Founder guide · Fundraise preparation
The startup data room checklist: 19 documents investors ask for
Early-stage diligence rarely fails on the idea. It stalls because a cap table is incomplete, a model does not reconcile, or a founder is emailing files one at a time. This is the exact 19-slot structure the vcready.pro BoardRoom uses, organised the way an investor reads it.
1 · The Story
What an investor opens first. If these three are weak, nothing below gets read.
- 1
Investor pitch deck
PDF12–16 slides. Problem, wedge, traction, market, team, ask. Export to PDF so formatting never breaks.
- 2
One-page executive summary
PDFA single page a partner can forward internally without re-explaining your company.
- 3
Product & market memo
PDFWhy now, why you, and what the wedge into a larger market looks like over three years.
2 · The Numbers
Diligence stalls here more than anywhere else. Keep every number reconcilable to a source.
- 4
Financial model (3-year)
XLSXMonthly for year one, quarterly after. Assumptions on their own tab, hardcodes in blue.
- 5
Historical P&L and balance sheet
XLSX / PDFActuals since incorporation. They should tie exactly to your filed statements.
- 6
Monthly MIS / metrics sheet
XLSXRevenue, gross margin, burn, runway, headcount — one row per month, no gaps.
- 7
Unit economics breakdown
XLSXCAC, payback, contribution margin, cohort retention. State the formula you used.
- 8
Bank statements & runway proof
PDFLast 6–12 months. Confirms the cash position your model claims.
3 · Ownership & Legal
The section that decides how fast a term sheet can convert into money in the bank.
- 9
Cap table
XLSXFully diluted, including ESOP pool, SAFEs, CCPS and any convertible notes.
- 10
Certificate of incorporation & MoA/AoA
PDFProves the entity investors are actually wiring into.
- 11
Shareholders' agreement & prior round docs
PDFExisting rights, liquidation preferences and consent thresholds surface here.
- 12
ESOP policy & grant register
PDF / XLSXPool size, vesting schedules, and who has been granted what.
- 13
Founder agreements & vesting
PDFRoles, IP assignment and founder vesting. A missing IP assignment is a common deal-breaker.
- 14
IP, trademarks & key contracts
PDFTrademark filings, patents, and your largest customer or vendor contracts.
4 · Traction & Compliance
Evidence that the story in section one is actually happening.
- 15
Customer / revenue contracts
PDFTop logos, order values and renewal terms. Redact where an NDA requires it.
- 16
Pipeline & GTM plan
PDF / XLSXNamed pipeline with stage and value, plus the channel plan the raise will fund.
- 17
GST, TDS & ROC filing status
PDFClean statutory filings shorten legal diligence by weeks.
- 18
Team org chart & key hires
PDFCurrent team, the roles this round hires, and cost per hire in the model.
- 19
Use of funds & milestone plan
PDFWhat the money buys and which milestones unlock the next round.
Five mistakes that slow diligence down
- Sharing a public Google Drive link — you lose every signal about who actually read what.
- A financial model whose totals do not reconcile with the deck's headline numbers.
- A cap table that omits SAFEs, notes or the unallocated ESOP pool.
- Scanned, unsearchable PDFs of legal documents.
- Uploading everything at once with no folder structure, so partners give up in the first two minutes.
Next step
Turn the checklist into a trackable Data Room
Upload these 19 documents into your BoardRoom and share one private link instead of email attachments. You see which investor opened which file, how long they spent, and what they downloaded — so you know who is genuinely engaged before the meeting.