European startup directories: where to list a startup from Europe, and who each one accepts

A few directories on our list are built for European startups. The EU-Startups Database and the Europe Startup Guide take profiles of startups from Europe. Dealroom, founded in Amsterdam, keeps the company profiles that investors and governments look up. European Alternatives lists European software and cloud products, with strict rules on where the company is based. OMR Reviews is a software review site for buyers in Germany, Austria and Switzerland, and ArcticStartup is a news outlet for the Nordics and Baltics.

None of them is a launch day. They are records that stay, and each has its own rule on who gets in. Below, each site's rule and what it checks, in its own words, as we read its pages on 2 October 2026 (a few on 30 September). General startup databases, not tied to a region, are in startup databases.

01The short answer: which one for what

• Any European startup: the EU-Startups Database and the Europe Startup Guide. Both take a startup profile; the Europe Startup Guide takes only EU, UK and EEA organizations and reviews each one.
• If you are raising: claim your profile on Dealroom, which says it "helps investors find companies".
• If you sell software or cloud services: European Alternatives, if your company and any parent company are based in Europe. OMR Reviews if your buyers are in Germany, Austria or Switzerland.
• If you have news in the Nordics or Baltics: ArcticStartup, whose team places press releases for you.

02Europe Startup Guide: Europe only, reviewed by a person

The newest place on this page describes itself in one line:

D197Europe Startup Guide·In their words

“Explore startup organisations across Europe.”

Its home page (opens in a new tab), read on 2 October 2026, sets the scope: "Only EU, UK, and EEA startups, investors, and accelerators — so you find partners active in your market instead of digging through US results." Startups are one category among several: the same page counts "3,661 records in total, across 12 categories", from funds and accelerators to coworking spaces and events, and says the directory is "Free to browse, no signup."

Anyone can suggest a company, and a person checks it. The home page: "Anyone can add a missing startup, fund, or accelerator. Every submission is reviewed before it goes live, so the directory stays accurate." Its suggestion page, read the same day, says it more plainly and asks for help: "Every submission is reviewed by a human before it goes live, so please include enough detail — and a source link where possible — to help us verify". Neither page states a price for adding a startup or a review time. The footer says the site is "Part of the Flowtly network", and the banner at the top advertises Flowtly.

Profiles also link relationships: in the home page's words, "which funds backed a startup, who co-invested alongside them, and the people behind each firm." That makes it a place to research European investors and accelerators, not only a place to be listed. Europe Startup Guide on the list.

03EU-Startups Database

The EU-Startups Database describes itself as a database of Europe's most promising startups, and its listing is free and doesn't expire; both are quoted in startup databases. Its site refused our request on 2 October 2026, so we hold nothing newer than our reading of 30 September. EU-Startups Database on the list.

04Dealroom: the profile investors look up

Dealroom is not only European, but it started in Europe. Its about page (opens in a new tab), read on 2 October 2026: "Founded in Amsterdam in 2013". The same page says who uses it: "Dealroom helps investors find companies, businesses understand markets, and governments support their startup ecosystems."

That is why a European profile there may already exist before you touch it. The about page explains where the data comes from: "Governments, universities and ecosystem organisations contribute information about the companies and founders in their networks." And: "Founders and investors can also update their profiles."

So the job is usually to claim and correct your profile, not to create one. You log in and prove the company is yours with an email on your company's domain; the step is quoted in startup databases. Dealroom on the list.

05For software and cloud products: European Alternatives and OMR Reviews

European Alternatives is for one kind of product:

D135European Alternatives·In their words

“We help you find European alternatives for digital service and products, like cloud services and SaaS products.”

Its basic rule, that the company is based in the EU, the EEA, EFTA, a DCFTA country or the UK, is quoted in SaaS directories. Its about page (opens in a new tab), read on 2 October 2026, adds two conditions founders tend to miss:

• Your parent company counts too. "If the company has a parent or holding company, this company is also based in an EU, EEA, EFTA, or DCFTA member country or in the UK."
• Hosting must be European all the way down. "For hosting providers: It is not allowed that a hosting provider is simply a sub-hosting provider of a company that is not based in an EU or EFTA member country."

There is also a label for services hosted in Europe, and its bar is high. A service gets the "EU hosted label" if its core services are "hosted on servers in the EU" and "servers are operated by EU based companies (incl. parent companies)". Among the page's examples of what fails: "API of the service uses Cloudflare for DDoS protection". If your stack runs on US cloud providers, expect the listing but not the label.

Suggestions go through a suggestion tool that needs an account, and the about page says the site adds products to categories it has researched: "Before adding each category, we do research and look for European solutions." European Alternatives on the list.

OMR Reviews serves software buyers in Germany, Austria and Switzerland, and lists software for free; its terms are quoted in B2B software review sites. OMR Reviews on the list.

06News for the Nordics and Baltics: ArcticStartup

ArcticStartup is a publication, not a database:

D070Arctic Startup·Kind

“ArcticStartup is an independent technology news outlet that reports on digital startups and growth entrepreneurship in the Nordic and Baltic countries.”

Our reading: directory

The company behind it, ArcticStartup Media Oy, gives a Helsinki address on its home page (opens in a new tab). The way in is a press release, placed by its team. Its press release page, as we read it on 2 October 2026: "We help you research the best publication option for your message, before we submit it on your behalf." We hold no price for the service; ask before you send anything. It suits a funding round or a regional launch, not a profile. Other startup news sites that take suggestions are in startup blogs and newsletters. ArcticStartup on the list.

07Global databases that cover Europe too

The general startup databases on our list aren't tied to one region. Four of them, with their prices, waits and verification steps quoted in startup databases:

Pages on the list: Crunchbase, StartupBlink, Startup Ranking, VentureRadar.

08In what order

The sites' own rules suggest an order:

1. Profiles that stay. Add your startup to the EU-Startups Database and suggest it to the Europe Startup Guide. Both review what you send, and neither ties the listing to a launch date.
2. Dealroom before you raise. Claim the profile, correct it, and use an email on your company's domain: it is the check Dealroom names.
3. Software sites, if they fit. Check European Alternatives' parent-company and hosting rules before you suggest your product. Add OMR Reviews if you sell to buyers in Germany, Austria or Switzerland.
4. News when you have news. ArcticStartup and other regional outlets want a story: a round, a hire, a launch in the region.
5. Keep it current. A profile that never expires also never updates itself. Startup databases has the routine.

If you are looking for a program rather than a listing, the European ones are in accelerators in Europe, and those in other regions in accelerators outside the US. Add the sites you pick to My launch with the + on each poster, and paste each listing's address when it goes live:

09How we checked

We read each site's own pages on 2 October 2026: the Europe Startup Guide's home and suggestion pages, Dealroom's about page, European Alternatives' about page, and ArcticStartup's home and press release pages. EU-Startups' site refused our request that day, so its facts are from our reading of 30 September 2026. A site is in this guide when its own pages say it serves European startups or European buyers. We don't measure what a listing brings you, and we don't create profiles on these sites. Each table row and poster shows the date of our last link check.

Nobody pays to be listed or to appear in a guide. Read how we check for the details.

10Questions

01

What are the best European startup directories?

We don't rank them; they do different jobs. For a startup profile: the EU-Startups Database and the Europe Startup Guide. For the profile investors look up: Dealroom. For software and cloud products: European Alternatives and, for buyers in Germany, Austria and Switzerland, OMR Reviews. For news in the Nordics and Baltics: ArcticStartup.

02

Is the EU-Startups database free?

Its listing page, as we read it on 30 September 2026, offers a free listing that never expires. Its quote is on its page on our list and in our startup databases guide.

03

Can a UK startup list on European directories?

On the ones that set a rule, yes. The Europe Startup Guide takes EU, UK and EEA organizations, and European Alternatives accepts companies based in the UK as well as the EU, EEA, EFTA and DCFTA countries.

04

What does European Alternatives require?

Its about page says the company, and any parent or holding company, must be based in an EU, EEA, EFTA or DCFTA member country or in the UK. Hosting providers may not simply resell hosting from a company outside the EU or EFTA. A stricter EU hosted label needs core services on EU servers run by EU-based companies.