Tina Dreimann
3.8.2020
3 min read
Our leap to investors
The better venture team takes a brave leap forward: While deals are in a nosedive and decreased by up to 50% compared to the previous year, we are now open to support even more startups than before the Covid-19 crisis. How come?
We started better ventures as a company builder. With the bootstrapped kartenmacherei - founded by the Behn family in 2010 - we were in the lucky position to build an ecosystem of thriving wedding businesses.
Then, this season got crushed. Simple as that. Not a year to validate business models. We pivoted, we paused, we sold and we stopped ventures in no time. Painful, but vital. With a driven team of entrepreneurs left, we took a step back to rethink our approach.
Teams with passion wanted
Following the core belief that founders can fix the world, we asked ourselves: How can we best support them?
We decided to fund and support like-minded entrepreneurs at a larger scale. So if you are purpose-first founders, who want to build a fast-growing, profitable and lasting company, you are in the right place. Our own ticket size is usually up to 100k€ in convertible loans for 10% equity share. Beyond that, we facilitate angel rounds.
Prepare yourselves to pass high bars, when wanting to join the better portfolio. Because different to industry practice, we include personality tests and core values in our founder team selection. The results also help founding teams to identify their differences and build on these strengths.
Already found one
With us wanting to tackle these 10 global problems, we are particularly proud that we already signed our first deal as lead investors.
Check out Everdrop, a sustainable direct-to-consumer brand that develops and sells cleaning products to reduce plastic waste and CO2 emissions.
Since partnering, we put hands on deck for topics like growth focus, retail strategy and recruiting. And we are looking very much forward to continue opening doors for Chris, Daniel and David, the founders, and their team.
Real advice
In exchange for passion, drive and integrity, we give sweat, brains and capital. Having built over 20 businesses, our team experienced companies in all stages from scratch to scaling. “‘been there, done that.” And we still love building great companies. With our strong bootstrapping heritage, we help you focus on big levers. This comes in handy, as the number one challenge of early-stage founders is to build a company with limited financial resources.
Luckily, there are more ways to bootstrap than you think. And we have learned it the hard way, by building products before understanding customers and their problems. Yes, these are our fails. And by collecting too much seed money and thus overspending it inconsiderately.
Refreshingly different
To work out our value proposition as investors, we went into lean startup mode. We talked to over 200 founders and investors, did the research and the quants. So here we are, still iterating and improving our approach - just like you founders should. We see startups as our customers, investing our own money, no fund, no institutionals, no exit pressure. We give fast and honest feedback when declining - so you can improve your business model.
Remote investment decisions are already our new normal. And while the Female Founders Monitor still startles the industry, we already have equal gender share on partner level.
Join our journey
You are a founder looking for pre-seed support? Get funded!
Or you are a like-minded investor? Contact us to partner up!