Pre-Seed · Europe · AI-Native · Deep Tech

We the future.

CODE Capital is the first check investor for CODE University backed ventures. We invest as early as possible — same paper, same cap, deal by deal — and follow on best of breed in qualified priced rounds. A space for growth and inner development within the CODE entrepreneurship ecosystem, for ambitious founders.

Pitch us → Read the mission →
// Stage
Pre-Seed
// First Check
€50–100k
// Geography
Europe
// Decision
< 14 days
// Edge

CODE=(Technology×Design×Execution)Purpose

A formula, not a slogan — because formulas are testable and slogans aren’t. Multiplicative, not additive: any zero collapses the product, no matter how strong the rest. Technology without design is unusable. Design without execution is decoration. Execution without purpose is motion. Purpose without the work is just a slogan — which is why we made it the exponent, not the label.

That’s where we invest. In future Tech Builders who carry all four dimensions natively — compressed into the instincts of one operator. CODE University is the only institution in Europe that builds this founder by design. CODE Capital invests at the source.

// Focus

Builder-first. Nerds & Pioneers. CODE DNA.

We back builder-first founders — Nerds And Pioneers — with CODE entrepreneurial DNA: students, alumni, professors, researchers, or lecturers dedicated to building the future, in established industries or in entirely new ones. CODE = Technology × Design × ExecutionPurpose must sit at the edge of your product — not next to it.

Where we play. AI-Native Vertical Software · AI Devtools & Trust Infra · Compute Efficiency · Deep Tech, Quantum & Post-Quantum Security.

// Practice

What you can expect.

We’re upfront and no bullshit. We won’t ruin your life with months of unnecessary due diligence. We won’t renegotiate or grind you on terms. We’re long-term partners — invested in your resilience as much as in your cap table.

In practice: fast decisions (first meeting to term sheet in days when it matters), honest feedback even when it’s uncomfortable, and real help where it counts — fundraising strategy, investor introductions, and access to our network of entrepreneurs and industry operators.

// Boundaries

What we don’t do.

No consumer. No horizontal infrastructure competing on scale alone. Nothing outside Europe. Nothing past Pre-Seed — if you’re raising a Seed+, we’re not your fund, and that’s by design.

// Mission

We CODE the future.

We back the founders who build European sovereignty and freedom, and we open space — by structure, not by statement — for those from underrepresented groups.

We maximise for two things at once: Profit and Return on Education. The fund’s carried interest fuels CODE University — our backbone — to educate the next generation of founders, setting a founder-ecosystem flywheel in motion for society.

Self-financing, perpetual, independent of grant cycles or government timing. Better returns become better education. Permanently.

// Democratic access

Entrepreneurial education reaches those without family capital or elite networks — builders by background.

// Self-financing impact

No grants. No government cycles. The fund’s own returns make the mission independent and perpetual.

// Accelerating excellence

Better returns become better education. The flywheel compounds with every vintage.

// Conviction

Growth Beyond Capital.

A pre-seed fund that compounds on three planes — inner, relational, structural. Shaped by a conviction we share with our partners: meaningful growth doesn’t happen in the cap table alone.

Three pillars · One arc — Reflection · Integration · Transformation

// I Founders First // II Full Circle // III Endowment Loop Growth Beyond Capital REFLECTION · INTEGRATION · TRANSFORMATION
// I · Founders First

Meaningful change starts within.

We invest in the founder before we invest in the company. Inner work, resilience, and peer mentoring aren’t soft adjacencies — they are the foundation on which durable companies are built. We replace control with curiosity, and we hold space for founders to meet themselves before they meet the market.

// Commitments
  • Quarterly Inner Development circles for every portfolio founder
  • An annual full-portfolio founder retreat with curated facilitation
  • 1:1 access to an executive coach and a peer mentor from week one
// II · Full Circle

Staying in relationship, even across opposing views.

CODE alumni, trustees, and aligned operator-supporters form a structured Founder Council around every portfolio company. Diverse perspectives — sometimes aligned, sometimes in tension — expand each founder’s capacity to hold complexity. The founders we back today become the mentors of those we back tomorrow.

// Commitments
  • A curated Founder Council of CODE alumni, trustees & supporters with quarterly engagement on every portfolio company
  • A minimum of 12 strategic introductions per portfolio company per year — capital, talent, customers
  • Founders we backed returning as mentors, advisors, or trustees within three years of exit
// III · The Endowment Loop

Resources flow honoring relationships, not just transactions.

A meaningful share of our carried interest flows back into the CODE University endowment — the educational ground from which the next generation of founders emerges. Capital that succeeds with us doesn’t leak out of the ecosystem; it returns to thicken it. An emergent process, not a forced one — every successful exit reseeds the field.

// Commitments
  • A meaningful share of GP Carry → CODE University Endowment, embedded in the fund’s terms
  • A perpetual endowment funding CODE Pioneers fellowships and need-based access to CODE University
  • Annual public report on endowment contributions and the students, fellows, and programs they enable
// Community

Who backs us.

We believe entrepreneurship is one of humanity’s quiet achievements — what lets us live in peace, grow, and build the future together.

CODE Capital is built on the conviction that it is our responsibility to back the next generation of entrepreneurs — and help them outgrow us.

The fund is deeply embedded in the CODE University ecosystem: carried by its trustees, sponsors, supporters, and partners — the people already shaping Germany’s economic and technological future. Our venture team operates at eye level with founders, hands-on by default, anchored by an investment team that started companies before they graduated.

Initiators & Investment Team→ Expert Founders→ Co-Investors→ CODE Ecosystem→
Stephan Schambach Verena Pauster
// Terms

Invest fast & double on winners.

Same paper for everyone, deal by deal. Decisions in under 14 days. CLA in days when speed matters.

// Stage
Pre-Seed & Seed often pre-product, pre-revenue
// Check size
€50–100k + follow-on
// Geography
Europe
// Focus
AI-Native Vertical Software · Deep Tech · Quantum & Post-Quantum
// Role
First check — but we follow our winners
// Process
Decision < 14 days CLA in days if needed
// Contact

Working on something?

A few lines on what you’re building, who you are, and what you’d do with a first cheque is more than enough.