Real American customers, European websites: the US-Readiness Index 2026

Estonian companies have done the hard part in America. Between them they count WeWork, Instacart, Uber Eats and Reagan National Airport as customers and partners. They run a factory in Houston, a warehouse in North Carolina and showrooms in Chicago. Then an American buyer opens their website and finds euro prices, metric specifications and no mention of the US safety certifications that procurement teams ask about first.

In October 2026 I reviewed the public websites of 23 Estonian and Estonian-founded exporters, from software companies to sauna, timber, robotics, furniture and food makers, the way an American buyer would see them. Each site was scored from 0 to 2 on ten criteria, for a maximum of 20 points.

The headline numbers

• Average score: 7 out of 20.
• 2 of 23 have a page written specifically for American buyers.
• 3 of 23 show prices in dollars.
• None of the 20 hardware and physical-product makers clearly names a US safety or code listing (UL, ETL, ICC or ASTM) across its product pages. Four mention one in passing.
• 9 of 23 can point to notable American customers, deployments or press. The proof exists. It is usually buried.

The top 10

1. Pipedrive* (16/20). A US headquarters in New York, self-serve dollar pricing and strong review ratings.
2. Veriff* (16/20). US compliance, SOC 2 and CCPA, named right on the homepage.
3. Thermory (15/20). A full US site with a New York office, named staff and a distributor map.
4. Click & Grow (14/20). A US-retail-grade checkout: dollars, inches and pounds, free shipping and a clear warranty.
5. Starship Technologies* (10/20). Deep US proof, from college campuses to an Uber Eats partnership.
6. Bikeep (9/20). A San Francisco office and big-name US references such as Reagan National Airport.
7. Silen (8/20). US showrooms and a WeWork Austin case study.
8. HUUM (8/20). A dense US dealer network of about 60 dealers.
9. Lingvist (8/20). US press credibility, from TIME to VentureBeat.
10. Penosil (8/20). Product pages genuinely localized to ounces and Fahrenheit.

*Estonian-founded companies now headquartered in, or with a parent company in, the US.

Already doing the hard part

Several companies outside the top 10 run a bigger US operation than their website suggests:

• Wermo, a furniture maker from Võru, has a warehouse in Conover, North Carolina, and reported about €2.5 million in US sales in 2024.
• ÖÖD lists a US factory in Houston, Texas.
• Roofit.Solar has UL-certified solar roofs installed in Michigan.
• Skeleton Technologies has announced plans to manufacture in the US.
• Auve Tech's self-driving shuttles run on public roads in Florida.

A few changes to their websites would let American buyers see all of this.

Seven fixes that matter most

Each one comes with an Estonian company that already does it well.

1. Give Americans their own page

Not just a language switch, but US prices, contacts and proof in one place. Example: Thermory USA.

2. Show dollars, or at least a dollar range

"Get a quote" alone loses buyers who are comparing three vendors before lunch. Example: Click & Grow.

3. Use inches, pounds and Fahrenheit

Show both systems. Metric alone quietly signals "not for you." Examples: Click & Grow, Penosil.

4. Name your US certifications on the product page

UL, ETL, FCC, ICC or ASTM for hardware; SOC 2 and CCPA for software. If you have them, say so where buyers look. Example: Veriff.

5. Show a US address, a phone number and real people

American buyers want to know who picks up when something goes wrong, and in which time zone. Examples: Thermory (Batavia, New York), Bikeep (San Francisco).

6. Lead with your American customers

One US case study beats ten European ones for a US buyer. Examples: Bikeep, Starship.

7. Spell out shipping, lead times and warranty for the US

Example: Click & Grow, with free shipping in the contiguous US, 3–8 business days and a one-year warranty.

How I scored

I checked each company's public website on October 17, 2026: the homepage, any US or en-US page, and product, contact and shipping pages. The ten criteria were a US-specific page, dollar prices, imperial units, US certifications, a US address or dealers, a clear US buying path, US customer proof, American-English copy, US shipping and warranty terms, and trust signals such as reviews and support hours. Each was scored 0 (absent), 1 (partial) or 2 (clearly done). Where a criterion didn't apply, such as units for software, full marks were given.

Sites can show different content to visitors in different countries, so a company may look better to someone browsing from the US. If yours is in the index and I missed something, tell me and I'll correct it.

Want your company's full scorecard? I'll send it free. Write to valev@valevlaube.com.