Matthias Schmidt 🇪🇺
@eurofounder.bsky.social
Founder based in the EU 🇩🇪🇪🇺 • Building GDPR-compliant startups • 7 years in, €7k MRR
Saw that #OpenAI is being investigated by the #EU for potential data privacy violations.
I reached out to Sam Altman to offer support - told him about my friend's #AI startup in Brussels.
Took them 3 years to get regulatory approval for the chatbot that helps people pick restaurant reservations. 🔽
I reached out to Sam Altman to offer support - told him about my friend's #AI startup in Brussels.
Took them 3 years to get regulatory approval for the chatbot that helps people pick restaurant reservations. 🔽
February 10, 2026 at 2:58 PM
Incredible #milestone - we just hit €8k ARR after short 7.5 years of sustainable growth.
My wife's boyfriend Pierre (our #CFO) ran the numbers three times to be sure.
The Americans in our accelerator cohort are burning through $1M/month and calling it progress. 🔽
My wife's boyfriend Pierre (our #CFO) ran the numbers three times to be sure.
The Americans in our accelerator cohort are burning through $1M/month and calling it progress. 🔽
February 9, 2026 at 9:32 PM
Incredible #milestone - we just hit €8k ARR after short 7.5 years of sustainable growth.
My wife's boyfriend Pierre (our #CFO) ran the numbers three times to be sure.
The Americans in our accelerator cohort are burning through $1M/month and calling it progress. 🔽
My wife's boyfriend Pierre (our #CFO) ran the numbers three times to be sure.
The Americans in our accelerator cohort are burning through $1M/month and calling it progress. 🔽
We’re looking to expand to #France.
To comply with #EU directives, our French translation of the privacy policy needs to be #certified by a sworn translator that itself needs to be approved by the EU #Court of Appeals. We have started the process and expect to be done by Q3 2026. 🔽
To comply with #EU directives, our French translation of the privacy policy needs to be #certified by a sworn translator that itself needs to be approved by the EU #Court of Appeals. We have started the process and expect to be done by Q3 2026. 🔽
February 9, 2026 at 9:44 AM
We’re looking to expand to #France.
To comply with #EU directives, our French translation of the privacy policy needs to be #certified by a sworn translator that itself needs to be approved by the EU #Court of Appeals. We have started the process and expect to be done by Q3 2026. 🔽
To comply with #EU directives, our French translation of the privacy policy needs to be #certified by a sworn translator that itself needs to be approved by the EU #Court of Appeals. We have started the process and expect to be done by Q3 2026. 🔽
Met an American founder at a conference last week. We both started our companies in 2018.
Him: just raised Series B at $500M valuation. 200 employees. Operating in 30 countries. Burns $3M monthly.
Me: €7k MRR. Six employees (three for compliance). Operating in Germany. Profitable (€300/month). 🔽
Him: just raised Series B at $500M valuation. 200 employees. Operating in 30 countries. Burns $3M monthly.
Me: €7k MRR. Six employees (three for compliance). Operating in Germany. Profitable (€300/month). 🔽
February 8, 2026 at 9:04 AM
Met an American founder at a conference last week. We both started our companies in 2018.
Him: just raised Series B at $500M valuation. 200 employees. Operating in 30 countries. Burns $3M monthly.
Me: €7k MRR. Six employees (three for compliance). Operating in Germany. Profitable (€300/month). 🔽
Him: just raised Series B at $500M valuation. 200 employees. Operating in 30 countries. Burns $3M monthly.
Me: €7k MRR. Six employees (three for compliance). Operating in Germany. Profitable (€300/month). 🔽
We reached a HUGE milestone today.
After 7 years of building, we’ve finally achieved something most Silicon Valley startups never will: full #compliance with every single #EU directive. 🔽
After 7 years of building, we’ve finally achieved something most Silicon Valley startups never will: full #compliance with every single #EU directive. 🔽
February 7, 2026 at 6:28 PM
We reached a HUGE milestone today.
After 7 years of building, we’ve finally achieved something most Silicon Valley startups never will: full #compliance with every single #EU directive. 🔽
After 7 years of building, we’ve finally achieved something most Silicon Valley startups never will: full #compliance with every single #EU directive. 🔽
Incredible growth update from our #startup:
Year 1: €0 revenue (built #MVP, registered GmbH)
Year 2: €0 revenue (waiting for business license, registered to VAT)
Year 3: €0 revenue (#GDPR compliance audit)
Year 4: €1,200 revenue (first customer after passing GDPR assessment) 🔽
Year 1: €0 revenue (built #MVP, registered GmbH)
Year 2: €0 revenue (waiting for business license, registered to VAT)
Year 3: €0 revenue (#GDPR compliance audit)
Year 4: €1,200 revenue (first customer after passing GDPR assessment) 🔽
February 7, 2026 at 9:22 AM
Exciting news - we have raised €450k series A from a combination of regional development funds and angel investors (mostly former #EU government officials).
The whole process took only 14 months - pleasantly surprised it was this quick. 🔽
The whole process took only 14 months - pleasantly surprised it was this quick. 🔽
February 6, 2026 at 10:31 PM
Exciting news - we have raised €450k series A from a combination of regional development funds and angel investors (mostly former #EU government officials).
The whole process took only 14 months - pleasantly surprised it was this quick. 🔽
The whole process took only 14 months - pleasantly surprised it was this quick. 🔽
After 6 years of building, we've finally received approval from our local data protection authority to store user emails in our database.
The approval process took only 5 months (much faster than expected - we budgeted for 9). 🔽
The approval process took only 5 months (much faster than expected - we budgeted for 9). 🔽
February 6, 2026 at 7:45 PM
After 6 years of building, we've finally received approval from our local data protection authority to store user emails in our database.
The approval process took only 5 months (much faster than expected - we budgeted for 9). 🔽
The approval process took only 5 months (much faster than expected - we budgeted for 9). 🔽