krafter | studio dev

Dev for equity

Your product. Built for equity.

Dev for equity means building your SaaS or mobile app in exchange for a share of the capital, alongside or instead of cash. Krafter partners with non-technical founders who want more than a contractor. A few projects a year, no more. The pitch is on you.

Discuss my projectEstimate my budget

Definition

What is software development for equity?

Software development for equity, or dev for equity, means getting your SaaS or mobile app designed and built by a studio paid wholly or partly in equity, rather than through a full invoice. The studio becomes a partner: it only wins if the product finds its market. Krafter offers three setups: cash, cash + equity, 100% equity, all put in writing before the first line of code.

Who it’s for
Non-technical founders launching a SaaS or a mobile app.
Krafter’s stake
20% of the capital or more with cash + equity, at least 30% in 100% equity.
Cash benchmark
SaaS MVP €6,000 to €30,000 excl. VAT, mobile MVP €6,000 to €25,000 excl. VAT.
Cash + equity
Reduced invoice depending on the deal, around €8,000 to €15,000 excl. VAT for a standard MVP.
Timeline
3 to 5 weeks from pitch to agreement, then an MVP in 4 to 12 weeks.
01

The principle

We don’t bill your product. We invest in it.

Dev for equity is simple: Krafter designs, builds and operates your product in exchange for a share of the capital, alongside or instead of cash. No man-days sold, no running meter: a shared bet on the product’s success.

This setup changes everything: a contractor wins when the project drags on, a partner wins when the product ships and finds its market. When the studio holds a share of the capital, every technical trade-off, every week of delay, every euro spent matters to us as much as to you.

Three setups exist, from the most standard to the most committed. All of them are put in writing before the first line of code: scope, milestones, and as soon as equity is involved, a shareholders’ agreement and governance.

The setups

From contractor to partner: three levels of commitment.

The right setup depends on your cash position, your stage and what you expect from the studio. In every case, the split is put in writing before we start.

01

Cash

You fund it, you keep everything.

  • The capital stays 100% in your hands
  • Scope and budget set from discovery
  • Code and intellectual property fully transferred

02

Cash + equity

The invoice goes down, the alignment goes up.

  • Krafter takes 20% of the capital or more
  • Invoice reduced depending on the deal
  • Our revenue depends on your traction, not on days sold

03

Equity

Krafter becomes your technical team.

  • No invoice, at least 30% of the capital
  • On the cap table from the company’s incorporation
  • CTO, product design and development handled by the studio
Pitch your project

The 100% equity setup is the rarest: it’s also the most selective. The orders of magnitude are in the grid below.

Before you pitch

A well-argued case. A complete deck.

A dev for equity request is reviewed like an investment. It must be particularly well argued and come with a complete deck: the problem, proof that it exists, the market, the business model, the go-to-market plan, the team and what you expect from us.

30%

of the capital at least for Krafter in a 100% equity deal.

With no invoice, the studio’s stake starts at 30%. It goes up with how far along the project is, and when the project has no customer yet at the time the company is set up.

The indicative grid

How much equity for what build?

Krafter takes 20% of the capital or more with cash + equity, against a reduced invoice, and at least 30% in a 100% equity deal, with no invoice. Here are the orders of magnitude, setup by setup, for a SaaS or a mobile app.

CriterionCash engagementCash + equity100% equity
What you payThe public price gridA reduced invoice, depending on the dealNo invoice
Benchmark for an MVPSaaS MVP: €6,000 to €30,000 excl. VAT. Mobile MVP: €6,000 to €25,000 excl. VATA standard MVP at €15,000 to €30,000 excl. VAT in pure cash drops to around €8,000 to €15,000 excl. VAT€0 invoiced: Krafter funds the build on its own time
Krafter’s stakeNone: you keep 100% of the capital20% or more, negotiated case by case based on contribution and riskAt least 30%, more depending on progress or if the project has no customer yet
Krafter’s roleContractor: scoping, design, development, launchPartner bound by the agreement: product and techYour tech team, on the cap table from incorporation
Code and accountsIn your company’s name, except the open source stackIn the company’s name while the venture runs, Krafter’s if it stopsIn the company’s name while the venture runs, Krafter’s if it stops
TimelineSaaS MVP in 4 to 8 weeks, mobile MVP in the stores in 8 to 12 weeksThe same, after 3 to 5 weeks from pitch to agreementThe same, after 3 to 5 weeks from pitch to agreement
The right choice whenCash allows it and you want to keep all the capitalCash is partial and you want aligned interestsNo cash budget, strong conviction, a real need for a product partner

Why an entry price of €6,000 excl. VAT in cash? Because every product is built on FastEdgy, our open source foundation, because two senior partners work with AI and review every line, and because there is no sales layer in between. That floor applies when you know exactly what you want: processes, business rules and screens already defined. The price rises if we need to shape the thinking with you or integrate payments.

These figures are benchmarks, not a fixed scale: the exact stake is negotiated case by case, then written into the agreement. To size your project in cash, the simulator gives you a range in 8 questions.

Estimate my budget

Pitch us. Convince us. We build it.

02

What you get

Not an agency to manage. Partners who build with you.

Two senior partners, Fabien Maquin (CEO) and François Pluchino (CTO), who scope, design and code themselves. They lay out the architecture, shape the journeys and the onboarding, make the technical calls and own the run. A team that has already launched its own products, and knows what separates a demo from software people actually use.

The result is a fast go-to-market: a SaaS MVP in 4 to 8 weeks, a mobile MVP in the stores in 8 to 12 weeks, weekly releases, a roadmap driven by real usage. Melimelo, Trottr, Kascade and Smashr shipped exactly that way, with the same team that will work on your product.

The split of roles is clear: you own the business, the market and the sales. We own the product and the tech. Everyone does what they do best, no one manages anyone.

03

The selection

A few projects a year. Yours has to make us want in.

Equity commits the studio’s founders for years, on their own time. Every project we accept is time we can no longer spend elsewhere. So we choose like investors: a few projects a year, the ones we believe in enough to put our own work on the line.

What a good application contains: the problem, proof that it exists (potential customers, letters of intent, first sales), your go-to-market plan, and what you expect from us. Complete deck expected. Lucidity mandatory.

A real, painful problem

Not an app idea that looks good on paper. Proof that it exists weighs more than a polished pitch deck.

An accessible, solvent market

A brilliant idea in a market that is too narrow or too slow won’t sustain years of commitment.

Founders who sell

You own the business, the market and the sales. Being non-technical is not a blocker: it’s the expected case.

Partners, not order-takers

The studio builds the product with you. A spec to execute without discussion belongs to a cash engagement.

What you keep

What does the founder keep in a dev for equity deal?

The essentials: control of your company, ownership of the code and the product’s accounts. Krafter takes 20% of the capital or more, at least 30% in 100% equity, a minority stake in the vast majority of deals. While the venture runs, the code is in the company’s name: Git repository, store and cloud accounts, access. If it stops, the code belongs to Krafter. The open source stack stays under its own license.

Capital
Krafter’s stake remains a minority one in most cases.
Code
In the company’s name while the venture runs, Krafter’s if it stops.
Accounts
Apple and Google stores, cloud and access in the company’s name.
Open source stack
FastEdgy and the open source building blocks stay under their license, with no lock-in.
If the venture stops
The code belongs to Krafter, as set in the agreement.

The shareholders’ agreement

What does the shareholders’ agreement cover?

The shareholders’ agreement organizes relations between partners and anticipates sensitive situations, alongside the articles of association. It is signed before the first line of code. It sets the capital split, the scope, the milestones, the governance and the exit clauses, both ways: it protects the studio if the product fails, and the founders if the studio doesn’t deliver what it promised.

Split
20% of the capital or more for Krafter, at least 30% in 100% equity.
Scope and milestones
Written before any code.
Governance
Roadmap, budget, future dilution.
Vesting
Shares acquired progressively over several years, in case a partner leaves early.
Exit and buyback
Exit clauses both ways. Share buyback discussed case by case.
If it fails
The code belongs to Krafter.

Products

Four products born like yours: from a bet.

Melimelo

Melimelo

#1

Household organization, built in Flutter for iOS and Android. Rated 4.7/5 on the App Store, over 50 releases shipped.

Discover
Trottr

Trottr

#2

Field service management SaaS, sold by subscription and used notably by Engie.

Discover
Kascade

Kascade

#3

Project management that sticks to the essentials, born from our own sprints. Launching.

Discover
Smashr

Smashr

#4

AI-augmented sales CRM: call prep, summaries, enrichment. Launching.

Discover

Skin in the game

“When we take equity, we don’t sell days: we commit years. That’s why we pick few projects, and why we pick them like investors, not like contractors.”
Fabien Maquin

Fabien Maquin

Co-founder & CEO, Krafter

How it works

From pitch to agreement, from agreement to product.

The process is demanding both ways: you assess us as much as we assess you. Everything decided ends up in writing.

The pitch

30 minutes

You present the problem, the market and your proof to both founders. A straight answer within a week.

If the project doesn’t fit our criteria, we tell you right away, with the reasons. A fast no beats a maybe that drags on.

Mutual due diligence

2 to 4 weeks

We dig into the market, the problem and your ability to execute. You verify ours.

Our products are open for anyone to try, our clients reachable, our way of working transparent. You commit to partners, not to a brochure.

The agreement

Capital split, scope, milestones, governance, exit clauses: everything in writing.

The shareholders’ agreement is signed before the first line of code. Everyone knows what they bring, what they own, and what happens in every scenario: if the product stops, the code belongs to Krafter.

Build and go-to-market

4 to 12 weeks

SaaS MVP in 4 to 8 weeks, mobile MVP in the stores in 8 to 12 weeks, weekly releases.

The same method as for our own products: tight scope, fast launch, metrics from day one.

What comes next

long term

Krafter stays on the cap table and at the keyboard: run, evolutions, scaling.

A partner doesn’t ship and vanish. The studio operates the product for the long run, the way it operates its own.

See the method in detail

FAQ

You think your project holds up? That’s exactly what we want to verify together.

Discuss my project

Before you pitch us your product.

It means getting your SaaS or mobile app built by a studio paid wholly or partly in equity, rather than through a full invoice. It is also called dev for equity. At Krafter, the studio takes 20% of the capital or more, at least 30% in a 100% equity deal, becomes a partner and only wins if the product succeeds.

Krafter takes 20% of the capital or more. The exact stake is negotiated case by case, based on what the studio brings, the stage of the project and the risk taken. In a 100% equity deal, with no invoice, it is at least 30%, and more depending on how far along the project is or if it has no customer yet when the company is set up. In most cases it remains a minority stake, written into the shareholders’ agreement.

A standard-scope MVP is priced between €15,000 and €30,000 excl. VAT as a pure cash engagement. With cash + equity, the invoice can drop to around €8,000 to €15,000 excl. VAT, with the balance offset by a stake of 20% of the capital or more.

If an MVP budget is within reach without putting you at risk (€6,000 to €30,000 excl. VAT for a SaaS, €6,000 to €25,000 excl. VAT for a mobile app), cash keeps your capital intact for future fundraising. Equity makes sense when cash is the blocker and you want a real product partner.

Yes, as soon as equity is part of the deal: Krafter signs the shareholders’ agreement and stays at the keyboard for the long run, from the run to new features. Your contacts are the studio’s two partners, Fabien Maquin (CEO) and François Pluchino (CTO), who scope, design and code themselves.

A share buyback is discussed case by case, when the shareholders’ agreement is drafted, along with the other exit terms: milestones, vesting, clauses that work both ways. Rights are allocated at the start, never along the way. If this option matters to you, raise it in the first 30-minute call.

The risk is shared. The agreement sets milestones and clear exit clauses for both parties: no one stays trapped in a venture that isn’t working. One protection is always there for the studio: if the venture stops, the code belongs to Krafter, which accepts losing its time, not its code.

Your company, while the venture runs: the Git repository, store and cloud accounts and access are in its name. If the venture stops, the code belongs to Krafter, as set in the agreement. The open source stack, including FastEdgy, our in-house foundation, stays under its own license.

The main risk for the founder is dilution: every point given away early weighs on the day of a fundraise, when an investor examines the cap table. Three safeguards: a stake of 20% or more but a minority one in most cases, an agreement signed before any code, and exit clauses that work both ways.

A few projects a year, no more, because equity commits the studio’s founders for years. Three criteria: a real, painful problem, an accessible and solvent market, and founders who know their field and can sell. Being non-technical is not a blocker. Otherwise, a standard cash engagement remains open.

Yes. A dev for equity request must be particularly well argued and come with a complete deck: the problem, proof that it exists (letters of intent, first sales), the market, the business model, the go-to-market plan, the team and what you expect from us. The first call lasts 30 minutes with both founders, you get an answer within a week, then allow 3 to 5 weeks until the agreement is signed.

Your product. Our craft. → your move

A 30-minute call with both founders. Come with the problem, the market, your proof and a complete deck.

Pitch your project Book a callor estimate your budget