The short answer
Founders often ask four related questions before they submit: Do you back solo founders? Do we need a technical co-founder? Can we pitch while still employed? Do we need a prior exit?
- 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.
- 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.
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.
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.
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. Solo or part-time norms still apply: solo founders, part-time at pre-seed. Stage proof: what we look for.
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.
- 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.
- 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. Hiding commitment status creates friction later. We review every deck personally and respond within 48 hours.