The inaugural Scaling Stateside 50 ranking, unveiled by US Expansion Partners (USXP), paints a stark picture of European ambition meeting transatlantic friction. The 50 assessed companies—drawn from 15 countries, with Germany and the UK each providing 12—achieve an average of 86 out of 100 for commercial strength. Yet when it comes to readiness for the US market, that score plummets to just 17 out of 100.

The data underlying this gap is sobering. Nearly all of the scaleups—96 per cent—lack the basic US business infrastructure required to operate locally, including a corporate entity, employer identification number (EIN), banking arrangements or payroll systems. More than 80 per cent have not hired US-based staff, and the same proportion have filed neither US patents nor trademarks.

The ranking draws on more than 500 US readiness assessments and ongoing tracking of European firms. It is backed by Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati, HSBC Innovation Banking, Carta, Frazier & Deeter, Dealroom.co and London & Partners.

Strong at home, unprepared for America

The infrastructure deficit extends across sectors, though certain industries struggle more than others. Fintech and cybersecurity firms lag noticeably behind SaaS and deeptech companies in establishing US operations.

How are the startups scored and ranked?

The Scaling Stateside 50 employs two distinct metrics. The Foundation Score measures commercial strength by examining product, finance, marketing, metrics and sales. The US Readiness Score evaluates intellectual property, talent readiness, site selection, US operations, go-to-market strategy and market traction.

Companies are ranked primarily by Foundation Score, with US Readiness serving only as a tiebreaker. This approach identifies commercially strong European scaleups rather than those necessarily most prepared to enter America. A Foundation Score of at least 55 is required to qualify.

All scores derive from publicly available information: company filings, funding announcements, hiring activity, named customers and product releases. Milan-based Lexroom leads the ranking with a Foundation Score of 96 but scores just eight for US readiness. By contrast, London-based poq and Cambridge-based Onthos/Theia Insights, placed 49th and 50th respectively, score 61 and 58 on US readiness, positioning them among the furthest advanced in American preparations.

From Portland to US Expansion Partners

Matt Oxley, Co-Founder and President of USXP, brings more than 25 years of experience building and scaling technology firms. In 2011, he co-founded Opal, a marketing collaboration platform that served enterprise customers including Nike, Microsoft and Apple. Oxley describes his own journey to America in visceral terms:

I describe it as being pulled to America. It was the talent, the opportunities, the economics, the purchasing power and where the money was.

Matt Oxley

In 2013, he sold his possessions, rented out his flat and relocated to Portland, Oregon with two suitcases. Opal subsequently secured funding from investors including Madrona and Accel. After returning to the UK in 2023, Oxley conducted conversations with between 300 and 400 founders, investors and ecosystem participants.

The question I couldn't get out of my head was: why weren't more European founders making the journey I'd made?

Matt Oxley

That inquiry led to USXP's founding. Over 18 months, the team created a proprietary readiness assessment to help European startups gauge their US expansion preparations, which now forms the foundation of the Scaling Stateside 50.

When should European startups make the move?

Oxley observes that European startups frequently become so absorbed in their home markets that US preparation gets relegated to secondary status.

I made that move myself, and I know the timing and the build make all the difference: go too early, too late, or without the right foundations, and it costs millions.

Matt Oxley

He regularly encounters founders expressing regret about their timing decisions.

We interview founders all the time who tell us they wish they'd gone to America two years earlier. They wish they'd started the journey sooner.

Matt Oxley

Relocation versus expansion

Daniel Glazer, Founding Partner of Wilson Sonsini's London office, distinguishes between two different approaches to the American market. Early-stage relocation occurs when a founding team based in the UK or Europe decides that its target market is the United States.

Relocation typically happens at an earlier stage, when a founding team in the UK or Europe decides that the market it wants to win is the US.

Daniel Glazer

This may mean moving founders to attract American investors and customers while keeping European operations intact. Expansion, by contrast, typically emerges from rising demand for the company's products among US customers.

If the ambition is to win the US market, that might justify relocating senior leadership. But if America is one strong market among several, the company might choose to remain headquartered and managed from Europe.

Daniel Glazer

Winning in the US requires a different playbook

For Oxley, American success hinges on deploying the right go-to-market approach.

To succeed in America, you need a strong go-to-market function that understands the local market, with the right talent and people in place.

Matt Oxley

Glazer contends that European founders must grasp that they are competing on unfamiliar terrain, where business conventions differ fundamentally.

The first question is: what are you trying to accomplish? Are you trying to win the US market, or are you looking at America as one additional revenue source among ten different markets?

Daniel Glazer

Founders pursuing market dominance may need to relocate senior executives and recalibrate their approach to align with American business norms. As Glazer notes, "You're the visitor entering a new market, and it's up to you to adapt."

For Glazer, success requires clarity about desired outcomes, working backward to identify necessary resources, and regularly evaluating whether the opportunity justifies the investment.

Building bridges across the Atlantic

European founders can tap into an expanding ecosystem of US-based startup communities. GBx operates in Silicon Valley to connect British entrepreneurs and investors. Entrepreneurs First runs the Bridge programme, offering European founders an eight-week residency in San Francisco.

Ukrainian-focused initiatives include GOORT, a planned physical hub, and Ukrainian Valley, a network of founders, technology professionals and venture capitalists, plus YEP Academy.

The European Startup Embassy offers a shared workspace for European founders and investors, particularly those from Central and Eastern Europe, providing local connections and a base without requiring an immediate permanent US office commitment.

For Oxley, the Scaling Stateside 50 serves a broader mission: "We want to celebrate the companies on the list, but also educate, inform and hopefully inspire founders as they prepare for their own US expansion."

However, the ranking's reliance on publicly available information carries limitations. It may not reflect a company's internal strategic plans or undisclosed preparations. A low US readiness score could signal a deliberate choice to deprioritise the American market rather than inadequate preparation.

At its best, the Scaling Stateside 50 provides European startups with a practical framework for evaluating their US market readiness and spotting preparation gaps. At worst, it risks functioning as a promotional vehicle for USXP and its market-entry services. Its true value will emerge from whether it delivers substantive insights into how European companies approach expansion.

By prompting European founders to think more deliberately about US expansion strategy, the initiative may help more accomplished startups translate domestic success into international scale. The ranking will refresh quarterly, with plans beginning in the first quarter of 2027 to track which companies are advancing fastest toward US readiness.

Source: Tech.eu