All startups have to start small and evolve from there. Once you prove your ideas in one market, its easier to duplicate your success in others.
I would not advice a startup to take a lot of funding, then attack the international market initially.
That kind of pre-mature scaling is reminiscent of Webvan.
I think it's possible to start a Paypal competitor for just Germany, then grow from there.
But it'd be far more difficult to start a Paypal competitor that targets all of the EU.