How to succeed with international expansion?

Looking for ways to enter a new market? For many B2B software founders, the ultimate goal is to deliver customer value at a global scale through their software. While the opportunity is enormous, international expansion is a challenging and demanding journey.

Entering new markets involves navigating unfamiliar local puchasing behaviors, incumbent competitive dynamics, and cultural nuances that will require you to refine or reshape both your go-to-market (GTM) strategy and product offering. Successful companies don’t just translate their playbook; they adapt it to fit local realities.

In this article, we’ll break down how to approach international expansion strategically so that you can turn international ambition into repeatable, scalable growth.

Written by: Andreas Sandbu, Investment Director at Viking Growth (Header image)

When are you ready to enter a new market?

Most of the companies we invest in have big ambitions for international expansion. They’ve often succeeded in their home market and potentially other Nordics market, and are now seeking a partner to help them scale into new countries.

If you’ve already made some initial sales outside your home market and gained traction with customers, you’re off to a strong start. As an investor, we typically look at the distribution of Annual Recurring Revenues (ARR) across geographies as an indicator that your software and go-to-market model has the potential to work across borders.

Some obstacles along the way

Whether you’re ready to enter a new market or not depends on multiple factors including required adaptions to the go-to-market model,  product readiness, available capital and resources to enter the new market. Success also relies on how well you understand the local market, how to sell your offering, and the local buying behavior.

How to enter a new geography step-by-step

Entering a new market successfully doesn’t happen overnight. It’s a process that often works best when broken into clear phases.

1. Early Analysis and Testing

Before committing to full-scale entry, start with structured market research. Test messaging, gather early leads, and validate product-market fit. This phase is about learning: does your product resonate with local customers? What’s missing? Which barriers do you need to address? Integrations, local compliance, or feature gaps?

Use this time to test sales materials, refine your positioning, and gather feedback to inform your approach. In some cases, this may include running lightweight campaigns or hiring a contractor for lead generation.

2. First Sales and Initial Presence

Once traction begins and you’re closing your first deals, receiving positive customer feedback, and achieving repeatable interest, it’s time to go deeper. That may involve hiring your first local employee(s) or sending someone from your HQ team on a temporary assignment.

At this stage, investing in efficient onboarding processes, local marketing content, and precise positioning is critical. Some companies choose a hybrid model, such as Flowbox’s approach: hiring native speakers based in European-wide sales hubs (e.g., Amsterdam, Barcelona) to sell into their home market.

3. Ramp-Up and Scale

When your early indicators are strong, it’s time to scale. Sending top salespeople or operators from HQ can make a huge difference. They bring cultural alignment, brand understanding, and act as internal champions. Their presence helps ensure the new team doesn’t just replicate the structure, but also the mindset that made the company successful. Without the home team’s context and culture, the regional office can drift. Strong communication channels are required, as even small misunderstandings between HQ and local staff can lead to misaligned priorities, duplicated efforts, or a loss of momentum. Bridging this gap early is critical to maintaining cohesion and accelerating growth.

One of the most crucial success factors for one of our portfolio company, Attensi, was to send their superstars to the new market, even if they felt reliant on them in the existing home market.

“It’s supposed to hurt, and it does indeed force you to fill the gap they leave behind. But in general, if it does not hurt to ‘lose’ a resource from your existing market, it is probably not the right resource to transfer,” Krister Kristiansen, CCO at Attensi, said in a previous interview about their expansion to UK and the US.

Continue to build out the local team, but balance that with your existing DNA. Companies often benefit from maintaining a strong cultural connection between HQ and local markets.

A strong local team understands customer behavior, speaks the language, and provides the necessary proximity to the market. The key is doing both, especially in the first 12–24 months. One of the best ways to maintain your Nordic identity abroad is to build strong internal communication across geographies. Town halls, regular cross-market meetings, and open communication channels are essential.

Common pitfalls of international expansion

One of the most frequent mistakes is underestimating the need for local insight. Companies often spend too little time doing on-the-ground research or proper market analysis before entering a new region. Once on the ground, we sometimes realize that the product requires far more adaptation than expected, whether it’s new integrations, local functionality, or language and cultural adjustments.

Hiring the right people is also difficult. The risk increases when you’re unfamiliar with the talent landscape. It’s easy to make hiring mistakes, especially when evaluating commercial profiles. Someone who sounds convincing might not be the right fit for your sales model,  market context or customer profile.

Another common trap is underestimating both local and global competitors. In many cases, founders are surprised by strong regional players or unexpected market dynamics that differ significantly from what they’re used to.

Is US the right next step?

Many companies see the US as the ultimate achievement, a massive market with high growth potential. But is it always the right next step?

At Viking Growth, we often advocate for a phased approach to international expansion as resources are limited. For many companies, the Nordics are a natural starting point, followed by Northern Europe. Only after establishing a strong foothold in these regions do we typically see companies expand into the US or further south in Europe. That said, we’ve also seen companies succeed by entering the US early, so while this isn’t a one-size-fits-all model, a phased approach tends to reduce risk and increase the chances of repeatable success.

Independent of which geographies to target when, the important part is to have a clearly refined and prioritised roadmap for international expansion. Which geographies that end up as the top priorirty will depend on the competitive intensity, product-market fit and market overall attractivness.

Advantages for European and US-based companies

European companies often have an advantage within Europe. They’re already used to operating across different languages, cultures, and business norms. That gives them a natural edge compared to many US-based companies entering Europe for the first time.

Conversely, US expansion requires a deep understanding of that market and often a different pace, pricing strategy, and go-to-market approach. While American companies may intuitively understand their home market, European companies must prepare for a steeper learning curve.

International expansion from an Investor’s Perspective

At its core, smart expansion is about capital efficiency and strategic intent. It’s not just about moving fast; it’s about knowing when to accelerate, where to go, and why it will create value. Important considerations from an investor’s perspective are:

• Capital efficiency: That your company achieves clear returns on its investments, whether in hiring, market entry, or customer acquisition.

• Clear prioritization: Enter new markets based on research, fit, and readiness, not gut feeling.

• Validated growth model: There’s a repeatable sales motion in the new geography before heavy investment begins. Ideally, more than one salesperson has been able to close deals.

• Cultural integration: Whether growth is organic or through M&A, the company succeeds in creating a unified culture without losing what makes it unique.

• Equity story enhancement: The expansion opens up a new growth engine, increases strategic optionality, and makes the company more attractive for the next owner.

International expansion doesn’t have to be purely organic. In some cases, strategic acquisitions can provide immediate access to new markets, teams, and infrastructure, but they require careful planning and cultural alignment. If you’re considering M&A as part of your expansion strategy, this article explores when and how to succeed with M&A.

Advice for international expansion in 2026

Do your homework, but don’t let the pursuit of perfect information stop you from taking action. At some point, international expansion is about courage as much as strategy. You have to dare to move.

Start where you already have momentum. If your existing customers have international offices, explore how you can grow with them. Expanding into new markets through your customer base can open doors to new markets in a capital-efficient, low-risk way. Many founders underestimate the power of Customer Success in geographic expansion, but your best references often come from the logos you already have.

Final Thoughts

International expansion is both an opportunity and a test. The companies that succeed are the ones that combine ambition with discipline, speed with insight, and global vision with local execution. If you’re seeing early traction, don’t wait for perfect conditions. The right moment rarely arrives fully formed. Act thoughtfully, move with intent, and let your existing customers lead the way.