International Expansion for SaaS Startups: How to Choose and Enter Your First Foreign Market

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By Saroj Jha · October 5, 2026 · 11 min read

Expand abroad once you are winning at home and foreign buyers are already finding you. Then pick the one country where your product needs the fewest changes to be trusted, and fix what local buyers check before they sign. The five steps below show how, with one example company choosing between the UK and Canada.

In three numbers

  • 160+ countries where Atlassian had customers, more than 51,000 of them, when it filed for its IPO in 2015[1]
  • 16% of BlackLine's 2016 revenue came from outside the US, though it had users in over 130 countries[2]
  • 25 languages in SoundHound AI's product, up from one; its filing lists new languages as a significant expense[3]

For a software company, a foreign customer is often one sign-up away. Expansion feels easy until a buyer asks whether you handle their accounting standard, tax, data rules and language. Those questions decide deals, and the answers differ by country.

Research on how firms go abroad explains where the difficulty sits. Revisiting their well-known Uppsala model, Jan Johanson and Jan-Erik Vahlne concluded: "Outsidership, in relation to the relevant network, more than psychic distance, is the root of uncertainty"[4]. In plain words, what holds a newcomer back is less how foreign a country feels and more not being part of its network of customers, partners and advisers. Research on "born digital" firms points to features that shape how they go abroad, especially "direct engagement with stakeholders, automation, network effects, flexibility and scalability"[5], but they still have to earn a place in that network.

Running case: Example Co. Fictional

Example Co. is a seed-stage B2B SaaS startup, based in the US for this case, whose software automates the month-end close for finance teams at companies with 50 to 500 employees. The controller is the champion and daily user, the CFO or VP Finance signs, and IT reviews security. Its price is about $1,500 a month (about $18,000 a year), its sales cycle is about 45 days, and its team of 8 aims to win 30 new customers in the next 12 months. Trial sign-ups from the UK and Canada have started to arrive, and the founders must decide which country to enter first. Everything about Example Co. is fictional and illustrative.

Step 1: Check that you are ready to go abroad

Going abroad splits a small team's attention, so check four signals first: steady results at home, foreign buyers arriving unprompted, a product likely to work with few changes, and one person who can own the market for a year.

Software can travel far. Atlassian's 2015 registration statement reported "more than 51,000 customers" in "more than 160 countries"[1]; that is what the filing reports, not an account of how the company made its choices. Reach is the easy part. Being trusted in each market is the work.

Example Co., step 1 Fictional

Win rate has been steady for three quarters, and 9 of the last 60 trials (fictional) came from the UK or Canada without any campaign. Whether the product works for them is still unknown. One founder will spend half of their time on the new market for a year.

Figure 1 Example Co. passes three of the four readiness signals; the fourth waits for Step 2
  • 1 Steady results at home True — Example Co. 3 quarters of a steady win rate
  • 2 Foreign buyers arrive unprompted True — Example Co. 9 of 60 recent trials came from the UK or Canada, with no campaign — UK or CanadaEverywhere else
  • 3 The product works there with few changes Not known yet — Example Co. Unknown until the countries are compared in Step 2
  • 4 One person owns the market for a year True — Example Co. Half of one founder's time, for a year

The rule: if two or more signals are not yet true, keep the foreign sign-ups but do not invest in a market yet. Example Co. has one open signal, so it moves on to Step 2.

The four signals from Step 1. Example Co.'s answers, including the 9 of 60 trials, are fictional.

Do this

Fill in the four signals for your company. If two or more are not yet true, keep the foreign sign-ups you get, but do not invest in a market yet.

Step 2: Compare countries on what your product touches

For a finance product, the differences that matter most are rules, not culture. List every rule your product touches and check it in each candidate country. The table summarises official sources for Example Co.'s list. It is not legal or tax advice: have a local adviser confirm each row.

Table 1. What Example Co.'s product touches in the UK and Canada, from official sources (not legal or tax advice)
Area United Kingdom Canada
Accounting standards for private companies FRS 102, which is "based on the IFRS for SMEs Accounting Standard, but with significant modifications", or UK-adopted IFRS[6] Private enterprises have "a free choice of adopting IFRS Accounting Standards or separate sets of Canadian standards"[7]
Sales tax on B2B software VAT: "The B2B (business to business) general rule for supplies of services is that the supply is made where the customer belongs"; a VAT-registered UK business customer generally accounts for the VAT under the reverse charge[8] GST/HST: rules for non-resident suppliers in the digital economy took effect on 1 July 2021; the simplified registration covers sales to consumers and to businesses not registered for GST/HST[9]
Privacy law The UK GDPR "also applies to organisations outside the UK that offer goods or services to individuals in the UK"[10]; such organisations may need "a representative in the United Kingdom"[11] PIPEDA covers commercial activities; "Alberta, British Columbia and Quebec have their own private-sector privacy laws that have been deemed substantially similar to PIPEDA"[12]
Sending data to you abroad A UK customer sending personal data to a separate company outside the UK makes a "restricted transfer", which needs adequacy regulations, safeguards such as the International Data Transfer Agreement, or an exception[13] "PIPEDA does not prohibit organizations in Canada from transferring personal information to an organization in another jurisdiction for processing", but they stay responsible and must tell customers[14]
Language English English and French; in Quebec, software "must be available in French unless no French version exists"[15]

Then score the work each area means for your product, and write down why.

Example Co., step 2 Fictional

Both countries need new close templates, because Example Co.'s templates assume US accounting. The UK adds transfer terms and possibly a UK representative; Canada adds a privacy notice and, for Quebec, French. Selling hours tip the balance: Canadian buyers work in time zones close to the team's. The fictional scores come out at 9 for the UK and 8 for Canada outside Quebec.

Figure 2 Canada outside Quebec needs a little less change than the UK: 8 points of work against 9
Area United Kingdom Canada, outside Quebec
  • Accounting standard
  • Templates for FRS 102
  • Private-enterprise templates
Sales tax VAT reverse charge on invoices GST/HST rules to check
  • Data rules
  • UK GDPR, transfer terms, possibly a UK representative
  • A notice that data is processed in the US
Language British English English; French later, for Quebec
  • Selling hours
  • 5 to 8 hours ahead of US teams
  • Time zones close to US teams
Total, out of 15 8 Enter first

Filled dots: work needed in that area, from 1 to 3. Lower total, less change.

Show the numbers as a table
Area United Kingdom Canada, outside Quebec
Accounting standard
Sales tax
Data rules
Language
Selling hours
Total, out of 15

Example Co.'s own scores, from the rules in Table 1 and its selling hours. All scores are fictional; score the areas your product touches.

Do this

Build the same table for your two or three candidate countries, then score the work for each area from 1 to 3 and add it up.

Free tool

Size each country before you compare them

The free Bottom-Up Market Sizer sizes each candidate country from official business counts and your own price, so you can weigh the work in each country against the buyers there.

Size a country

Step 3: Pick one country, and decide how far in

Enter one country at a time, and within it, start where you need the least change. A country is not always one market. Quebec's language law covers more than software: "catalogues, brochures, folders, commercial directories, order forms and any other documents of the same nature that are available to the public must be drawn up in French"[15]. If you are not ready to work in French, plan Quebec as a later phase.

Set a gate for each phase: a result that must be true before the next market opens.

Example Co., step 3 Fictional

Example Co. enters Canada first, starting in Ontario, British Columbia and Alberta. The UK comes next, once FRS 102 templates, VAT handling and UK transfer terms are ready. Quebec comes last, when the product, website and contracts are available in French.

Figure 3 Example Co. enters Canada first, then the UK, then Quebec, and opens each phase only after its gate

Phase 1

Canada

Ontario, British Columbia and Alberta

  • Private-enterprise close templates
  • Prices in Canadian dollars
  • /en-ca/ pages
  • Two accounting firms as partners

Opens now The first market

Gate

Phase 2

United Kingdom

After Canada passes its gate

  • FRS 102 templates
  • VAT handling on invoices
  • UK transfer terms
  • /en-gb/ pages, prices in pounds

Opens when Canada reaches 6 paying customers, a win rate above 20% and a sales cycle no longer than at home, and the UK templates, VAT handling and transfer terms are ready

Gate

Phase 3

Quebec

Last, in French

  • French product
  • French website and contracts
  • Quebec privacy review
  • A French-speaking partner

Opens when The product, website and contracts are available in French

Example Co.'s plan from Steps 3 and 5. The first gate combines its two-quarter targets with the UK readiness work. The plan and every number in it are fictional.

Do this

Write your sequence as phases, each with one gate in numbers, and share it with the whole team.

Step 4: Localize what buyers check first

Localize in the order buyers check. For a finance product that means the product first (local accounting templates, currency and tax lines), then trust documents (privacy notice, data processing terms, security answers), then price, then the website.

Figure 4 Localize in the order buyers check: product, trust documents, price, then the website
Checked first Checked last
  1. 1 Product Local accounting templates, currency and tax lines Example Co. in Canada Close templates for Canada's private-enterprise accounting standards
  2. 2 Trust documents Privacy notice, data processing terms, security answers Example Co. in Canada A privacy notice that says where data is processed
  3. 3 Price What the buyer pays, in their currency Example Co. in Canada Prices in Canadian dollars
  4. 4 Website The pages local buyers read first Example Co. in Canada An /en-ca/ section: homepage, pricing, security and two close templates, with hreflang tags both ways

All four ship before Example Co.'s first Canadian campaign.

The order is from Step 4, for a finance product. Example Co.'s items are from its Step 4 plan and are fictional.

Canada's privacy regulator is specific about the notice. Organizations "must be transparent about their personal information handling practices", and that includes "advising customers that their personal information may be sent to another jurisdiction for processing and that while the information is in another jurisdiction it may be accessed by the courts, law enforcement and national security authorities"[14].

If you sell an AI product

In my view, two things change. First, the product itself must work in the new language. Translated pages do not help if the model's answers are weaker in French than in English, so test it on local documents and local terms before you sell in Quebec. Second, the data questions get longer. Expect buyers to ask where prompts and outputs are processed, and whether a model provider in another country handles them. Your privacy notice and data terms should answer that plainly, and a local privacy adviser should check them, as with every row in the Step 2 table.

SoundHound AI, a public voice AI company, shows the cost side in its annual report for 2023. It says: "We have grown our solution from a single language capability to 25 languages." It warns that developing new products "and the addition of new languages will involve significant expense", and that "Complying with the GDPR and other requirements may cause SoundHound to incur substantial costs". It also reports that it "derived approximately 85%, 89% and 81%, respectively, of its revenues from customers located in countries outside the United States" in 2023, 2022 and 2021[3]. This is what the filing says, not how the company decided internally.

Figure 5 SoundHound AI grew from one language to 25, and most of its revenue comes from outside the US

Languages in its product

1 language at the start to 25 languages in its 2023 report

Share of revenue from customers outside the US

2021 81% 2022 89% 2023 85%

What the same filing says about cost

  • New products "and the addition of new languages will involve significant expense"
  • "Complying with the GDPR and other requirements may cause SoundHound to incur substantial costs"
Show the numbers as a table
Measure Value
Languages at the start
Languages in the 2023 report
Revenue from customers outside the US, 2021 About 81%
Revenue from customers outside the US, 2022 About 89%
Revenue from customers outside the US, 2023 About 85%

SoundHound AI's annual report on Form 10-K for 2023. What the filing says, not how the company decided internally. Bars drawn to scale out of 100%.

For the website, Google's guidance gives the mechanics. Tell Google about regional versions, even "small regional variations" such as English pages for the US, GB and Ireland. "Each language version must list itself as well as all other language versions", and "If two pages don't both point to each other, the tags will be ignored." The "x-default" value "is used when no other language/region matches the user's browser setting"[16]. Google lists subdirectories such as example.com/de/ as "Easy to set up" and advises: "Don't use IP analysis to adapt your content" and "Avoid automatically redirecting users from one language version of a site to a different language version of a site"[17].

Figure 6 Every country page lists itself and the others, or Google ignores the tags
  • example.com/ — Lists all four tags, itself included — example.com/en-ca/ — Lists all four tags, itself included — example.com/en-gb/ — Lists all four tags, itself included
  • Each page points to the other two, and they point back
  • The same four hreflang tags go on all three pages
  • If two pages don't both point to each other, Google ignores the tags. — Don't redirect by IP. Let visitors choose their version.

Example Co.'s site, one subdirectory per country, following Google Search Central's guidance on localized versions and multi-regional sites. example.com is a placeholder.

Example Co., step 4 Fictional

Before the first Canadian campaign, the team ships close templates for Canada's private-enterprise accounting standards, prices in Canadian dollars and a privacy notice that says where data is processed. It adds an /en-ca/ section with the pages Canadian controllers read first: the homepage, pricing, security and two close templates, each with hreflang tags pointing both ways.

Do this

List the five things a buyer in the new country checks before signing, and localize them before you spend on campaigns.

Step 5: Enter through local networks, then measure

If outsidership is the root of uncertainty, the fix is to join the network: local accounting firms, finance communities, and the software your buyers already use. Partners also give a foreign company the local proof that its own customer list cannot yet show.

What BlackLine's filing shows

BlackLine, a public company that sells financial close software, described its international approach in its annual report for 2016. This is what the filing says, not an account of how the company made its choices internally. It reported: "As of December 31, 2016, we had more than 1,700 customers with over 166,000 users in over 130 countries exclusive of the Runbook Acquisition" (Runbook, a Netherlands-based close software company, was acquired in August 2016). Its platform "supports applicable international accounting standards, as well as 16 languages and all currencies specified by the International Organization for Standardization, or ISO currencies." It wrote: "We have an established presence in Australia, Canada, England, France, Germany, Netherlands, and Singapore, and we intend to invest in further expanding our footprint in these and other regions." And: "We derived approximately 16% and 14% of our revenues from sales outside the United States in the years ended December 31, 2016 and 2015, respectively." Its partner relationships include "professional services firms such as Deloitte and KPMG" and "technology vendors such as SAP and NetSuite"[2].

Figure 7 BlackLine's filing puts localization in the product, and partners with firms finance teams already trust

Reach, end of 2016

  • 1,700+ customers
  • 166,000+ users
  • 130+ countries

Counts exclude Runbook, a close software company acquired in August 2016.

Revenue from sales outside the US

2015 14% 2016 16%

Outside the US United States

Partners

  • Professional services firms
  • Deloitte, KPMG
  • Technology vendors
  • SAP, NetSuite

Localization, in the product

  • Applicable international accounting standards
  • 16 languages
  • All ISO currencies

An established presence in

Australia Canada England France Germany Netherlands Singapore

Show the numbers as a table
Measure Value
Customers, end of 2016 More than 1,700
Users Over 166,000
Countries Over 130
Revenue from outside the US, 2015 About 14%
Revenue from outside the US, 2016 About 16%
Languages supported

BlackLine's annual report on Form 10-K for 2016, quoted and summarized. What the filing says, not how BlackLine decided internally. Revenue bars drawn to scale.

Two things stand out to me: localization is described as product capability, not translated pages, and the partners are firms finance teams already trust.

Example Co., step 5 Fictional

The team signs two Canadian accounting firms as referral partners and joins one controllers' community (fictional choices). Its targets for the first two quarters: 6 paying Canadian customers within its goal of 30, a win rate above 20% on qualified demos, and a sales cycle no longer than at home. It reviews the results before opening Phase 2.

Do this

Name two local partners your buyers already trust, and set three numbers that decide whether the market stays open.

What changes by stage?

  • Pre-seed — Do not expand. Let foreign sign-ups happen, and note where they come from.
  • Seed — Pick one country close to home in rules and working hours. Localize templates, terms and a few key pages, and enter through partners.
  • Series A–B — Add countries in phases with gates, consider a local entity and local staff where deals need them, and plan for a second language.

What mistakes should I avoid?

  • Expanding to escape a weak home market. Problems at home travel with you.
  • Treating a country as one market. Quebec's language rules show that one country can hold two.
  • Translating pages but not the product. Finance buyers check standards, tax and data terms first.
  • Redirecting visitors by IP. Google advises against it; let people choose their version.
  • Opening several countries at once. A small team cannot localize and sell in three places well.

Related on AAJ

Articles

Playbooks

Templates and tools

References

The superscript numbers in the article match this list.

  1. Atlassian Corporation Plc (2015). Registration statement on Form F-1, filed 9 November 2015. US Securities and Exchange Commission. sec.gov
  2. BlackLine, Inc. (2017). Annual report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year 2016. US Securities and Exchange Commission. sec.gov
  3. SoundHound AI, Inc. (2024). Annual report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2023. US Securities and Exchange Commission. sec.gov
  4. Johanson, J. and Vahlne, J.-E. (2009). "The Uppsala internationalization process model revisited: From liability of foreignness to liability of outsidership." Journal of International Business Studies, 40(9), 1411–1431. doi:10.1057/jibs.2009.24
  5. Monaghan, S., Tippmann, E. and Coviello, N. (2020). "Born digitals: Thoughts on their internationalization and a research agenda." Journal of International Business Studies, 51(1), 11–22. doi:10.1057/s41267-019-00290-0
  6. IFRS Foundation. Jurisdiction profile: United Kingdom (last updated 10 May 2024). ifrs.org
  7. IFRS Foundation. Jurisdictional profile: Canada (last updated 3 October 2023). ifrs.org
  8. HM Revenue & Customs. Place of supply of services (VAT Notice 741A). gov.uk
  9. Canada Revenue Agency. GST/HST for digital-economy businesses: Overview. canada.ca
  10. Information Commissioner's Office. Who does the UK GDPR apply to? ico.org.uk
  11. UK GDPR, Article 27: Representatives of controllers or processors not established in the United Kingdom. legislation.gov.uk
  12. Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada. PIPEDA requirements in brief. priv.gc.ca
  13. Information Commissioner's Office. A brief guide to international transfers. ico.org.uk
  14. Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada (2009). Guidelines for processing personal data across borders. priv.gc.ca
  15. Quebec. Charter of the French language, chapter C-11, sections 52 and 52.1. legisquebec.gouv.qc.ca
  16. Google Search Central. Tell Google about localized versions of your page. developers.google.com
  17. Google Search Central. Managing multi-regional and multilingual sites. developers.google.com

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