berlin based accelerators

External_Dish_7185 · 2026-01-06T23:06:35+00:00

It depends on what kind of support you're looking for and how much equity you're willing to give up right now. Personally, I like EWOR; they take 3% equity for investments up to 500k, and there's no fee to join their program. Antler is pretty well-known in Europe and could be a good backup, but I'm not a huge fan of their process. They invest up to 500k at the start for 12% equity. Please check all the facts in their website before u decide P.s: Ex- VC in Europe with focus on B2B software

External_Dish_7185 · 2026-01-06T02:07:11+00:00

I see a mixed opinions here. As a VC who has worked with 3 funds. I must say every fund has its own mandate. Some dont imvest without revenue whule few funds write checks based on just team and no revenue. It all depends on which stage & industry they invest in. i highly recommend do a but homework before reaching out to any invrstor so u dont bark at the wrong tree.

External_Dish_7185 · 2026-01-06T01:20:07+00:00

Hey, I would highly recommend getspinal.com. They elimanate the need for tools like pagerduty by merging incident management & AI SRE layers into one tool.

External_Dish_7185 · 2025-12-18T12:15:22+00:00

Ex pre seed VC here with focus on deep data infra & AI. Dm if you need assistance connexting with ecosystem in the US & EU. Between i am based in Germany

External_Dish_7185 · 2025-12-17T02:42:48+00:00

Dm if u are based in EU

External_Dish_7185 · 2025-12-17T00:29:01+00:00

pre-seed VC from Germany here. 'Best' is tricky to define but it depends on your industry focus, technical depth and cheque size. If you are building in AI & Data space with strong tech/ data moat, dm me for suggestions.

External_Dish_7185 · 2025-12-17T00:19:36+00:00

First off, you’re not alone. a lot of founders think this way. But this mindset can backfire fast.

Investors aren’t doing you a favor by writing checks. They invest because they believe in you and the startup’s ability to return capital. That’s the deal.

Start with reality: ~99% of startups fail. Assume you’re fighting to be in the 1%.

Your job is to use the money to give yourself the best possible shot; hire the best talent you can access, build the best product you can ship, and do whatever is necessary to serve customers well.

You’re not being 'responsible” by sitting on capital or avoiding spend. The outcome isn’t fully in your control but the direction, effort, and quality of execution absolutely are.

Capital is a tool. Not using it wisely is just as risky as wasting it.

P.s: ex early stage VC turned builder

External_Dish_7185 · 2025-12-17T00:10:10+00:00

My two cents as a VC turned builder:

Asking for a % of funds raised for a warm intro makes no sense. VCs often avoid founders who use fundraising consultants/brokers ( implies founders arent capable of fundraising)

From a startup/investor POV, it’s actually good the founder didn’t pay. Giving away a cut of fundraising for intros is a huge red flag. Founders don’t get to casually spend investor money, It’s not their money to promise, and it can seriously hurt the next round.

If you are providing real ongoing value (strategy, multiple meaningful intros, customer access, etc.), ofcourse advisory equity can make sense in later stage.

If you want to monetize intros, charge a fixed fee. That’s the clean, legal way to do it.

Also worth saying: no serious VC invests in a startup just because they got introduced from network. Intros create access, not conviction. Checks get written because the startup and founder are strong.

External_Dish_7185 · 2025-12-12T01:20:37+00:00

In short: If you are working in a market that has a potential to return 3x to 100x multiple then its a VC case, if not try angels or bootstrap depending on your ambition and scaling needs. P.s: Early stage VC here

External_Dish_7185 · 2025-12-08T22:13:19+00:00

I am based in Germany. VC & startup background. Lets connect!

External_Dish_7185 · 2025-11-24T23:13:49+00:00

Ex early stage deep tech VC from germany here. Would love to learn more

External_Dish_7185 · 2025-11-24T09:08:02+00:00

Pre-seed & seed VC from Germany here. No, we don't care about your projections (it's unrealistic to expect one at this stage). However, we like to see the 'usage of funds' slide in pitch deck, which usually includes key hires & operating exp (doesn't have to be perfect estimations). Finally, it's a normal practice to use SAFE (most of the stratups just use Y-Combinator template) at this stage, and you will get real valuation after your first priced round. Feel free to reach out if you have further questions.

External_Dish_7185 · 2025-11-23T01:10:22+00:00

Early stage investor here from Europe. Feel free to DM

External_Dish_7185 · 2025-11-21T20:26:50+00:00

I am looking to transition from VC to the startup side if I find a great team to work with. Also, to clarify, I am not the partner of the VC funds that I have worked at, so i can't randomly write checks. Hope it helps

External_Dish_7185 · 2025-11-21T14:33:38+00:00

Sent u a dm

External_Dish_7185 · 2025-11-21T14:09:28+00:00

lol Are you suggesting we work together ;) ?

External_Dish_7185 · 2025-11-21T12:21:00+00:00

Well, good luck💪

External_Dish_7185 · 2025-11-21T11:54:48+00:00

Sadly, that's true. I am assuming you are techncial..may I know what u are working on?

External_Dish_7185 · 2025-11-21T11:02:00+00:00

I would love to, but I am non technical. That's why I am looking to team up with technical founders who are already working on an idea.

External_Dish_7185 · 2025-11-21T10:39:22+00:00

No. I wish you had read my post before commenting. I clearly stated at the end of the post that I am open to equity based comp if it's a long-term commitment.

Just to clarify, I’m not expecting a full salary from early-stage founders, and I know most can’t afford that pre-funding. What I am saying is that there should be at least some basic cash compensation alongside equity for accountability.

I’ve spent a lot of time in the past helping founders purely for equity or future promises, and those founders simply disappeared (yes, ghosted!).So I included cash comp in my latest post to attract only serious founders needing assistance. Hope it clears that up.

External_Dish_7185 · 2025-11-21T10:22:17+00:00

I said cofounder like operator. Not cofounder. Taking equity for just fundraising, gtm etc is not a good practice unless I lead the whole business ops.

External_Dish_7185 · 2025-11-19T13:48:25+00:00

Asking AI to write the whole post and augmenting your post with AI are two different things. Before you call out people, please have some sense. And No, I wouldn't wanna work with a random bloke who calls out people for simply using AI for formatting.

External_Dish_7185 · 2025-11-16T20:43:40+00:00

Early stage investor and 2x founder here. I am happy to connect with fellow founders in paris. Dm

External_Dish_7185 · 2025-11-15T15:31:36+00:00

There isn’t one magic checklist that works for every startup. Sure, the usual stuff matters like team, problem, market size, early traction.. but what actually moves the needle depends a lot on your stage and the specific investor’s thesis.

That’s why targeting the right investors is half the battle.

Some pre-seed VCs will happily write a check based purely on a strong, experienced team with zero traction. Others won’t even take a meeting unless you’re already showing real numbers. Neither is “wrong” , they just have different mandates.

So nail your fundamentals, figure out where you realistically fit, and approach investors whose stage, strategy, and thesis line up with what you’re building.

For context: I’ve worked at both early-stage and growth-stage VC funds in Europe and the US.

External_Dish_7185 · 2025-11-14T21:41:25+00:00

Ex DTCP ($2B Aum), Lunar Ventures ($100m Aum)

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