Data Room Checklist
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Due diligence happens after an investor has decided that they’d love to invest, but before they actually write your the cheque. They first want to make sure that everything matches up to what you've told them. It's also a great way for them to learn about your business in-depth, so they can be more helpful later on.
To ensure investors move through this process as quickly and smoothly as possible, it’s best to have your data room ready.
You don't have to have every single thing on this list. You'll notice a lot of 'if any's' in brackets, so if it doesn't apply to you, just leave it out.
There's also an FAQ section at the bottom where you may find answers to some of your questions.
DATA ROOM CHECKLIST - Angel / Early Rounds
Company Documents
❏ Investor Pitch Deck
❏ Incorporation Documents
❏ Shareholders Agreement
❏ Subscription Agreement
❏ IP Assignment Deed
❏ Capitalisation Table
Financials
❏ Financial Forecast (~2-5 years)
❏ Term Sheet
Staff
❏ Employment Agreements
❏ Future critical roles and hires
Market Research
❏ Competitor landscape analysis
❏ Market research reports (if any)
Sales & Marketing
❏ Go-to-market strategy & plan
❏ Sales process & pipeline (B2B companies)
❏ Customer Pitch Deck (B2B companies)
❏ Customer contracts or LOIs (if any)
Product & Technology
❏ High Level Product Roadmap
❏ System Architecture Diagram
❏ Details on “special sauce,” like machine learning or big integrations (if any)
Historical Information
❏ Liabilities or loan agreements (if any)
❏ Past term sheets (if any)
Intellectual Property
❏ Granted and filed patents (if any)
❏ Trademarks (if any)
Data Room Checklist - VC/Institutional Rounds
Company Documents
❏ Investor Pitch Deck
❏ Incorporation Documents
❏ Shareholders Agreement
❏ Subscription Agreement
❏ IP Assignment Deed
❏ Director Deed of Indemnity
❏ Capitalisation Table
Board Materials
❏ Board meeting minutes
❏ Board consents and actions
Financials
❏ Last year’s P&L
❏ Financial Forecast (~2-5 years)
❏ Term Sheet
Historical Information
❏ Liabilities or loan agreements
❏ Past term sheets
Market Research
❏ Competitive analysis with features & pricing
❏ Any market research papers
Sales & Marketing
❏ Go-to-market strategy & plan
❏ Sales process & pipeline (B2B companies)
❏ Customer Pitch Deck (B2B companies)
❏ Customer contracts or LOIs (if any)
Staff
❏ Employment Agreements
❏ Background checks for each founder
❏ Employee list (date joined, title, salary)
❏ ESOP Plan
❏ Future critical roles and hires
❏ List of contract workers and firms
Product & Technology
❏ High Level Product Roadmap
❏ System Architecture Diagram
❏ API Documentation (if any)
❏ Details on “special sauce,” like machine learning or big integrations (if any)
❏ Database Schema export
Intellectual Property
❏ Granted and filed patents (if any)
❏ Trademarks (if any)
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Data Room FAQs
Why do I need to assign IP rights to the company I create?
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