[syedkarim]

>>with even VCs straight-up telling us that if we were raising in US we'd be offered 5-10x more than here

Serious question: Then why even remotely bother raising from European VCs? Doing so is clearly not in your best interest. Is it a matter of pride?

[thecupisblue]

Not many of them are willing to invest in EU startups at early stage - a lot explicitly say they invest in NA only, and I assume a lot of them just don't want the legal difficulties - also it's much harder to get warm intros to US investors if most of your network is based in Europe, and logistics to do a in-person meeting are way harder if somebody is on the other side of the world.

[pyb]

Even if the company is incorporated in Delaware ?

[AlunAlun]

Serious answers (from someone who just raised €10M from European VCs for a pre-revenue, pre-launch company):

1) While US investors can and will invest in Europe, they are more likely to do so at a later stage.

2) Not everybody wants to move to the US on a pipedream, particularly those with family, kids, and roots on this side of the Atlantic. Again, at later stages, when there is more stability to the company, this can change.

3) the lower cost of operations in most of Europe partially makes up for the lower amount you raise - our monthly personnel cost is a fraction of what it would be in the bay area. And again, as you grow, and need to hire really senior experienced talent, this changes.

4) there is early stage money in Europe. Maybe you don’t raise 5M with a PowerPoint, but you can raise. There is also a vibrant startup scene with several hubs (Berlin, London, Barcelona). Though I will admit, it’s not as crazy as Silicon Valley where everyone I meet seems to have a crazy startup idea.

The biggest downside I see is that, as a European founder, you likely have to go through one if not two pre-seed rounds before you can raise ‘decent’ money, which dilutes you and puts you at a disadvantage for when you eventually move to the US (which you probably will do at some point, at least in terms of incorporation).

Yet, despite knowing this, I’m not sure I would have done that much different in my journey so far.

[cjblomqvist]

Having raised a (preish) seed round on Europe, I'd like to add that it's even quite common in Europe that they expect you to be able to raise some first money (lead investor) in your home country first. Raising remotely (country wise) is definitely a much bigger challenge, at least in early phases.

[davidhunter]

Very few US VCs will/can invest in non-US companies at the seed stage.

[baxtr]

What does non-US mean? European Founders could register a Delaware company. Is that good enough?

[gumby]

Partially. By investing in a delaware corp they know the law that will apply, and the tax code.

However if you're far away it's harder to keep up with what's going on with your company and many will not want to deal with that.

[ido]

How much harder is it for an SFBA investor to keep up with what's going on in a Berlin or London startup vs, say, an Atlanta or Miami startup? As long as you need to board a flight to get there isn't it more or less the same, whether that's a 4 hours flight or an 8 hour flight?