Diligence feels slow when a founder starts collecting documents only after the term sheet. It feels fast when the data room is ready before the first meeting. Most of what follows takes a week to assemble and saves a month later.
Corporate and secretarial
- Certificate of incorporation, MOA and AOA as currently amended.
- Every share allotment since incorporation, with board and shareholder resolutions and the filings made with the Registrar of Companies.
- A cap table that reconciles exactly with the register of members and with your MCA filings.
- Shareholder agreements, convertible notes, SAFEs or other instruments from earlier rounds.
- Your ESOP plan, if you have one, with grants made so far.
Financial
- Audited accounts for every completed financial year, and management accounts for the current year to date.
- GST returns and income tax filings, with any notices you have received.
- A monthly view of revenue, gross margin and cash burn for at least the last twelve months.
- Bank statements that tie back to the accounts.
- A list of all borrowings, guarantees and related-party transactions.
Commercial
- Your top customers by revenue, with contracts or purchase orders.
- Customer-level data that shows retention or repeat purchase over time.
- Key supplier and distribution agreements.
- Permission to speak to two or three customers.
Legal and people
- Founder agreements, including IP assignment to the company. This is the gap we find most often.
- Employment and consultant contracts, especially for anyone who wrote code or created brand assets.
- Trademark applications and domain ownership.
- Licences and registrations your business needs to operate.
- Any pending or threatened disputes.
Valuation and allotment
For most preferential allotments, company law requires a valuation report from a registered valuer. If any investor in the round is a non-resident, foreign exchange rules add their own pricing and reporting requirements. Speak to your company secretary early so the allotment timeline doesn’t hold up closing.
The fastest diligence we see
A shared folder, organised under the headings above, with a one-page index listing what is included and what is still pending. Flag problems yourself. A gap you disclose is a conversation; a gap we discover is a concern.