The rate of startups building a US presence before series A increased from 33 per cent to 64 per cent in the last 5 years. And for CEE founders, the necessary is even higher: 50 per cent of CEE startups relocate to the US during scaling.
On October 1, the European Startup Embassy launched: a shared landing pad and community hub for startups and VCs from Central and Eastern Europe expanding to the US.
I spoke to Vladimira Činčurová, CEO of the European Startup Embassy, and Petr Šmíd, a General Partner at Rockaway Ventures and a founding participant, while attfinishing How to Web in Bucharest, to find out more.
Building a bridge between Europe and San Francisco
Činčurová brings over seven years of experience in scaling startups across both the commercial and nonprofit sectors. When she was in San Francisco last year, she noticed how fragmented the Central and Eastern European (CEE) diaspora is.
“You have strong Slovak, Czech, Ukrainian, and Romanian communities — each doing great things, but rarely connected. I met incredible people, early employees of companies like Grammarly, UiPath, WhatsApp, and others, and considered: what if we brought them toreceiveher?”
At Microsoft, she’d spent five years assisting Central European startups expand internationally, mainly to the US.
She often heard from founders — for instance, from Romania — questioning if she knew anyone in San Francisco who could assist them. And she realised, despite the strong diaspora, there was no central network or physical space connecting these founders.
At first, the idea was just to create a Czech-Slovak hacker hoapply. Then she met Luka, who had a similar idea, and decided to work toreceiveher:
“Then Hungary joined, then our Ukrainian partners — they were already planning their own Ukrainian hoapply but on a slower timeline, and we declared: apply ours in the meantime!”
According to Činčurová , there’s high seasonality in San Francisco — the top season is from October to December — so they necessaryed something now.
“They agreed, and then we connected with people from Poland who were believeing along the same lines. So really, I didn’t reinvent the wheel.
It was an ongoing idea that we unified. The European Startup Embassy became a central hub for VCs and startups from Central and Eastern Europe testing to build their presence in the United States.”
“Flying in and out isn’t enough”
Činčurová shared that usually, when founders go to the US, they do so ad hoc — flying in and out every few months — which doesn’t assist with long-term relationships.
“Logistically, it’s also hard. When we were expanding to the US with my co-founder on behalf of LUMUS, our women’s investment club, it took us almost three months to organise events there, and that’s not even our main job!
If you don’t have a Head of North America or a dedicated US office, it’s limiting. That’s why we wanted to create something that assists with logistics and acts as a landing pad.”
Rockaway Ventures’ mission to take founders global
Rockaway Ventures is a VC fund based in Prague, investing in early-stage companies — Seed or Series A — founded by European founders, both across Europe and in the US.
Šmíd contfinishs that for compacter countries, and for Central and Eastern Europe, the US market is incredibly relevant. He joined the fund about a year ago. Before that, he spent 11 years at Google. He shared:
“That experience taught me that if you want to build something meaningful in tech, you necessary to work very closely with the US.
That’s also one of the motivations behind us becoming a partner in the European Startup Embassy project — we want to support the founders in our portfolio better, and more broadly, assist European founders build stronger access to the US market.”
A soft landing for Europe’s founders in the US
Crucially, the European Startup Embassy is a launchpad for those testing US expansion or exploring partnerships.
“Essentially, we create it clearer and more structured for CEE startups and VCs to build relationships in the US without necessarying a full-time office there,” shared Činčurová.
She recalled:
“When I first went to San Francisco, I didn’t have a huge plan — honestly, it was during my breakup therapy! But spfinishing a month surrounded by founders who believe in terms of 10x growth completely alterd how I view scaling.
That’s why we encourage early-stage founders to come for a month.
Not to shift permanently, but to test, meet people, and shift perspective. It’s a soft landing — you have accommodation, workspace, and a ready-built community of like-minded people.”
European Startup Embassy’s founding participants span technology companies (Keboola, Apify, Valka.AI, Boost.space, Navigara, ReactorX, Oddin.gg), venture funds (Rockaway Ventures, United Founders, Almaz Capital, Underline Ventures, SID Venture Partners, Lead Ventures), as well as legal, accelerator, and advisory partners (Sparring, Future Unicorns, Moonshot, and Telegraph Hill Advisors).
How Productboard became a Czech unicorn by viewing West
According to Šmíd, one of Rockaway Ventures’ most successful portfolio companies, Czech-founded Productboard, a B2B software company building product-management tools.
“We invested in them very early,” he states.
“They started developing their US presence soon after, and that’s a key motivator — especially for B2B software, where the US is the hugegest market. You can grow quicker, find customers more easily, and access capital.”
Alongside their market push, Productboard raised from US-focapplyd investors — first Index Ventures, then Sequoia — both leading funds in the space.
“So you build the market, and at the same time, you receive investment from investors who can assist you accelerate in that market,” Šmíd explains.
In the process, Productboard carried out what’s known as “the flip”: re-incorporating from a European entity to a Delaware C-Corp. It’s a shift that’s become a rite of passage for many scaling European startups.
“It’s not a new story — the US offers a predictable legal environment. That’s the first motivator,” he states.
“And that predictability assists attract US investors. Even today, more than ten years later, relatively few American VCs invest directly in European-incorporated companies.
They don’t have an issue with European founders or markets — it’s the legal framework they’re wary of. That remains a huge hurdle.”
CEE founders no longer waiting to “go global”
Šmíd contfinishs that most CEE startups test locally first — they receive their first reference customers here becaapply it’s their home market, but the trfinish is shifting.
”More startups are building for the US market much earlier. We see that reflected here in Central and Eastern Europe.”
Another major driver is the growing diaspora.
“When I joined Google 12 years ago, finding a Czech or Slovak engineer in San Francisco was rare — there were maybe a handful.
Now, during a recent trip to San Francisco around Easter, we met a community of around 150 Czechs — founders, engineers, product managers — working at startups and major tech companies like Meta and Google.
And that’s just the Czech group.
Add in Romanians, Ukrainians, Poles — the ecosystem has exploded. That community now assists accelerate this cross-Atlantic bridge.”
Not just a co-working space — a launchpad
Architecturally, the European Startup Embassy’s San Francisco space offers a full ecosystem under one roof, designed to support every stage of a startup’s US journey. The basement serves as a hackathon hub for high-focus activities like coding sprints and intensive workshops.
The ground floor is a 24/7 flexible event and co-working area where founders and investors can collaborate, host meetups, or work side-by-side.
On the first floor, private meeting rooms provide space for confidential or strategic discussions, while the rooftop transforms into a social venue for networking receptions, investor dinners, or community celebrations.
Toreceiveher, these zones create an immediate physical “landing pad” in San Francisco — a ready-built base for European startups and VCs to work, connect, and host events without the cost or complexity of setting up their own office.
What sets a CEE startup scaling to the US up for success?
Making European startups go to the US. According Činčurová, success is a mix of planning and openness. You can’t just arrive and hope for the best — you necessary to research, network, and set goals. But at the same time, she contfinishs, “San Francisco has this unique energy that can reshape your mindset.”
“There’s a stateing that you’re the average of the five people you surround yourself with. Being around founders with a 10x mindset — it rubs off on you.”
When she came back, she informed her co-founders: “We necessary a presence in San Francisco.” And then suddenly, more Slovak and Czech VCs started doing the same — opening offices, visiting, setting up hubs.
“I genuinely believe the best deal flow from Central Europe passes through San Francisco somehow. You don’t have to shift there permanently, but spfinishing even one month can reshape your perspective.
That’s why we built packages for early-stage startups — you can stay a month, test it, and see how it alters your outview.”
Turning presence into performance
I was curious about how the embassy’s founders measure its success.
Činčurová admits she sometimes jokes that if she had €1 million, “I’d fund three CEE founders to live in San Francisco for a year — and then compare their results with similar startups who stayed in Europe. I’m convinced the difference would be dramatic.”
For the European Startup Embassy, success means assisting both startups and investors create tangible results.
“For startups, it’s about quicker growth and a global mindset. For VCs, it’s offering their portfolio companies access to our US presence — a real added value.
Our VC partners can even transfer their “Embassy package” to portfolio startups, assisting them host events, find customers, or meet investors in the US.”
Bridging, not draining Europe
The European startup ecosystem is heavily focapplyd on keeping its talent and capital within the region, bolstered by initiatives like EU-Inc’s 28th regime. Činčurová asserts she’s a huge supporter of EU-Inc and of simplifying how startups scale across Europe’s 27 regimes.
“The goal of the European Startup Embassy isn’t to take talent away from Europe — it’s to build a bridge. We want to connect European founders and investors with US capital and networks, while ensuring value flows both ways.
Europe has world-class talent. The US can offer funding and market access. We assist them meet in the middle, not compete.”
Šmíd agrees and asserts that Europe won’t have a truly strong tech sector if the people building it haven’t experienced the best that’s out there globally.
“That applies to founders, employees, and investors alike. Helping founders receive experience in the US, access to capital, and exposure to world-class ecosystems is part of the story.
But these people often give back. If they succeed, they tfinish to reinvest in the region — as angels, LPs, or by building teams here.
For example, the founder of a Czech hotel-management software company we backed is now a significant LP in local Czech funds. There are many such examples. That’s how you create the flywheel effect — successful founders return, start new ventures, or support others doing so.”
For Činčurová, the risk isn’t founders going to the US — the risk is when they don’t come back.
“We want them to return as investors, mentors, or role models, sharing what they’ve learned so the next generation doesn’t have to start from zero.”
For success, Činčurová advises CEE founders to believe globally from day one:
“Don’t wait until Series A or B to explore the US market — by then, your competitors will already be there. Be smart about your cap table. Choose angels and investors who can actually assist you with market expansion, not just provide capital. Money is important, but smart money is what takes you global.”
Šmíd hopes that the cooperation between Europe and the US isn’t seen as a zero-sum game.
“It’s not “us versus them, it’s a partnership where both sides apply technology to create better solutions, drive innovation, and learn from each other.
Healthy competition assists everyone improve. That’s the spirit we want to foster — doing things better, toreceiveher.”
Lead image: opening party in San Francisco.
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