Syndicate referral program

One line on your cap table, backed by unicorn builders, operators, and founders who’ve been there, done that—and want to help you do it too.

We invest both via our €22M fund and our syndicate, meaning we can back founders from their first check to their later rounds. First (pre-seed) round: €250k–€500k Follow-on (seed) round: Up to €1.5M

We’re generalists with a preference for B2B SaaS, marketplaces, and startups with CEE roots but global ambitions. Whether it’s Fintech, Space-tech, or Edtech, if you’re bold, we’re interested.

We’ve invested in 24 startups and deployed over €3M, with one exit already and several portfolio companies on rapid growth trajectories.

Syndicate: Crowdsourced investments from a pool of 250+ angel investors and operators. Fund: Our newly launched €22M fund allows us to write bigger checks and lead rounds while still involving our syndicate.

We invest through two sources: our syndicate and our €22M fund. Syndicate: Backed by a network of 200+ founders, operators, and angels, typically investing €50K–€100K in early rounds. Fund: Enables larger investments of up to €250K in pre-seed and €1.5M in seed rounds. This allows us to be flexible and grow our support as your company scales.

Yes. We typically deliver decisions within weeks, not months, so you can focus on building your startup, not fundraising.

Form 1: Initial screening to evaluate fit. Reviewed within a few days. Form 2: Follow-up application (sent to startups that pass Form 1). Once submitted, you’ll receive feedback within a week, and if all goes well, we’ll proceed to an interview and due diligence.

We evaluate startups based on these 4 pillars: Team - what’s the secret sauce behind your dream team, how big is it and how many FTE team members do you have; what is your strategy for capital use. Market - who - how do you acquire your customers, eg, content, SEO, partnerships, direct sales, affiliate, community strategy, and who you’re competing against. Product/traction - when was your product launched, what growth have you seen since then and what your retention is like. Distribution - how do you acquire your customers, eg, content, SEO, partnerships, direct sales, affiliate, community strategy

Typically, 4 weeks from the initial application to funding, but can vary depending on due diligence or additional clarifications.

If you’re not yet ready for a round but have potential, we’re happy to work with you for 3–6 months to refine your pitch, fundraising strategy, and go-to-market plan.

We’re flexible but prefer SAFE agreements, convertible notes, or equity investments. We require pro-rata rights and information rights as standard. Here is one resource for standard docs.

A warm introduction is not required, but it can be beneficial, particularly when it's genuinely warm. It provides social proof and gives us added confidence in your startup. However, a mediocre warm intro is worse than an awesome cold email. So, if you don't have a strong warm intro, feel free to just fill out the application, which if you like you can supplement reaching out directly with a well-crafted cold email. Ultimately, it's the quality of your startup and your communication that matters most to us.

Beyond capital, we provide access to 250+ founder-operator mentors, tailored microadvising, help with US market expansion, and guidance in product and enterprise sales.

We set up a mailing list where we include the syndicate members who have invested in your company, and ask you to send them investor updates. Many of our investors want to be helpful in the area they can, so make sure to include your ask in every monthly investor update.

We can participate in follow-on rounds and help you build the right co-investor syndicate.

There is no cost to pitch. If our syndicate invests in your company, we charge a one-off €1.5K-€3K fee to: onboard you to our founder & operator community, match you with the most right advisor(s) to help fill the current round, as well as streamline the fundraising process, do investor intros, or run a go-to-market & product focused structured one-month advisory program to help you unlock the most important growth bottleneck.

We invest in companies registered anywhere in the EU and Delaware, US. No problem if your entity is registered elsewhere - we will happily offer advice as to the most attractive jurisdictions in the eyes of VCs and angel investors. That said we prioritize supporting founders with CEE roots.

No problem! Feel free to reach out directly at comms@badideas.fund.