Team
60First-time founders, high craft, no distribution instinct we could underwrite.
Weight 30
A consumer companion that wanted to be a daily habit and a platform.
First-time founders, high craft, no distribution instinct we could underwrite.
Weight 30
Crowded, expensive to acquire, and outside the fund’s mandate.
Weight 25
€300k, paid monthly, retention that falls off a cliff in week five.
Weight 25
A prompt and a brand. Not a moat.
Weight 20
Screened 19 Aug 2026Pre-written. The replay is simulated.
Passed in August. Pollen is a well-made consumer companion with week-five retention that will not support the acquisition cost they are already paying. It is not a Halden investment. The note exists so we do not re-screen it under a new name.
There was no reason to do it now. There is no reason to do it later unless the company becomes a tool a business renews.
A daily chat with memory and a pleasant voice. Users like it for a month. The product does not accumulate an asset we can underwrite.
Consumer subscription. €300k ARR. Payback unknown because they stopped reporting channel CAC when it moved the wrong way.
Pass. No meeting. Reply with the mandate and the offer to look again if they sell to a company.