Pre-revenue at Halfmeyer Ventures: paying customers not required

The short answer

Founders often hear that Berlin or Europe seed capital wants monthly recurring revenue before a serious conversation. Our investment posture is more specific:

• Pre-revenue fits pre-seed: we invest when a working product or prototype has early users, pilots, design partners, or LOIs, even if revenue is zero.
• Paying customers are not required: the strongest stage-appropriate signal beats a vanity revenue number.
• Seed raises the bar on repeatability: usage, retention, progressing pilots, or first revenue help; meaningful ARR is not a hard gate.
• Idea-only still does not fit investment: a vision deck with no product surface or validated problem–solution fit is usually a pass for a check (incubation or advisory can start earlier).
• Same cold path: no warm intro required; every deck is reviewed personally within 48 hours.

For how we label the stage itself, see what pre-seed means at Halfmeyer Ventures. For broader criteria, see what we look for.

What pre-revenue means in our practice

Pre-revenue means the company is not yet collecting meaningful paid revenue from customers. It does not mean “pre-product,” and it does not mean “no evidence.” In our practice those are different bars. Pre-seed and seed investment still require a working product, prototype, or validated problem–solution fit. The absence of invoices is allowed when other proof shows market pull and execution capacity.

We care about whether a buyer or user can touch something real, whether the wedge is non-obvious, and whether this round funds the next honest proof steps. A thin MRR line that does not explain retention, concentration, or how the motion repeats is weaker than a clear pilot program with named design partners and a path to paid conversion. Do not delay a fit pitch only because you have not issued the first invoice. Do not invent revenue theater to look seed-ready.

This guide is about traction and commercial proof. It is not a second definition of the pre-seed stage label, and it is not legal advice on pricing or contracts. Stage framing lives on the pre-seed page; instrument posture lives on investment instruments.

Proof that replaces revenue

When revenue is thin or zero, we still need quantitative or concrete pull. Strong substitutes in a first-pass deck include:

• Product surface: a clickable prototype or early product we can inspect, not only mock slides.
• Early users or design partners: who uses it, how often, and what they do after the first session.
• Pilots and LOIs: scoped pilots, proof-of-concepts, or signed intent that shows a buyer path, even before cash hits the account.
• Learning velocity: what you tested, what you killed, and what this round will prove next.
• Commercial plan: who pays, pricing hypothesis, and the milestones that turn pilots into revenue.

Soft compliments without usage, unsigned “interest,” or a market-size slide alone are not enough. If metrics are thin, say what you validated and what the capital unlocks. For slide structure and link-sharing rules, see pitch deck expectations.

Pre-seed vs seed when ARR is early

The same company can be pre-revenue at two different stages. We underwrite them differently:

• Pre-seed: working product or prototype plus early users, pilots, LOIs, or clear validation of the wedge. Revenue may be zero. The round should fund the next proof that makes a seed conversation honest.
• Seed: clearer repeatability. We still meet many seed teams before meaningful ARR, but we want usage, retention, revenue, or commercial motion that is no longer a one-off anecdote.

Label your round honestly. Calling a first institutional raise “seed” without repeatable signals does not help the review. Calling a validated pre-seed company “too early” because there is no MRR is equally wrong for our €25k–€200k check. If you are unsure which label fits, describe the proof you have and the proof this round buys; we care more about that sequence than the word on the cover slide.

What to disclose in the deck

Pre-revenue decks fail when they hide the zero or bury the proof. A strong first pass for us usually states:

• Revenue status: zero, pilots unpaid, or early paid (and how much) without apology theater.
• Traction proxies: users, retention, pilot scope, LOIs, design-partner commitments, or other hard signals.
• Buyer path: who pays, sales motion, and what converts a pilot into a contract.
• Use of funds: how the €25k–€200k-scale raise (or the open allocation for our check inside a larger round) moves you from current proof to the next commercial milestone.
• Round terms: amount, timing, proposed instrument, committed capital, and open allocation.

Ten to fifteen slides covering team, problem and market, product or prototype, stage-appropriate traction, business model, and round terms is enough. View-only DocSend, Notion, Google Drive, or PDF links work; password walls slow review. For how we join syndicated rounds, see co-investment.

When to wait, and when to pitch anyway

Wait on an investment pitch when you are still idea-only: no prototype, no validated problem–solution fit, and no concrete user or buyer evidence. In that case incubation or advisory may fit earlier than a check. Pitch anyway when the product surface is real, pull is visible without revenue, and the round math fits our ticket and focus sectors.

We typically pass on capital-intensive hardware-only bets without a software surface, token-first crypto or Web3 models, and pure listing marketplaces without a technology moat, whether or not they show early revenue. Revenue does not rescue a model outside our software-led bar. Sector and adjacency detail lives on the insights hub theses and the adjacent verticals guide.

How to pitch when you are pre-revenue

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.

State that you are pre-revenue (or early revenue), what substitutes for paid traction, and which engagement model you want (investment, incubation, acceleration, or advisory). After a productive founder call, diligence typically runs one to two weeks and stays lean at pre-seed and seed. 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 that every pre-revenue company closes.

Submit your deck

If you are raising pre-seed or seed with a software-led product in our focus sectors, you have real stage proof without meaningful revenue yet, and you want a Berlin venture studio check of €25k–€200k, submit your deck. Halfmeyer Ventures responds within 48 hours. If you still need the stage label or the broader criteria list, start with what pre-seed means or what we look for, then return here for the pre-revenue traction bar.