Young Founders Network
A community of 1,900+ aspiring and active founders under 26, across 14 chapters in Germany. Relationships that start long before a funding round.
Rare talent.
First belief.
For founders under 26 with the ability
to build something exceptional.
Show us the work. Then the ambition.
01THE THESIS
Early stage.
High standards.
Young is our focus. Ability is the standard.
We look for people who build before they are asked to. A working product. A difficult technical problem solved. An insight earned by understanding customers better than anyone else.
You can be at the beginning of your company and already have something exceptional to show. We invest €50–100k at pre-seed, primarily in Germany. Bring us evidence of your ability, a sharp point of view and an ambition worth years of your life.
What we look for ↗€50–100kOur first check
<26Founder focus
€10mTarget fund size
02CLOSER TO THE START
We’re part of
their world.
The communities, campuses and conversations where tomorrow’s founders are already building.
1,900+
Scouts & university ecosystems
25 venture scouts connected to universities, student initiatives and entrepreneurship programmes. A way to find talent while it is still taking shape.
Stealth Campus
A founder campus being built in Berlin for ambitious founders, builders and researchers to live and work together. Planned opening: February 2027.
Network figures from our September 2026 overview. Campus is in development.
03THE PEOPLE BEHIND THE FIRST CHECK
Access meets
experience.
One partnership.
Two complementary perspectives.
A deep connection to the next founder generation, combined with the experience of building, scaling and exiting a company.
01 / THE NEXT GENERATIONDarius Göttert
↗Co-founder & General Partner
Entrepreneur, venture builder and co-founder of Young Founders Network. Darius connects the fund to founders at the very start of their journey — through the network, its communities and the Stealth Campus he is building in Berlin.
02 / BUILT, SCALED, EXITEDHans-Joachim Allenfort
↗Co-founder & General Partner
Co-founder of calimoto. Hans spent eight years building and scaling the motorcycle navigation app to millions of users before selling a majority stake. An active angel investor, he brings operating experience and a clear, considered approach to early-stage investing.
04FOR INVESTORS
A generation
worth backing.
A focused first-check strategy.
A broad portfolio of ambition.
We target 80–120 early-stage companies, primarily in Germany. The fund is designed for professional and semi-professional investors.
Explore the fund ↗↗YOUR NEXT MOVE