Today, we’re talking about European startups pursuing US investors for their seed round. I meet a lot of startups doing this and I can completely understand why it’s an attractive strategy.
Investors based in the US tend to close faster, they often write larger checks and are comfortable with higher valuations. The tradeoff is that they also expect to see US customers. Oftentimes, they will only give you credit for your US based revenue, ignoring potentially great traction in other countries.
The US fundraising market is a huge opportunity but it’s also extremely competitive. If you want to be successful here, most likely — you will first have to focus on the US market, at the expense of other markets. That’s the gamble.
