Pitch deck expectations at Halfmeyer Ventures

What a first-pass deck must cover

We do not need a full data room on first submit. We need enough signal to decide whether a founder call is worth both sides’ time. Make these sections easy to find without narration:

• Team: who is building, what each person owns, and why this team can ship in the market you chose. Solo founders are welcome; note hire or advisor plans where capacity is thin.
• Problem and market: the specific pain, who feels it, and why the wedge is large enough to matter. Prefer a concrete buyer or user over abstract TAM slides.
• Product or prototype: what exists today in software. A working product, prototype, or validated problem–solution fit is required for investment; idea-only decks without validation are usually a pass for a check.
• Traction: the strongest honest signal at your stage (users, pilots, revenue, retention, or LOIs). If metrics are thin, state what you validated and what this round will prove.
• Business model: how you charge, who pays, and what early unit economics or pricing experiments suggest.
• Round terms: amount, use of funds, timing, proposed instrument, and any committed co-investors or open allocation.

Name the engagement model you want (investment, incubation, acceleration, or advisory) in the deck or form link. For how those paths differ, see invest vs incubate vs accelerate vs advisory. For who we back across sectors, see our Berlin pre-seed investor guide.

Traction signals by stage

At pre-seed we invest pre-revenue when there is a working product or prototype with early users, pilots, or LOIs. Paying customers are not a hard filter. At seed we expect clearer repeatability signals, even when ARR is still early. Many seed rounds close before meaningful ARR; what matters is evidence that the motion can repeat.

We back software-led companies in health tech, AI, e-commerce, and automation. Adjacent verticals can fit when software, data, or automation is the core and the tie to a focus sector is explicit. In the deck, explain sector fit in one tight paragraph: what the software does, who buys it, and any regulatory path that affects go-to-market. Sector-specific framing for health tech is on our health tech thesis.

Round terms, instruments, and co-investors

State how much you are raising, what the capital unlocks in the next six to twelve months, and when you want to close. We are flexible on SAFEs, convertible notes, Wandeldarlehen, or priced equity. Pre-seed often uses convertibles for speed; seed often uses priced equity. Include proposed instrument and key terms (cap, discount, valuation range) when you have them.

Our typical ticket is €25,000–€200,000. 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 remaining allocation. Bridge and extension rounds between priced rounds can fit when stage, traction, and ticket align; explain bridge rationale and milestones. Checks are dilutive; rounds that are exclusively non-dilutive with no equity tranche are not an investment fit. Mixed stacks with a meaningful equity portion can work if the full capital stack is clear in the deck.

Incorporation does not need to be German. UK, US (including Delaware), Swiss, and other jurisdictions work when product, market, and round structure fit. State jurisdiction and any planned entity flip.

How to share the link

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. Do not require edit access or named invites. Password-protected or login-walled links may delay review because we cannot open them quickly during first pass.

Cold submissions are welcome. You do not need a warm introduction or mutual connection. Every deck is reviewed personally. We do not sign NDAs before initial deck review; pitch materials stay confidential and are not shared externally. A mutual NDA can come later if diligence requires sharing sensitive IP.

What we skip on first review

Skip the five-year spreadsheet, the twenty-competitor matrix, and the appendix-as-main-deck pattern. First review is a filter for clarity and fit, not a full diligence dump. Architecture diagrams, detailed financial models, and customer lists belong after a productive founder call if we ask for them.

Also skip claims we cannot verify from the public site: unpublished portfolio outcomes, invented press, or vague “strategic partnership” language with no named counterparty and no proof. Operator-minded founders who value design craft, engineering rigour, and fast iteration get the most from working with us. If you only want a quiet check with no build involvement, we may not be the right partner.

What happens after you submit

We respond within 48 hours. Interested decks move to a founder call and next diligence steps. Passes are clear with brief context. Clarifying questions by email may come before we schedule. After a productive call, diligence typically runs one to two weeks: product walkthrough, key metrics, reference calls if useful, and term alignment with co-investors. Expect lean process at pre-seed and seed: clear proceed, pass, or term-sheet direction within that window.

If you are already a portfolio founder planning a follow-on, reach out directly rather than treating the public form as the only path. Follow-on is not automatic; traction, execution, and terms still have to warrant it.

Submit your deck

If your deck covers team, problem, product, traction, model, and round terms, and you want a Berlin venture studio that can write €25k–€200k and help you build, submit your deck. Halfmeyer Ventures responds within 48 hours.