A collaboration like this is always sealed by an investment from me via Loot Spawn. Private capital is injected into a start-up (by issue of new shares, on occasions via convertibles) in return for some equity. Founders' party gains a chaotic good co-owner and we head off to do great things together.
My approach is to lead or partake in the absolute first financing rounds of a start-up's life cycle. There's literally no "too early" when reaching out to me to start the discussions. At this stage it's only the team's skill, soul and drive which matter. It's definitely not about having the perfect pitch deck.
Loot Spawn's investments are laser focused on the games sector. Development, publishing, tech, middleware or platforms - pitch it! But in some way it has to support the creation of immersive experiences with the player in focus. Being based in Sweden makes the Nordics my primary search area for potential partners, only on rare occasion do I make exceptions from this geographical focus. In my experience it's much easier to have productive collaborations when not more than a couple of hours apart.