Welcome to the Q4 2025 edition of the CEE SaaS Index, developed by Warsaw Equity Group and Vestbee to provide a clear, region-specific benchmark for valuing SaaS companies in Central and Eastern Europe. The following index aims to help founders, investors, and members of the local startup ecosystem track valuation trends, compare regional performance with global benchmarks, and better understand the forces shaping the future of SaaS in CEE.
Continuous growth of the global SaaS market
Despite a challenging macroeconomic and venture funding environment, the global Software-as-a-Service market continued its long-term expansion in 2025. According to Gartner, the global SaaS market reached $300 billion in value, while worldwide end-user spending on public cloud services exceeded $723 billion, growing at a 21.5% year-over-year rate.
One of the most visible shifts in 2025 was the evolution of artificial intelligence within SaaS products. AI increasingly moved beyond embedded features toward AI agents capable of autonomous action, not only supporting workflows but actively executing tasks and services on behalf of users.
Venture capital outlook: fewer deals, larger tickets
European venture capital activity stayed relatively soft in 2025, with 10,200 VC investments — the lowest annual total since 2017. Total investment value reached €66 billion, which was only a modest increase from the prior year and still far below the roughly €100 billion seen in 2021–2022.
At the same time, capital allocation shifted toward more mature companies. Venture growth rounds accounted for 26% of total VC capital invested in 2025, up from ~19% in each of the previous two years. This reflects a clear investor preference for proven business models, predictable revenues, and clearer paths to profitability.
Within this environment, SaaS remained the second most important vertical in Europe, both by number and value of transactions. Notably, for the first time in eight years, SaaS was overtaken in deal count by another vertical — AI & Machine Learning, underscoring how strongly AI has reshaped European investment priorities.
Key findings: CEE SaaS Index 2025
The total market capitalization of companies included in the CEE SaaS Index reached €2.2 billion in 2025, marking a new historical high for the index even though two companies have been delisted since its inception.
Revenue growth remained the key structural weakness of the CEE SaaS companies, while US peers continued to deliver steady increases in earnings:
- CEE SaaS median annual revenue growth rate: 0.5%
- BVP Cloud Index median annual revenue growth rate: 17%
Famed stock market investor and Bridgewater Associates founder Ray Dalio, in his recent article, underscored that 43% of the annual earnings growth for S&P companies came from margin improvements, which he suggests may be attributable technology-driven efficiency gains. This doesn’t yet appear to be the case for CEE SaaS Index companies, which have so far shown limited evidence of comparable efficiency-driven margin improvements.
It should be noted that full financial data for Q4 2025 had not yet been published at the time of analysis. Nevertheless, the divergence in growth dynamics between CEE and US SaaS companies remains pronounced.
Despite weak revenue growth, valuation multiples in the CEE SaaS Index rose sharply in 2025 to 4.31x, up from 3.28x at the end of 2024. Given the poor earnings improvement of the CEE SaaS Index companies, this increase appears to have been driven primarily by renewed investor confidence and future expectations, rather than by financial fundamentals.
In contrast to CEE, BVP Cloud Index valuation multiples declined in 2025 to 5.52x, down from 6.86x at the end of 2024. As a result, the valuation gap between CEE and US SaaS companies narrowed to just 1.2x, the smallest difference since the inception of the CEE SaaS Index.
2026 Outlook for CEE SaaS
Gartner expects global software spending to reach $1.4 trillion in 2026, with growth accelerating to 15.2% year over year. Against this backdrop, 2026 will be an important test for CEE SaaS companies, as they will need to turn improving global demand into tangible revenue growth and profitability.
About CEE SaaS Index
CEE SaaS Index is a simple tool for startups and investors to value SaaS companies in Central & Eastern Europe based on revenue multiples from publicly traded SaaS companies from the CEE region, developed by Vestbee and Warsaw Equity Group.
While revenue multiples from publicly traded SaaS companies can provide a helpful starting point for valuation, currently available indexes are only based on US-listed SaaS companies, leaving the CEE region without relevant benchmarks, despite the region's thriving startup ecosystem and quadrupled VC funding over the last three years.
With projected growth and increased investment in CEE tech companies, a more appropriate valuation benchmark for regional startups and investors is required. To meet this need, Vestbee and the Warsaw Equity Group have collaborated to develop the CEE SaaS Index, providing a relevant benchmark for regional and international investors.
