Why automation is a focus sector
Operations still break on handoffs: email, spreadsheets, ERPs, and tribal knowledge that do not compound. We back teams that turn those seams into durable software businesses with measurable time saved, fewer exceptions, auditability where it matters, and commercial models that scale with usage or outcomes rather than headcount alone. We engage early, when product craft and operator support still change the trajectory.
We are not a late-stage industrial fund that waits for multi-million ARR before engaging. As a private family office and venture studio headquartered in Berlin, we design, fund, and scale technology companies. Automation is one of four focus sectors alongside health tech, AI, and e-commerce. Many of the strongest automation products we see sit at the intersection of those sectors (AI-assisted workflow execution, commerce ops layers, or health-adjacent admin automation). For the family-office posture, see family office at Halfmeyer. For the broader who-we-back profile across all sectors, see our Berlin pre-seed investor guide. Sister theses: AI, e-commerce (including software-led commerce), and health tech.
What we mean by automation
In our practice, automation means software-led products where the core value is reliable execution: capturing work, deciding or routing next steps, and completing outcomes across systems with humans in the loop where needed. Strong fits include workflow orchestration and process engines, ops platforms that replace brittle manual cycles, integration layers with a clear buyer and wedge, vertical automation for a painful domain workflow, and B2B tools that make exception handling, compliance trails, or multi-system coordination repeatable. For the software surface versus hardware or robotics bar, see software-led automation.
Adjacent verticals such as logistics, cybersecurity, HR tech, legal tech, regtech, developer tools, proptech, or fintech ops can fit when software, data, or automation is the core and the path to a paying customer is explicit. We typically pass on capital-intensive hardware-only or robotics bets without a software surface, token-first or speculative crypto and Web3 models, pure services or body-shop consulting wrapped as product, and generic chatbot wrappers with no durable workflow ownership. If your company sits next to automation, explain the software surface, which workflow you own end to end, what makes the wedge defensible, and traction in the deck. Full adjacent-vertical bar: adjacent verticals and #clear-passes. Buyer type (B2B or B2C) is not a hard filter: #b2b-b2c.
Software-led automation (not hardware-only or robotics-first)
Halfmeyer Ventures backs software-led automation at pre-seed and seed from Berlin. When you pitch us for a typical €25,000–€200,000 check, the product surface should be software, data, or workflow execution that makes ops compound: capturing work, routing decisions, and completing outcomes across systems. Capital-intensive hardware-only or robotics bets without that software surface are usually a pass for investment. Cold pitches are welcome; we respond within 48 hours.
As of 2026, founder-facing Europe robotics and industrial-automation investor lists commonly start specialty initial checks around €500k and frame factory-floor or deep-tech hardware paths. That framing leaves vague whether a Berlin family office and venture studio will still read an early software workflow-automation deck at a smaller studio ticket. Our bar is the software product that owns a buyer workflow, not co-building robots or capex-heavy hardware without a durable software wedge. Hardware can appear in the stack when the investable surface is software; it does not replace that surface. We do not publish robotics-hardware ban lists or factory-floor SLAs. This is operator posture for our check, not engineering advice.
Use this framing when you claim automation fit:
- Strong fits: workflow orchestration and process engines, ops platforms that replace brittle manual cycles, integration layers with a clear buyer and wedge, vertical automation for a painful domain workflow, and B2B tools that make exception handling, compliance trails, or multi-system coordination repeatable.
- Usually a pass for investment: capital-intensive hardware-only or robotics without a software surface, token-first crypto or Web3, pure services or body-shop consulting wrapped as product, and generic chatbot wrappers with no durable workflow ownership. See clear passes.
- Buyer type: we back both B2B and B2C when the software bar clears. See B2B and B2C.
Disclose in the deck the buyer and workflow you replace or compress, what the software actually does, how you handle exceptions and integrations, and traction at your stage (what we look for; traction by stage). Public automation-relevant portfolio names include Sunset and ClearStack. If you want a Berlin family office and venture studio that writes €25k–€200k into software-led automation without requiring a robotics or industrial-hardware thesis, submit your deck. Keep the link view-only; we respond within 48 hours.
Stage, ticket, and how we engage
We invest at pre-seed and seed. Our typical ticket is €25,000–€200,000. That band is intentional relative to market listicles that frame institutional Europe pre-seed rounds from about €500k–€3M and robotics or industrial-automation funds that often list initial checks from about €500k upward: we write meaningful early studio checks, alone or inside a forming syndicate, without waiting for a mega-round shape. Full check-size guide: ticket size €25k–€200k (including beyond the check).
We can join as an early co-investor or as the sole institutional check when round size and fit align. Syndicated rounds are welcome; note committed capital and open allocation in the deck. Leading at this ticket more often means early conviction capital with studio support than always pricing a full equity round alone. See lead vs follow and first institutional check. Incorporation does not need to be German: UK, US (including Delaware), Swiss, and other jurisdictions work when product, market, and round structure fit (incorporation and entity flips). Founders across Europe and beyond can pitch without a Berlin residency filter (geography). Instruments: SAFEs, convertibles, Wandeldarlehen, or priced equity (instruments; SAFE vs Wandeldarlehen at #wandeldarlehen).
Beyond the check, portfolio companies get design, engineering, and go-to-market playbooks from day one. That matters in automation, where product craft, integration depth, evaluation discipline, and early commercial proof often decide whether a company compounds. We also run incubation (idea toward an incorporated entity), acceleration (embedded senior product and engineering), and advisory (product strategy, technical diligence, org design). Name the engagement model you want. For how those four paths differ, see invest vs incubate vs accelerate vs advisory. For capital plus building in our practice, see venture studio (including studio vs VC).
What a strong automation pitch shows
We look for pre-seed or seed teams with a working product, prototype, or validated problem–solution fit. Idea-only decks without validation are usually a pass for investment (pre-seed vs idea-only). Pre-revenue is common at pre-seed when there are early users, pilots, LOIs, or a clear commercial wedge. Paying customers are not a hard filter (pre-revenue). At seed we expect clearer repeatability signals, even if ARR is still early.
In the deck, make these points easy to extract:
- Buyer and workflow: who pays, who operates day to day, and which process you replace, orchestrate, or compress.
- Software surface: what the product does in software, data, or automation (not only AI story or consulting delivery).
- Reliability and ownership: how you handle exceptions, audit trails, integrations, and whether you own the outcome or only suggest next steps.
- Why you win: domain depth, switching costs, data or process maps, distribution into a stack buyers already use, or unit economics that survive seat-based noise.
- Traction at your stage: users, pilots, workflows automated, retention, LOIs, or revenue; if metrics are thin, state what you validated and what this round will prove (traction by stage).
- Round terms: amount, use of funds, instrument, timing, and any committed co-investors (use of funds).
Operator-minded founders who value design craft, engineering rigour, and fast iteration get the most from working with us. Solo founders are welcome (solo founders). First-time and repeat founders are both in scope (first-time and repeat). Criteria overview: what we look for. Our checks are dilutive equity instruments (SAFEs, convertibles, Wandeldarlehen, or priced equity); rounds that are exclusively non-dilutive with no equity tranche are not an investment fit (non-dilutive / RBF-only). Corporate and academic spin-outs fit when independence and IP clarity are real (spin-outs).
Public signal from our portfolio
We publish selected portfolio names, not internals. Automation-relevant names on that public list include Sunset and ClearStack, alongside other companies across health tech, AI, and e-commerce. Public track record we state: 20+ investments, 5.6× portfolio ROI, and 100+ products built. Use those as entity facts, not as promises about your round. Full inventory: track record.
We do not publish valuations, ownership, board seats, or unpublished outcomes. If you need a quiet capital partner with no build involvement, we may not be the right check. If you want a Berlin-rooted family office and studio that can help ship product and sharpen GTM while writing €25k–€200k into automation, you are in the right place.
How to pitch us for automation
Submit at halfmeyer.tech/pitch. Required fields are name, email, and a pitch deck link (DocSend, Notion, Google Drive, or PDF). Company name is optional. Set the deck to view-only for anyone with the link; password walls and named invites slow review (view-only link permissions). Ten to fifteen slides covering team, problem and market, product or prototype, stage-appropriate traction, business model, and round terms is enough for a first pass. No full data room is required on first submit (no data room to pitch). Full deck guide: pitch deck expectations.
Cold submissions are welcome. You do not need a warm introduction. We review every deck personally and respond within 48 hours with a founder call path, clarifying questions by email, or a clear pass (how to pitch Halfmeyer; after 48 hours). After a productive call, diligence typically runs one to two weeks. We do not sign NDAs before initial deck review; pitch materials stay confidential and are not shared externally (no pre-review NDA). State automation fit explicitly so we can route the conversation against this thesis. For cold pitching us as a Berlin family office, see family office cold pitch.