Scaling a startup often starts with a visa

At migroot.io, we believe great startups are borderless. Many of them are started by immigrants — and that’s not a coincidence. According to Dealroom’s 2025 report, 48% of CEE scaleups eventually move their HQ — chasing capital, markets, or talent.

We just read the latest Dealroom report on Central and Eastern European startups — and it confirmed what we already knew: talent moves, and the smartest ideas move with it. Here’s what stood out:

📦 48% of CEE scaleups move their HQ abroad
Founders go global — usually to the US or UK — for easier access to capital and markets. But they keep their R&D back home. Talent doesn’t disappear, it scales.

🚀 The CEE region grew faster than Western Europe (15.5x vs 7x in EV)
Despite getting way less funding per capita, CEE is punching way above its weight. It's the startup world's underdog story — bootstrapped, product-led, and global from day one.

🧠 SaaS dominates, but AI and DefenseTech are catching up
Enterprise software is still king, but sectors like AI, energy hardware, and security tech are booming — especially in Ukraine, Estonia, and Poland.

🦄 CEE produces unicorns differently
Bootstrapped unicorns are far more common here than in the rest of Europe. It’s not about who raises more — it’s about who builds smarter.

And you — have you ever relocated for work or your startup? From where to where?