How does Founderfruit work?
Learn how skill investments with Founderfruits work.
Explanatory Videos
Watch the explanatory videos to understand Founderfruit.
Process of a skill investment
The startup finds a potential skill investor
A startup needs the service of an external party. The founders present their startup on the Founderfruit.com platform to draw potential skill investors' attention to their investment needs with a project tender.
Alternatively, the startup finds a skill investor in their own environment or actively searches on the Founderfruit.com platform among the skill investors presenting themselves here.
Both parties have an account on Founderfruit.com
To mint, transfer, or receive Founderfruits, you need an account on Founderfruit.com. Registration is free. Both companies and individuals can register to receive Founderfruits. Startups that want to mint their company-specific Founderfruits and transfer them to skill investors must have registered a business or be freelancers.
Learn more under "Who can mint Founderfruits?"
Create a free account now: Open Account
Invite your contract partner to create their account: Invite Contract Partner
The contract partners configure Founderfruits for their skill investment
Using the configurator, one contract party creates an appropriate compensation proposal for their skill investment deal.
The compensation proposal can be sent to the contract partner via "Send Offer" in the last step of the configurator.
Via messages, the contract partners can exchange views on their compensation expectations.
Option: The contract partners can record their contractual agreements in writing
In a skill investment, the skill investor provides a service for which they are compensated with Founderfruits from the startup. The contract parties must therefore also agree on the scope of the service to be provided.
As with a conventional purchase or service contract, you can agree verbally. However, you can also record the scope of the service to be provided and other contractual agreements in writing. A contract form is available for this purpose.
However, using the contract form is not mandatory.
The startup mints company-specific Founderfruits
Once the contract partners have agreed on the compensation and scope of their skill investment, the startup mints the previously configured company-specific Founderfruits. The startup must be a commercial or freelance natural or legal person to be allowed to mint company-specific Founderfruits.
Learn more under "Who can mint Founderfruits?"
At the time of minting, the issuing startup only needs to provide the guaranteed minimum value of the Founderfruits. The guaranteed minimum value is €10 per coin. This amount is debited from the issuing company's (issuer's) bank account and held by the platform operator until the coins are encashed.
The minted Founderfruits appear in the startup's dashboard once their minimum value has been received by the Founderfruit.com platform operator.
The issuer is charged a one-time processing fee of €49 for minting.
The startup transfers the minted Founderfruits
The skill investor provides their service and receives the agreed Founderfruits from the startup in return. The startup initiates a transfer of the minted Founderfruits in the dashboard.
The skill investor receives the transferred Founderfruits in the dashboard of their account.
Reporting: The startup keeps the skill investor informed about business development
The issuer is obligated to inform the holder of the coins they issued about the company's revenue development through a brief quarterly report. What information a report must contain can be found in the rulebook.
The startup must regularly make the report available to the holder of its coins via the Founderfruit.com platform by the following dates at the latest:
- Report 1 of the year: May 10th of the current year
- Report 2 of the year: August 10th of the current year
- Report 3 of the year: November 10th of the current year
- Report 4 of the year: February 10th of the following year
Value determination & value development of Founderfruits
The value development of a Founderfruit depends on the annual revenue of the issuing startup.
When minting coins, the issuer determines the revenue share that a single coin certifies. The value of a coin always corresponds to this percentage of the current annual revenue. However, with absent revenue, the guaranteed minimum value of €10 per coin is not undercut.
The determination of the revenue share results in the revenue threshold. It determines the revenue from which the coin value begins to rise above the minimum value. If the startup's annual revenue exceeds this revenue threshold, the coin value exceeds the minimum value in the same proportion as the current annual revenue exceeds the set revenue threshold.
The value of Founderfruits is always redetermined on August 10th of each year.
For the value of Founderfruits, the annual revenue of the business year last completed by July 31st of the same year is always decisive. The value of Founderfruits then remains unchanged for one year until August 10th of the following year.
The issuer must specify the beginning of their business year when minting their Founderfruits. Usually, this corresponds to the calendar year. Only in exceptional cases does a company's business year deviate from the calendar year.
The annual revenue must be regularly reported by the issuing startup by July 31st of a year and documented to Founderfruit.com using the annual sales tax return or alternatively the income tax return. Additionally, the corresponding tax assessment by the tax office must be submitted subsequently.
Redeeming coins within the encashment period between ERD and LRD
When minting Founderfruits, an Earliest Encashment Date (ERD) and a Latest Encashment Date (LRD) are defined.
Holders of Founderfruits can encash their coins at any time within the encashment period between ERD and LRD for their current equivalent value in euros. Before that, only exchange for the guaranteed minimum value of €10 per coin is possible.
Since the value of Founderfruits is always redetermined on August 10th of each year, it can rise or fall within the encashment period depending on the development of the issuer's annual revenue. From the Latest Encashment Date, the value no longer changes. If the holder keeps their coins until this point, the Founderfruits are automatically encashed.
The denomination in coins allows the investor to encash their Founderfruits at different times within the encashment period. They can encash part of the Founderfruits early and bet on further revenue growth of the startup with the remaining coins.
When encashing, the difference between the minimum value already paid and the actual value of the coins is debited from the issuing startup's bank account. The corresponding euro amount is made available to the coin holder for payout minus a transaction fee of 5%.
Option: Early exchange for minimum value or sale of coins on the exchange
Exchange for the guaranteed minimum value of €10 per coin.
Founderfruits can only be encashed for their current equivalent value in euros from the issuing startup starting from the agreed encashment period. Before the Earliest Encashment Date (ERD), however, exchanging the coins for the guaranteed minimum value of €10 per coin is possible at any time. The payout is also made in this case minus a transaction fee of 5%.
Resale of Founderfruits via Founderfruit.com's platform-owned exchange
Soon, skill investors will be able to resell their Founderfruits to third parties on an exchange at any time. With promising startup development, this allows achieving a price that considers positive expectations and exceeds the minimum value of the coins well before the encashment period begins.
When selling Founderfruits, the right to regular reports transfers to the buyer. No transaction fees apply when selling via the exchange.
Configure Founderfruits now.
With the configurator, you can create Founderfruits for your startup.