Fundraising Dataroom

Data room best practices

1. Start with a clear organization and structure: The dataroom should be organized in a logical and intuitive way that is easy for potential investors and partners to navigate. The folder structure should reflect the topics covered in the due diligence checklist and be consistent throughout.
2. Preferred Format of Financials should be in excel vs PDF
3. Control access and permissions: Access to the dataroom should be restricted to authorized parties and permissions should be set to ensure that only certain users can view, download, or edit specific documents. This helps to ensure that confidential information is protected.
4. Keep the dataroom up-to-date: This helps to avoid confusion or misunderstandings during the due diligence process.
5. Label documents clearly: Each document in the dataroom should be labeled clearly with a descriptive and meaningful name. This makes it easier for users to find the information they need quickly. Also remove dates on file titles (ie Pitch Deck 20220322 - an investor seeing this in Aug 22 might view this as an outdated document)
6. Keep it secure: The dataroom should be hosted on a secure platform with appropriate encryption and data protection measures in place. Regular backups should be taken and data should be stored in multiple locations to ensure that it is not lost in case of a disaster.
7. Be responsive: Potential investors and partners may have questions or requests for additional information. It is important to be responsive and timely in addressing these requests to keep the due diligence process moving forward smoothly.

A. For Pre-Seed/ Early - Stage Companies (Simplified Due Diligence)

• Deck(s)
• Executive Summary, Investor Deck, etc.
• Product & Development
• Product details, product roadmap, technical architecture, etc.
• Sales & Marketing Plan
• Sales pipeline, marketing channels, expansion plans, ...
• Stats & Analytics
• Dashboards, screenshots, behavioral stats, etc.
• Founder Background
• Bios, backgrounds, or CVs of top management

B. For Later-stage companies (Standard Due Diligence)

Standard Dataroom Index & Folder Structure