About › Verification standards

EU Verification Standards

How we determine whether a company qualifies as European — and which tier of verification applies.

Why a tiered system?

"Is this company European?" is rarely a yes/no question. Company structures are layered: a company can be founded in Sweden but owned by a Chinese holding company (Volvo/Geely). A company can be Estonian-registered but operated from San Francisco. A company can be headquartered in Ireland for tax purposes but run from London.

A single binary badge either overstates the case (calling Volvo "EU verified" without caveat) or understates it (rejecting companies that are genuinely European in culture, workforce, and operations). Our tier system makes the nuance visible.

The four tiers

🇪🇺 EU Headquartered

Criteria

· Legal headquarters registered in an EU member state
· Majority ownership (>50%) by EU-based individuals or entities
· Primary business operations conducted within the EU
· Data processing primarily in EU data centers

This is our strictest tier. Companies must meet all four criteria. This is what we mean when we say 'EU Verified' without qualification.

🇪🇺 EU Founded

Criteria

· Company was originally founded in an EU member state
· Core technology, IP, or brand was developed in the EU
· May have since been acquired by non-EU entities or expanded globally
· Original founders are still involved, or founding story is EU-rooted

Used for companies like Skype (Estonian origins, Microsoft-owned) or JustEat (Danish origins, global conglomerate). We believe the founding context is meaningful even after ownership changes.

🇪🇺 EU Operated

Criteria

· Primary workforce is EU-based
· Primary revenue comes from EU markets
· Decision-making leadership is EU-located
· Products/services designed primarily for EU consumers

Used for companies that operate effectively as European companies even if their legal or ownership structure is mixed. We weight operational footprint heavily.

☑ Self-Reported

Criteria

· Company has submitted via our form and claims EU origin
· We have not yet independently verified the claim
· No red flags in initial review (obviously non-EU domain, US entity, etc.)
· Will be upgraded or removed after verification

Newly submitted brands start here. We aim to verify within 30 days of submission. Self-reported brands are clearly labelled and appear lower in directory rankings.

Hard cases we've considered

Volvo CarsEU Founded — not EU Headquartered

Founded in Sweden, genuine Swedish heritage, but majority-owned by Geely (China) since 2010. HQ remains in Gothenburg, but ownership disqualifies EU HQ status.

RevolutEU Operated — banking licence in Lithuania

Founded in the UK by a Russian-British team. UK entity post-Brexit. However, EU banking licence is held by a Lithuanian subsidiary that serves all EU customers. Listed as EU Operated for EU services.

Booking.comEU Founded — not EU Headquartered

Founded in Amsterdam, still HQ'd there. But majority-owned by Booking Holdings, a US-listed company. EU operational presence is genuine, ownership is US.

SpotifyEU Headquartered

Founded and HQ'd in Stockholm. Listed on NYSE but Swedish company under Swedish law. Primary operations in Europe. Majority ownership is distributed among EU and international investors with no single controlling non-EU entity.

Dispute a verification

If you believe we've assigned the wrong tier to a company — or listed a company that doesn't qualify as European — please reach out with evidence. We update listings when presented with credible information.

[email protected] →