*Company name changed for GDPR purposes
When VT, a fast-growing European startup in the SaaS sector, secured a fresh round of seed funding, the founders had a clear goal: expand quickly, hire top tech talent across the region, and remain lean, compliant, and investor-ready.
But as with many startups entering multiple markets simultaneously, ambition came with challenges. Their first hires were in Cyprus, followed closely by developers in Bulgaria and a support lead in Greece. What initially felt like an exciting step forward soon became a logistical maze of compliance questions, payrollsetup, corporate tax exposure, and employment law uncertainty.
The Challenge: Fast Growth Meets Cross-Border Complexity
VT team needed to:
- Hire employees in countries where they had no legal presence
- Ensure compliance with local employment and tax regulations
- Maintain flexibility without rushing into entity establishment
- Secure a favourable setup for the founders living between Cyprus and Germany
Despite having a lean internal team, the founders quickly realized that navigating different rules, contribution rates, and employment documentation across three countries was time-consuming, and potentially risky.
The Eurofast Solution
VT reached out to Eurofast’s regional offices in Nicosia, Sofia, and Athens for a structured but scalable solution. Within days, a customised roadmap was in place.
- Employment in Bulgaria
Eurofast’s Employer of Record model allowed VT to onboard and manage developers without establishing a local entity, ensuring full legal compliance, employment contract setup, and monthly payroll execution.
- Non-Dom Strategy for Founders in Cyprus
One of the co-founders, recently relocated to Cyprus, worked with Eurofast’s tax team to benefit from the non-domicile regime, securing 0% tax on foreign-sourced dividends and optimizing overall personal taxation.
- Cross-Border Payroll and Compliance in Greece
Eurofast managed employment cost projections and legal obligations for their first hire in Greece, helping VT structure the contract and contributions in line with Greek employment law.
- Startup-Ready Advisory
VT also relied on Eurofast’s corporate team to outline a phased entity incorporation plan, with cost and tax impact estimates for each market—keeping options open while staying compliant.
Eurofast achieved the following
Within six weeks, VT had:
- Legally onboarded employees in 3 countries
- Reduced setup costs by over 65% compared to full entity incorporation
- Implemented a fully compliant, centralised payroll process
- Secured a non-dom tax position for one of the founders
- Gained full visibility on future expansion pathways with tax and legal foresight
Today, VT continues to grow with Eurofast as their regional partner, with quarterly reviews ensuring continued compliance, optimised structuring, and responsive support.
Eurofast’s Take
Startups often grow faster than their operational infrastructure can support. That’s where we come in.
At Eurofast, we provide end-to-end support for fast-scaling tech companies, covering:
- EOR & cross-border employment
- Residency & tax optimisation for founders
- Payroll & HR compliance
- Entity setup and cost planning across Southeast Europe, the Middle East and the Baltics
Whether you’re building a development team across borders or looking for efficient expansion strategies, Eurofast ensures you’re not only compliant, but one step ahead.