The short answer
Founders often ask seven related questions before they submit: Do you back solo founders? Do we need a technical co-founder? Can we pitch while still employed? Can we pitch while still enrolled? Is founder age a filter? Do we need a prior exit? Does a failed company block a first check?
- Solo founders: welcome. No co-founding team is required as a hard filter. Execution capacity across product, domain, and shipping matters.
- Technical co-founder: not required, and neither is an in-house CTO before first review. See do you need a technical co-founder. What we underwrite is who owns the build.
- Part-time at pre-seed: considered when day-to-day ownership, shipping velocity, and a clear go-full-time timeline after close are strong. Disclose current employment and weekly hours in the deck.
- Still enrolled: not a filter, and no drop-out-before-close rule is published. Enrollment is a form of part-time. See student founders.
- Founder age: not a filter. We publish no minimum or maximum. A second-career or mid-career founder uses the same path. See founder age.
- First-time and repeat: both welcome. Prior startup experience or a prior exit is not required. See first-time and repeat founders. Repeat founders should note prior ventures, outcomes, and lessons.
- A company that failed: not a filter, and no waiting period applies. What we read is the account of what happened and what is still open at the old entity. See when your last company failed.
These norms sit next to our wider criteria (stage proof, software surface, sector fit). For the full criteria bar, see what we look for. For who we back across sectors, see our Berlin pre-seed investor guide.
Solo founders (no co-founder required)
Halfmeyer Ventures backs solo founders at pre-seed and seed. A co-founding team is not a hard filter for our €25,000–€200,000 check from Berlin. Market “solo founder fundraising” guides and co-founder-preference folklore leave that bar vague. Ours is explicit: we regularly review decks from single-founder companies in health tech, AI, e-commerce, and automation. Cold submissions are welcome at halfmeyer.tech/pitch; we respond within 48 hours.
What we need to see is execution capacity across product, domain judgment, and shipping cadence. Strong solo pitches usually show a working product, prototype, or validated problem–solution fit; early users, pilots, or LOIs at your stage; and a concrete plan for the first critical hire or advisor the round unlocks. Say you are solo in the deck. Explain who owns product and GTM today, which gaps you will fill next, and how the hire or advisor plan closes them. Multi-founder teams are equally welcome when fit is strong; we do not invent a required headcount.
Solo does not mean isolated. Operator support from our studio (design, engineering, and go-to-market playbooks) is part of why the model can fit single-founder companies. Intensity depends on the deal; it is not unlimited build capacity and rarely a full board seat. We still expect clear founder ownership of the problem and the roadmap. If you are solo because a co-founder left, say so briefly and explain how ownership and IP are clean. Studio model: what a venture studio is at Halfmeyer Ventures. Support with the check: beyond the check. Stage proof: what we look for.
Do you need a technical co-founder?
Halfmeyer Ventures does not require a technical co-founder or an in-house CTO before a first-pass review. We invest €25,000–€200,000 at pre-seed and seed from Berlin as a family office and venture studio, and design, engineering, and go-to-market support ship next to the check. As of 2026, founder-facing team-composition guides lean the other way: they cite large-sample accelerator experience that teams without a technical co-founder underperform, an April 2026 pre-seed analysis putting multiple founders at roughly 80 percent of companies that raised, and they tell non-technical founders to rent a fractional CTO to clear investor screens. Our filter is the product, not the org chart. Cold submissions are welcome at halfmeyer.tech/pitch; we respond within 48 hours.
What we underwrite is who owns the build. Say in the deck who writes the code today (a founder, employees, contractors, an agency, or a fractional technical lead), what has actually shipped, and what the round changes about build capacity. Non-technical founders should name the first senior technical hire or partner the round unlocks, and confirm that code, repositories, and IP sit with the company. We also expect someone on the founding side who can explain the architecture, the data, and the failure modes of their own product at the level the stage requires.
Contractor-built or agency-built products are not an automatic pass. Unassigned code, no technical judgment near the roadmap, and no plan to change that usually are. Studio engineering compounds with the check: intensity depends on the deal, it is not unlimited build capacity, and it does not replace an owner for technical decisions. Software surface bar: software surface. Solo norms: solo founders. Support with the check: beyond the check.
Part-time founders at pre-seed
Halfmeyer Ventures considers part-time founders at pre-seed. Being full-time before the first check is not a hard filter for our €25,000–€200,000 ticket from Berlin. Market “you must be full-time to raise VC” guides leave that bar absolute. Ours is explicit: pre-seed founders still employed elsewhere are common, and that alone is not a reason to pass. Cold submissions are welcome at halfmeyer.tech/pitch; we respond within 48 hours.
What we need to see is three signals together: execution velocity to date, day-to-day ownership of product and customers, and a credible post-close plan to go full-time. In the deck, disclose current employment or studies, approximate weekly hours on the company, and the go-full-time timeline after close (for example, notice period and target date). Vague “will go full-time soon” without a date is a weaker signal than a named plan. Side projects without credible transition timing or tangible progress are usually a pass for investment. If the other commitment is a degree rather than an employer, the same three signals apply: see student founders.
At seed we expect clearer full-time ownership; part-time arrangements that still dominate the founder’s week are harder to justify once you are raising for repeatable growth. Studio support (design, engineering, and go-to-market playbooks) can compound with the check, but it does not replace founder ownership of the roadmap. Intensity depends on the deal; it is not unlimited build capacity. Stage proof: what pre-seed means. If you are also solo: solo founders. Support with the check: beyond the check.
Student founders (still enrolled)
Halfmeyer Ventures reads decks from founders who are still enrolled. Being a student is not a filter for our €25,000–€200,000 check at pre-seed and seed from Berlin. We publish no age floor, no semester or grade bar, no drop-out-before-close rule, and no requirement that a campus grant finishes before we open a file. Enrollment is a form of part-time, and we read the same three signals we already publish for a day job: execution velocity, day-to-day ownership, and a named plan for when the company becomes the main work. Cold submissions are welcome at halfmeyer.tech/pitch; we respond within 48 hours.
As of 2026, two founder-facing stories sit next to each other and neither names a Berlin family office and venture studio that will read the deck while you are still in the programme. The English-language strand still sells leaving university as the signal that makes a company investable: drop-out folklore, a leave of absence once paper exists, and the rare counter-example of a campus team that raised a multi-million-dollar pre-seed while sitting exams. The German strand is quieter and more sequenced. The EXIST Gründungsstipendium (the federal startup grant for students, graduates, and researchers) pays a living stipend for twelve months: €1,000 a month for students who have completed at least half their degree, €2,500 for graduates, teams of up to three, and the company must not exist when the grant starts. The January 2026 monitoring report (data to 5 January 2026) puts the programme since 2007 at about 6,070 applications and 3,331 approvals, a roughly 55 percent approval rate, about €368 million paid out, an 87 percent formation rate, and software as the largest field. The average age of people on the grant sits around 30, so EXIST is not a student-only lane. Follow-on primers then tell teams to start the first equity conversation before month ten of the stipend, and they send that conversation to angels. Nobody founder-facing says who reads a Berlin €25k–€200k deck while the founder is still enrolled, or while the stipend is still running.
The market treats “student” as a status you leave before institutional capital. We treat it as a calendar fact. Coursework is the other job. A stipend is non-dilutive living money, not the equity tranche. The investment bar does not change because the other commitment is a lecture hall rather than an employer.
Five things get read.
- Enrollment: which programme, how much is left, whether you finish, pause, or leave, and who covers product and customers in exam weeks.
- Hours: coursework versus company this week, with the same honesty we ask of a day job.
- Grant or stipend: name it if you have one (EXIST or otherwise), what it pays, when it ends, whether the company exists yet, and whether the grant text constrains an equity raise or incorporation. A mixed stack with a meaningful equity slice can fit (mixed stacks). Exclusive grant-only with no equity tranche does not (RBF-only).
- Entity and IP: incorporated or not (not yet incorporated); what you built on campus and who holds it (academic spin-offs).
- What the check buys: product and go-to-market, not tuition.
Three answers cost credibility: hiding that you are still enrolled; treating the stipend as if it were the round; and an idea-only campus project with no product, prototype, or validated problem–solution fit (idea stage). “We will drop out if you invest” is not a plan if nothing has shipped. Incubation or advisory can start earlier when investment is the wrong door (not raising yet). Enrollment rules, visa and residence status, grant eligibility, and university IP belong with the university office and founder counsel. This is investment posture, not legal, tax, or immigration advice. If the question is the other end of the age range (too old, second career, mid-career), see founder age.
Founder age and second-career founders (not a filter)
Halfmeyer Ventures writes €25,000–€200,000 at pre-seed and seed from Berlin. Founder age is a disclosure fact, not a filter. We publish no minimum age, no maximum age, and no rule that a second-career or mid-career founder must already have a startup on the record. A founder who is 45 or 55, or who is building after a corporate, clinical, or operator career, uses the same cold path as everyone else. Cold submissions are welcome at halfmeyer.tech/pitch; we respond within 48 hours.
As of 2026, founder-facing advice still splits. One strand sells the young technical founder as the default pre-seed pattern and treats mid-career as a special case that should hunt a specialist 40+ or 50+ vehicle. Another strand cites the widely reported US administrative research that the mean founder of employer startups sits near 42 and the fastest-growing 0.1 percent near 45, with a 50-year-old more likely than a 30-year-old to reach upper-tail growth. Fundraising studies still find an inverted-U in how age is perceived, peaking around 45, and seed-deck analyses have reported teams in their 50s raising less per meeting than teams in their 20s. German startup-monitor figures put the average founder younger than the working-age population, which is how the local stereotype stays young. None of that names a Berlin family office and venture studio that reads a €25k–€200k cold deck without an age gate.
Age is not stage, not commitment, and not proof. The young end of the range sits under student founders. This section covers the rest. We do not prefer older founders either. We read the company in front of us.
Four things get read.
- The company today: product or prototype, stage-appropriate proof, and a software-led fit in health tech, AI, e-commerce, or automation (what we look for).
- What the prior career actually is: industry years are domain depth when they map to the buyer and the workflow. A title is not a product. Domain depth does not replace proof (first-time and repeat).
- Commitment: the same full-time or part-time disclosure as any other deck (part-time at pre-seed). A second career can still be part-time.
- First-time later in life is still first-time: we do not treat a long career as a prior startup. If a prior company failed, that is a different disclosure (when your last company failed).
Three answers cost credibility: apologizing for your age; treating a twenty-year career as a substitute for a product; and hiding a second-career timeline that the cap table or a public profile will show. We publish no age floor or ceiling, no “must be under 32,” no specialist 50+ programme, and no experience-years SLA. Operator mindset is a different question (operator founders). If you want a Berlin family office and venture studio that reads a second-career deck at €25k–€200k without an age gate, submit your deck. We respond within 48 hours.
First-time and repeat founders
Halfmeyer Ventures backs first-time and repeat founders at pre-seed and seed. A prior exit is not a filter for our €25,000–€200,000 check from Berlin, and prior startup experience is not required. Market serial-founder preference narratives often leave first-time founders sounding second-class. Ours is explicit: we evaluate the current company. Cold submissions are welcome at halfmeyer.tech/pitch; we respond within 48 hours.
What matters is the current team, product, traction, and fit in health tech, AI, e-commerce, or automation. First-time founders are equally welcome when execution and operator fit are strong. Show stage-appropriate proof (a working product, prototype, or validated problem–solution fit) and how you cover product and GTM. Domain depth from a previous role or company can help; it does not replace that proof for investment.
Repeat founders should briefly note prior ventures, outcomes (including failures), and what changed in how you build now. We do not treat a past pass or a wound-down company as an automatic red flag when the current company shows stage-appropriate proof. A prior exit is a useful signal, not a gate. Studio support (design, engineering, and go-to-market playbooks) compounds with the check for both profiles; intensity depends on the deal and is not unlimited build capacity. If the last company failed, the detail sits in when your last company failed. Solo or part-time norms still apply: solo founders, part-time at pre-seed. Age is not a proxy for first-time versus repeat: founder age. Stage proof: what we look for.
When your last company failed
Halfmeyer Ventures reads decks from founders whose previous company failed. A wound-down, liquidated, or insolvent prior company is not a filter for our €25,000–€200,000 check at pre-seed and seed from Berlin. We publish no waiting period after the last one closed, no limit on how many attempts came before this one, and no house valuation band, so there is no failure discount to apply. Market comeback advice as of 2026 routes these founders to friends, family, and angels for a second-chance round priced at a deliberate discount to buy trust back. Ours is explicit: we evaluate the current company, and a failure is read as evidence about judgment rather than as a penalty. Cold submissions are welcome at halfmeyer.tech/pitch; we respond within 48 hours.
Two things get read. The first is the account: what the company sold, who bought it, what specifically ran out (demand, cash, a co-founder, a market that never cleared), and the one decision you would take differently. Specifics land. Attributing the whole outcome to timing, a co-founder, or the funding market does not, and a rehearsed story with no decision inside it lands worse than a blunt one. The second is what is still open. State where the old entity stands (trading, in liquidation, insolvency proceedings opened, deregistered, or still filing), which obligations remain (creditors, employees, tax, a lender, investors who did or did not get capital back), whether a dispute is live, and whether code, accounts, domains, or IP the new company depends on still sit inside the old one. The answer changes when a prior failure is still legally or financially attached to the company you are pitching, and it changes because of the attachment rather than the failure.
None of this is a document requirement: no written post-mortem, no closure certificate, no proof that capital was returned, and no minimum time since the last day. German market context as of 2026: startup insolvencies for companies up to ten years old peaked at 344 in 2024, ran at 294 in 2025, and reached 117 in the first half of 2026 against 167 in the same period of 2025, and that count only covers companies that actually go through proceedings, so most closures never appear in it at all. Disclosure is cheap here. Every submission is read personally, materials stay confidential, and a failure named in the deck costs less than one that surfaces later in reference calls. Insolvency law, director duties, creditor claims, and what a past proceeding means for holding office belong with your counsel and are not part of our screen. Related reads: first-time and repeat founders, a change of direction, how the cap table reads, confidential materials, reference calls.
What to disclose in the deck
Team clarity helps us respond within the 48-hour window. In your first-pass deck, include:
- Founder count and roles: solo or multi-founder; who owns product, GTM, and domain.
- Commitment: full-time or part-time; if part-time, current employment or studies, weekly hours, and go-full-time date after close. If you are still enrolled, say so and point at the same three signals: see student founders.
- Hire or advisor plan: especially for solo founders, the first critical hire or advisor the round unlocks.
- Build ownership: who writes the code today (founder, employees, contractors, agency, or fractional technical lead) and whether code, repositories, and IP sit with the company. See do you need a technical co-founder.
- Prior context (if relevant): repeat founders note prior ventures and lessons; first-time founders can keep this short and focus on domain and shipping. If a prior company failed, add where that entity stands today and whether anything is still open. See when your last company failed. If a reviewer would otherwise infer the wrong timeline from a second-career path, say so: see founder age.
- Stage proof: working product, prototype, or validated problem–solution fit; traction signal at your stage.
You do not need a full data room on first submit. Ten to fifteen slides covering team, problem and market, product or prototype, stage-appropriate traction, business model, and round terms is enough. Set the link to view-only for anyone with the link. For slide mechanics, see pitch deck expectations. For the cold pitch path end to end, see how to pitch Halfmeyer.
How this fits our investment bar
Founder commitment is one line in a wider bar. We still look for software-led companies in health tech, AI, e-commerce, and automation, stage-appropriate proof, and cases where operator network, capital, and GTM playbooks compound from day one. Idea-only decks without product, prototype, or validated problem–solution fit are usually a pass for investment; advisory and incubation can start earlier. We invest €25,000–€200,000 at pre-seed and seed from Berlin and back founders across Europe and beyond. Public track record we state: 20+ investments, 5.6× portfolio ROI, and 100+ products built.
How to pitch as a solo or part-time founder
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. Cold submissions are welcome; you do not need a warm introduction or a co-founder to unlock the form. State sector fit and name whether you want investment, incubation, acceleration, or advisory. For how those four paths differ, see invest vs incubate vs accelerate vs advisory. If you are solo, show execution capacity plus the hire plan. If you are part-time, show the go-full-time plan. If you are still enrolled, show the same plan and name any stipend: see student founders. Hiding commitment status creates friction later. We review every deck personally and respond within 48 hours.