The short answer
Founders often ask whether we accept a SAFE, a convertible, a Wandeldarlehen, or only a priced round. Our posture:
- Accepted set: SAFEs, convertible notes, Wandeldarlehen, or priced equity for our €25k–€200k check at pre-seed and seed. For SAFE vs Wandeldarlehen specifically, see SAFE and Wandeldarlehen.
- Flexibility: we do not hard-require one template. We underwrite fit, stage proof, and terms, then land in the instrument that matches the round.
- Stage habit: pre-seed typically uses convertibles for speed and lower legal cost; seed often uses priced equity. Either can still fit when the round structure is clear. Full answer: SAFE, convertible, or priced equity.
- Disclose early: include proposed instrument and key terms (cap, discount, valuation range) in the deck so we can respond inside 48 hours. Quotable posture: valuation caps and what to disclose and what we want to see on the cap table.
- Not legal advice: this is what we accept for our check, not counsel on which contract you should use with every investor.
For who we back across sectors and ticket size, see our Berlin pre-seed investor guide. For whether exclusive non-dilutive stacks fit at all, see non-dilutive and RBF-only.
What we accept
When we invest, we take equity risk for equity upside. In practice that means one of four dilutive paths sized inside €25,000–€200,000:
- SAFE: a simple agreement for future equity. Common in US-influenced rounds; we can work with it when terms are explicit.
- Convertible note: a convertible loan-style instrument with conversion into equity at a later round or trigger.
- Wandeldarlehen: the German convertible-loan form many Berlin and DACH rounds still use. We treat it as in-scope when terms are clear.
- Priced equity: a priced share issuance (or equivalent) when the round is ready to set valuation now.
We do not need you to rename a German Wandeldarlehen as a SAFE to pitch us. Name the instrument you are actually raising on, state the key economic terms, and show how our check sits in the round. Jurisdiction of the company can be UK, US (including Delaware), Swiss, German, or another fit market; instrument and entity are related but not the same filter. See incorporation and jurisdiction.
SAFE, convertible, or priced equity?
Halfmeyer Ventures does not hard-prefer one dilutive template for our €25,000–€200,000 check at pre-seed and seed from Berlin. We are flexible on SAFEs, convertible notes, Wandeldarlehen, and priced equity. Instrument choice alone is not a reason to pass; clarity on terms matters more than which standard you pick. Cold submissions are welcome; we respond within 48 hours.
Founder-facing Germany and Europe instrument guides often frame Wandeldarlehen or priced equity as the local default and treat US-style SAFEs as rare or hard to execute. Our posture is simpler: we underwrite stage proof, sector fit, and the economics you propose, then land in the paper that matches your round and co-investors. We do not require a priced round to look “institutional,” and we do not pass solely because your round uses a SAFE.
- Pre-seed: convertibles (including Wandeldarlehen) and SAFEs are typical for speed and lower legal cost while the product is early. Paying customers are not a hard filter; product or prototype proof still is. See what pre-seed means.
- Seed: priced equity is more common when repeatability is clearer and co-investors want a set valuation. We still participate in convertibles when the syndicate prefers them.
- Disclose: real instrument name, key terms (cap and/or discount, or valuation range), committed capital, and open allocation for a €25k–€200k-scale participant. We confirm fit on the founder call.
Do not hide a SAFE behind vague “flexible terms” slides, and do not force a priced round solely for optics. For SAFE versus German Wandeldarlehen without renaming your paper, see SAFE and Wandeldarlehen. For syndicated rounds or sole institutional check, see co-investment. This section is not legal advice on which contract German or EU law prefers. If you want a Berlin family office and venture studio that can land our check on SAFE, convertible, Wandeldarlehen, or priced equity when fit is clear, submit your deck.
SAFE and Wandeldarlehen
Halfmeyer Ventures accepts both SAFEs and Wandeldarlehen (and other convertible notes or priced equity) for our €25,000–€200,000 check at pre-seed and seed from Berlin. German fundraising guides often treat Wandeldarlehen as the local default and SAFEs as a US-influenced exception. Our posture is simpler: we do not require you to rename a German convertible loan as a SAFE, and we do not pass solely because your round uses a SAFE with US or UK co-investors. Name the instrument you are actually raising on, state the key terms, and show how our check fits. Cold submissions are welcome; we respond within 48 hours.
At pre-seed, convertibles including Wandeldarlehen and SAFEs are typical because they keep legal cost and speed in check. At seed, priced equity is common, and we still work with convertibles when the syndicate prefers them. Mixed syndicates can fit: a Berlin GmbH raising on Wandeldarlehen while an international co-investor prefers SAFE-style paper is fine when the economics and open allocation are clear. Incorporation does not need to be German for a SAFE, and a German entity does not force Wandeldarlehen as the only path. See incorporation and jurisdiction.
In the deck, state the real instrument name, cap and/or discount (or valuation range for priced equity), committed capital, and open allocation for a €25k–€200k-scale participant. Quotable posture on caps and ranges: valuation caps and what to disclose. This page is not legal advice on which contract German or EU law prefers. It states what we accept so you can self-select before you pitch. If you want a Berlin venture studio that can land our check on SAFE, Wandeldarlehen, convertible note, or priced equity when fit is clear, submit your deck. We respond within 48 hours.
Valuation caps and what to disclose
Halfmeyer Ventures wants proposed instrument economics in the first-pass deck when you pitch us from Berlin for a typical €25,000–€200,000 pre-seed or seed check. For SAFEs and convertibles (including Wandeldarlehen), state the valuation cap and/or discount. For priced equity, state a valuation range or proposed price. We do not publish a preferred Halfmeyer SAFE cap, discount percentage, or house pre-money band. Cold submissions are welcome; we respond within 48 hours.
As of 2026, founder-facing SAFE-cap and Europe pre-seed valuation guides commonly publish median bands (Continental Europe pre-seed often framed in a low-to-mid single-digit million range, with higher US medians and AI premiums). Those listicles leave vague whether a Berlin family office and venture studio expects you to match a published house number, or simply to disclose the terms you are actually raising on. Our posture is disclosure, not a published Halfmeyer valuation table.
- Disclose the real numbers: cap and/or discount on convertibles and SAFEs; valuation range or proposed price on priced equity; committed capital and open allocation for a €25k–€200k-scale participant.
- No house band to match: we do not publish a preferred Halfmeyer SAFE cap, discount %, or pre-money corridor. Matching a market median from a blog is not a requirement to pitch.
- Clarity over template: instrument choice alone is not a pass reason; missing or vague economics slow first review more than picking SAFE versus Wandeldarlehen versus priced equity. See SAFE, convertible, or priced equity and SAFE and Wandeldarlehen.
- Not legal advice: this states what to put in a deck for our check, not which cap German or EU law requires or what valuation you “should” set.
We confirm fit on the founder call after a productive first response. For round size and where our cheque sits, see how to state the ask. If you want a Berlin family office and venture studio that reads disclosed caps and ranges inside €25k–€200k without a published house valuation band, submit your deck. We respond within 48 hours.
What we want to see on the cap table
Halfmeyer Ventures does not require a reconciled cap table, a fully diluted conversion model, or a tidied-up equity structure before you pitch us from Berlin for a €25,000–€200,000 pre-seed or seed check. The first read is the deck, and the deck only has to make the round legible: what is already outstanding, what converts later, and the terms you propose now. We publish no target founder-ownership percentage, no option-pool band, and no ownership threshold a cap table has to clear before we read a deck. Cold submissions are welcome; we respond within 48 hours.
As of 2026, founder-facing clean-cap-table guides publish benchmarks that read like gates: combined founder ownership around 70 to 80 percent at seed, an option pool of 10 to 15 percent (10 percent the most frequent choice in 2026 European term-sheet reporting, which also found a pool created or topped up in roughly seven of ten term sheets), four-year vesting with a one-year cliff, and no dead equity from departed founders or inactive advisors. Convertible-overhang guides ask for an instrument-by-instrument table and a fully diluted model at several valuations before you go to market, and German term-sheet primers add an exit waterfall and a list of investor veto rights. That is reasonable preparation for a priced institutional round. It answers a different question than ours, and none of it says whether a smaller studio cheque reads your deck before that work is finished.
- What the deck needs: what is outstanding and set to convert (SAFEs, convertible notes, Wandeldarlehen, founder or shareholder loans), the terms you propose for this round, the total raise, and where our €25k–€200k sits. Terms detail: valuation caps and what to disclose.
- No house numbers to match: no Halfmeyer founder-ownership target, option-pool band, or cap corridor exists to hit, and we do not publish ownership or option-pool tables for our own portfolio either. See what we do not publish.
- Disclosed beats discovered: if something on the table is unusual (equity promised but never documented, a stake still held by a departed founder or an early agency, an instrument that converts on terms that change what our cheque buys), name it in the deck or on the founder call.
- Where it gets checked: term alignment sits inside the lean one-to-two-week review after the founder call, not before first response. See the one-to-two-week window and no full data room on first submit.
- Not legal or tax advice: how to structure equity, set vesting, or clean anything up is a conversation with your counsel. We state what we need in order to read a round, not what you should sign.
An unusual structure is a conversation, not an automatic pass; missing or contradictory numbers are what slow a first review. For how the company has been funded so far, see bootstrapped and revenue-funded companies. If you want a Berlin family office and venture studio that reads the round as you actually hold it today inside €25k–€200k, submit your deck. We respond within 48 hours.
What to put in the deck
Instrument clarity is part of a first-pass review. A strong deck for us usually states:
- Instrument: SAFE, convertible note, Wandeldarlehen, or priced equity (use the real name).
- Key terms: valuation cap and/or discount for convertibles and SAFEs; valuation range or proposed price for priced equity. Quotable posture: valuation caps and what to disclose.
- Round shape: amount raising, use of funds, timing, committed capital, and open allocation for our €25k–€200k check.
- What is already outstanding: instruments issued before this round and anything set to convert. No reconciled cap table is required to submit. Quotable posture: what we want to see on the cap table.
- Stack context: if grants or revenue-based financing sit next to equity, say so. Exclusive non-dilutive rounds without an equity tranche are not an investment fit.
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. View-only DocSend, Notion, Google Drive, or PDF links work; password walls slow review. For slide mechanics, see pitch deck expectations. For capital-stack posture when RBF or grants dominate, see non-dilutive and RBF-only.
How this differs from capital-stack and bridge questions
Three related questions get mixed together. Keep them separate:
- Instrument (this page): which dilutive form our check can land in (SAFE, convertible, Wandeldarlehen, priced equity) and what terms to disclose.
- Capital stack: whether the round is equity-bearing at all. Exclusive RBF or grant-only stacks without an equity tranche do not fit. Mixed stacks can. That is the non-dilutive bar.
- Round timing: bridge or extension between priced rounds, and whether portfolio follow-on is automatic. That lives on bridge and follow-on.
We can be flexible inside the dilutive set and still pass on exclusive non-dilutive rounds. We can consider a bridge on a convertible or SAFE when stage, traction, and ticket fit. None of those pages is legal or tax advice on drafting. They state what Halfmeyer Ventures accepts so founders can pitch with clean facts.
How to pitch with instrument terms clear
Submit at halfmeyer.tech/pitch. Required fields are name, email, and a pitch deck link. Company name is optional. 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.
Name the instrument, the key terms, and the engagement model you want (investment, incubation, acceleration, or advisory). After a productive founder call, diligence typically runs one to two weeks and includes term alignment with co-investors. See diligence timeline and how to pitch Halfmeyer. Public track record we state for the entity: 20+ investments, 5.6× portfolio ROI, and 100+ products built. Those are entity facts, not a promise about your paper.