3 | 18 |
24 rounds in 2024, 20 in 2025 and 18 so far in 2026. Some rounds are recorded months late, so the latest quarters will rise.
| Row | 9M 2025 | 9M 2026 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Capital | €99m | €38m | ▼ -61% |
| Rounds | 19 | 18 | ▼ -5% |
| Pre-seed rounds | 8 | 9 | ▲ +13% |
| Seed rounds | 8 | 5 | ▼ -37% |
| Series A rounds | 1 | 1 | flat |
| Growth rounds | 2 | 3 | ▲ +50% |
Quarter by quarter, capital swings with the timing of large rounds. The count of rounds is the steadier signal.
The latest quarter is still filling in and will rise.
02 / THE WESTERN BALKANS, COUNTRY BY COUNTRY
The Western Balkans, country by country
The Western Balkans raised €6 per person in 2025, against €14 across the 19 CEE countries.
The same record and rules for all 19 CEE countries in our record, so the comparison is like for like. Capital per person divides each country's capital by its population.
| Country | €m 9M 2026 | Change | Rounds 9M 2026 | Change | € per person 2025 | € per person 9M 2026 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Estonia | 133 | ▼ -48% | 39 | ▼ -49% | 258 | 97 |
| Lithuania | 182 | ▲ +3% | 28 | ▼ -42% | 75 | 63 |
| Czechia | 513 | ▲ +101% | 47 | ▼ -15% | 28 | 47 |
| Croatia | 160 | ▲ +576% | 33 | ▲ +57% | 9 | 41 |
| Bulgaria | 199 | ▲ +91% | 22 | ▼ -4% | 32 | 31 |
| Kosovo | 29 | ▼ -65% | 3 | flat | 51 | 18 |
| Hungary | 122 | ▲ +3% | 22 | ▼ -35% | 13 | 13 |
| Slovakia | 55 | ▼ -24% | 11 | ▼ -39% | 21 | 10 |
| Ukraine | 282 | ▲ +336% | 50 | ▼ -29% | 2 | 7 |
| Poland | 226 | ▼ -10% | 67 | ▼ -27% | 10 | 6 |
| Latvia | 12 | ▼ -84% | 4 | ▼ -73% | 43 | 6 |
| Romania | 105 | ▲ +14% | 30 | ▼ -6% | 9 | 6 |
| Slovenia | 5 | ▼ -38% | 8 | ▼ -11% | 5 | 2 |
| Western Balkans | 38 | ▼ -61% | 18 | ▼ -5% | 6 | 2 |
| Serbia | 9 | ▼ -42% | 11 | ▲ +10% | 2 | 1 |
| Moldova | 2 | ▲ +700% | 2 | ▼ -67% | 2 | 1 |
| Bosnia and Herzegovina | 0 | - | 0 | - | 0 | 0 |
| North Macedonia | 0 | - | 2 | flat | 0 | 0 |
| Albania | 0 | - | 2 | ▼ -33% | 0 | 0 |
| Montenegro | 0 | - | 0 | - | 0 | 0 |
Population on 1 January 2025.
SHOW DATA
| Row | 2024 | 2025 | 9M 2026 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Serbia | 20 | 16 | 9 |
| Bosnia and Herzegovina | 3 | 0 | 0 |
| Montenegro | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| North Macedonia | 7 | 0 | 0 |
| Albania | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Kosovo | 27 | 82 | 29 |
SHOW DATA
| Row | 2024 | 2025 | 9M 2026 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Serbia | 15 | 11 | 11 |
| Bosnia and Herzegovina | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Montenegro | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| North Macedonia | 5 | 2 | 2 |
| Albania | 2 | 3 | 2 |
| Kosovo | 1 | 3 | 3 |
In 2025, Serbia closed 11 rounds and raised €16m, Bosnia and Herzegovina closed 0 rounds and raised €0, North Macedonia closed 2 rounds and raised €0.3m, Albania closed 3 rounds and raised €0, Montenegro closed 1 rounds and raised €0 and Kosovo closed 3 rounds and raised €82m.
03 / STAGES AND ROUND SIZES
Stages and round sizes
The typical seed round in 2025 was €2.2m.
Rounds by company stage. Where one round can move a stage's total, the count and the typical round tell more than the capital.
| Row | Rounds 2024 | €m 2024 | Rounds 2025 | €m 2025 | Rounds 9M 2026 | €m 9M 2026 | Median 2024 | Median 2025 | Median 9M 2026 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pre-seed | 12 | €3.1m | 8 | €0.9m | 9 | €1.3m | €0.1m | €0.3m | €0.5m |
| Seed | 10 | €17m | 9 | €13m | 5 | €7.8m | €1.5m | €2.2m | - |
| Series A | 0 | - | 1 | €43m | 1 | €11m | - | - | - |
| Growth | 2 | €37m | 2 | €42m | 3 | €18m | - | - | - |
Median shown where at least three rounds of the stage disclosed an amount.
Pre-seed
12 rounds in 2024, 8 in 2025 and 9 so far in 2026. The typical pre-seed round in 2025 was €0.3m.
Seed
10 rounds in 2024, 9 in 2025 and 5 so far in 2026. The typical seed round in 2025 was €2.2m.
Series A
No rounds in 2024, 1 in 2025 and 1 so far in 2026.
Growth
Two rounds in 2024, 2 in 2025 and 3 so far in 2026.
04 / SECTORS
Sectors
Hardware and robotics raised the most this year: €24m in three rounds.
By number of rounds since 2024, the largest sectors are AI (26), enterprise software (12) and mobility and logistics (6). A company can sit in several sectors, so sector totals overlap.
SHOW DATA
| Row | 2024 | 2025 | 9M 2026 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hardware and robotics | 0.0 | 36 | 24 |
| Mobility and logistics | 3.0 | 36 | 18 |
| AI | 32 | 56 | 14 |
| Education | 0.5 | 1.5 | 0.5 |
| Fintech | 20 | 5.4 | 0.0 |
| Health and bio | 0.0 | 43 | 0.0 |
| Energy and climate | 3.0 | 0.3 | 0.0 |
| Enterprise software | 2.9 | 8.1 | 0.0 |
Ranked by 9M 2026 capital. Sectors overlap.
SHOW DATA
| Row | 2024 | 2025 | 9M 2026 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hardware and robotics | 0 | 1 | 3 |
| Mobility and logistics | 2 | 2 | 2 |
| AI | 7 | 13 | 6 |
| Education | 2 | 1 | 1 |
| Fintech | 3 | 1 | 1 |
| Health and bio | 0 | 3 | 1 |
| Energy and climate | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Enterprise software | 4 | 5 | 3 |
Same sectors, counted by number of rounds.
05 / LARGEST ROUNDS
Largest rounds
The largest round this year: Tive, €18m.
| Company | Country | Stage | Amount | Month | Lead or first investor |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tive | Kosovo | Growth | €18m | Jan 2026 | Undisclosed |
| Sent | Kosovo | Series A | €11m | Jul 2026 | Companyon Ventures |
| BoolSi | Serbia | Seed | €5.5m | Jun 2026 | Fine Structure Ventures |
| SuperPlane | Serbia | Seed | €2.4m | Jun 2026 | Credo Ventures |
| Refine | Serbia | Pre-seed | €0.5m | Mar 2026 | Undisclosed |
| Smartsy | Serbia | Pre-seed | €0.5m | Mar 2026 | Aleksander Schütz |
| Shosha Games | Serbia | Pre-seed | €0.3m | Feb 2026 | DSI business angel network |
Rounds with a disclosed amount.
| Company | Country | Stage | Amount | Month | Lead or first investor |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| hellocare.ai | Kosovo | Series A | €43m | Apr 2025 | HealthQuest Capital |
| Tive | Kosovo | Growth | €36m | Jan 2025 | WiL (World Innovation Lab) |
| Leanpay | Serbia | Growth | €5.4m | Sep 2025 | Undisclosed |
| nextesy | Serbia | Seed | €3.5m | Feb 2025 | SICTIC |
| Sent | Kosovo | Seed | €3.2m | May 2025 | Companyon Ventures |
| B2Bee | Serbia | Seed | €2.5m | Jan 2025 | TS Ventures Fund |
| Bubo² | Serbia | Seed | €1.8m | Sep 2025 | Fifth Quarter Ventures |
| Prepia | Serbia | Seed | €1.5m | May 2025 | Inovo.vc |
| Radoznali Vrabac | Serbia | Seed | €0.7m | May 2025 | Jadeplat Kft. |
| Web2Wave | Serbia | Pre-seed | €0.3m | Mar 2025 | Funders VC |
06 / STARTED IN THE WESTERN BALKANS, BASED ELSEWHERE
Started in the Western Balkans, based elsewhere
19 rounds since 2024 by companies that started in the Western Balkans and are based elsewhere. They count in the totals.
Companies that started in the Western Balkans, or keep their main team there, but are headquartered elsewhere. They count in the totals, under the country they started in. Companies that Western Balkan founders built abroad, with no base there, are not included.
| Company | Started in | Based in | Amount | Month | In totals |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tive | Kosovo | United States | €18m | Jan 2026 | Yes |
| Sent | Kosovo | United States | €11m | Jul 2026 | Yes |
| BoolSi | Serbia | United States | €5.5m | Jun 2026 | Yes |
| SuperPlane | Serbia | United States | €2.4m | Jun 2026 | Yes |
| Refine | Serbia | United States | €0.5m | Mar 2026 | Yes |
| hellocare.ai | Kosovo | United States | €43m | Apr 2025 | Yes |
| Tive | Kosovo | United States | €36m | Jan 2025 | Yes |
| Leanpay | Serbia | United Kingdom | €5.4m | Sep 2025 | Yes |
| nextesy | Serbia | Switzerland | €3.5m | Feb 2025 | Yes |
| Sent | Kosovo | United States | €3.2m | May 2025 | Yes |
| Bubo² | Serbia | United States | €1.8m | Sep 2025 | Yes |
| EU Presence | Albania | United States | Undisclosed | Sep 2025 | Yes |
| KODE Labs | Kosovo | United States | €27m | Apr 2024 | Yes |
| Leanpay | Serbia | United Kingdom | €10m | Jul 2024 | Yes |
| GoUrban | Serbia | Austria | €3.0m | Mar 2024 | Yes |
| Hunch | Serbia | United States | €1.5m | Dec 2024 | Yes |
| Lupa Technology | Serbia | United States | €1.4m | Jul 2024 | Yes |
| Bpacks | Serbia | United Kingdom | €1.0m | Dec 2024 | Yes |
| Connect The Dots | Serbia | United States | Undisclosed | Oct 2024 | Yes |
07 / INVESTORS
Investors
Plug and Play joined the most pre-seed and seed rounds since January 2025: 4.
Most active at pre-seed and seed since January 2025: Plug and Play (4 rounds), Fifth Quarter Ventures (4 rounds) and Fil Rouge Capital (3 rounds). Investors are ranked by the rounds they joined, led or followed, over 2025 and 2026 together.
| Investor | Based in | Rounds | Led |
|---|---|---|---|
| Plug and Play | United States | 4 | 3 |
| Fifth Quarter Ventures | Serbia | 4 | 2 |
| Fil Rouge Capital | Luxembourg | 3 | 3 |
| TS Ventures Fund | n/a | 3 | 3 |
| Zephyr Angels | North Macedonia | 3 | 2 |
| DSI business angel network | n/a | 2 | 1 |
| South Central Ventures | Slovenia | 2 | 1 |
| Aleksander Schütz | n/a | 1 | 1 |
| Companyon Ventures | n/a | 1 | 1 |
| Credo Ventures | n/a | 1 | 1 |
| Investor | Based in | Rounds | Led |
|---|---|---|---|
| Companyon Ventures | n/a | 1 | 1 |
| HealthQuest Capital | n/a | 1 | 1 |
| Origin One | n/a | 1 | 1 |
| Sageview Capital | n/a | 1 | 1 |
| WiL (World Innovation Lab) | n/a | 1 | 1 |
| AXA Venture Partners | n/a | 1 | 0 |
| Bessemer Venture Partners | n/a | 1 | 0 |
| Bon Secours Mercy Health | n/a | 1 | 0 |
| BST | Hong | 1 | 0 |
| Caterpillar Ventures | United States | 1 | 0 |
SHOW DATA
| Row | 2024 | 2025 | 9M 2026 |
|---|---|---|---|
| All rounds | 44% | 20% | 86% |
Rounds with a fund from outside CEE: 44% in 2024, 20% in 2025 and 86% in 2026 so far, of rounds where investor headquarters are known.
Share of rounds where investor headquarters are known: 9 in 2024, 5 in 2025, 7 in 9M 2026.
08 / EXITS
Exits
The most recent: GoUrban, bought by Wunder Mobility, September 2024.
Four venture-backed exits since 2024: 4 in 2024, 0 in 2025 and 0 in 2026 so far. Deal values are rarely disclosed, so we count exits instead of summing them.
09 / METHODOLOGY
Methodology
What the report covers
Period: January 2024 to September 2026. Past years are shown in full. The current year runs to the end of the last complete quarter.
Companies: startups headquartered in Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Albania and Kosovo, and startups that began there or keep their main team there and later moved their headquarters abroad. Every kind of startup is included: software and hardware, business and consumer.
Events: venture funding rounds, and exits (acquisitions, buyouts and stock market listings).
Sources: public sources only, namely startup databases, company, investor and angel network announcements, and the press.
Every round and exit named in the report links to its announcement. Totals, changes and charts are built from all rounds and are not linked.
This edition covers 62 venture rounds (41 with a disclosed amount) at 56 companies, and 4 exits. Next update: January 2027, adding Q4 2026.
Stages
Stages are the label the company announced or the source assigned. Where a label clearly does not fit the size of the round, such as a very large round called seed, the round is placed by its size. Where there is no label, round type and size decide.
How it is counted
- Funding rounds are equity and convertible venture rounds, including angel network rounds. Grants, loans, state support programmes, crowdlending, secondary sales and investments after a listing are not counted.
- Amounts are in euros, converted at about 1.10 US dollars to the euro. Rounds without a disclosed amount count toward the number of rounds but not toward capital.
- Companies that are not startups are left out even when they raise venture money, such as established manufacturers, service firms and lenders.
- Rounds and exits are cross-referenced against company, investor and press announcements where possible.
Limits
- Public data does not capture every round, so counts are a floor. Small angel rounds are the most likely to be missing.
- Some rounds are recorded months after they happen. Each update adds them to the month they happened in, so recent quarters, the latest above all, will rise.
- Each country's record includes our own search of local press, investor portfolios and companies based abroad (October 2026), which added rounds the startup databases had missed.
- Where a country raises a few dozen rounds a year, one round can move a total by more than half. Read changes in capital with the largest round in mind.
RESEARCH AND ANALYSIS: BADIDEAS.FUND.
Raising pre-seed or seed in the Western Balkans
SEND THE DECK →