# Startup data room checklist for founders > This startup data room checklist gives founders seven folders to prepare before a raise: corporate, round documents, financials, customers and revenue, product and IP, security and data protection, and people, with an index on top. Items are marked for seed or for Series A and later, so an early company prepares only what investors will actually ask for. It ends with a list of things never to upload. Source: https://delsivo.com/templates/startup-data-room-checklist ยท Updated 2026-11-06 ## Key takeaways - Prepare the seed items before you start pitching; add the rest as diligence deepens. - Write down what each deck metric means and put the definitions in the room. - Make revenue figures easy to reconcile with a billing export. - Never upload passwords, customers' personal data or employee records. ## Startup data room checklist to copy Number the folders so they sort the same way for every investor. Date the index whenever you change a file. Data room checklist (plain text): ```text STARTUP DATA ROOM CHECKLIST Company: [ ] Prepared by: [ ] Last updated: [date] (S) = have ready for a seed round. (A) = usually added for Series A and later. 00 INDEX [ ] (S) Index of folders and files, with dates [ ] (S) Contact for questions about each folder 01 CORPORATE [ ] (S) Certificate of incorporation and constitutional documents (articles, bylaws) [ ] (S) Register of shareholders or stock ledger [ ] (A) Board and shareholder minutes and written resolutions [ ] (A) Subsidiaries and group structure chart 02 ROUND DOCUMENTS [ ] (S) Fully diluted cap table [ ] (S) Every SAFE, convertible note and warrant, signed copies [ ] (S) Option plan and grant list (names can be replaced by role) [ ] (S) Draft term sheet or SAFE for this round, when there is one 03 FINANCIALS [ ] (S) Current cash balance and monthly net burn [ ] (S) Simple budget or plan for the next 18 to 24 months [ ] (A) Monthly management accounts for the last 12 to 24 months [ ] (A) Annual accounts and tax filings [ ] (A) Financial model with assumptions stated 04 CUSTOMERS AND REVENUE [ ] (S) Definitions of each metric in the deck (revenue, customers, retention) [ ] (S) Billing export or invoice list that ties to reported revenue, customer names optional [ ] (S) Customer list with plan, start date and status (paid, pilot, free) [ ] (A) Top customer contracts, with personal data redacted [ ] (A) Cohort retention data 05 PRODUCT AND IP [ ] (S) Product overview or demo recording [ ] (S) IP assignment agreements from founders, employees and contractors [ ] (A) Trademark and patent filings [ ] (A) Architecture overview and list of key third-party services 06 SECURITY AND DATA PROTECTION [ ] (A) Security policies and any assessments [ ] (A) Privacy notice and a record of what personal data you hold [ ] (A) List of processors and subprocessors 07 PEOPLE [ ] (S) Team list with roles and start dates [ ] (A) Standard employment and contractor agreement templates [ ] (A) Payroll summary by role (not by named individual) DO NOT UPLOAD Passwords or access keys. Customers' personal data. Employees' personal records. Source code (offer a supervised review instead). ``` ## When to build the data room Build the seed items before your first investor meeting. Funds usually ask after a good first or second meeting, and a room that is ready the same day keeps momentum. Open folders to each investor as they move further, rather than sharing everything at once. ## What to change for your company - Regulated sectors (health, finance, energy) need a folder for licences and regulatory correspondence. - Hardware companies should add supplier agreements and unit cost breakdowns. - If you sell to consumers, replace the customer contract list with cohort and retention exports. - If your lead investor sends its own request list, map it to your folders instead of rebuilding the room. ## What to leave out Investors need evidence, not raw personal data. Redact customer contacts from contracts, give payroll by role rather than by name, and offer a supervised review of source code instead of uploading it. Anything you share with one investor may be read by several people, so share only what the current stage needs. ## Do founders need Delsivo for a data room? No. A shared drive with per-person access works. Founders never pay for Delsivo. When a fund uses it, [Delsivo data rooms](https://delsivo.com/data-rooms), planned for the first release, are designed with Corporate, Financials, Customers, Product and IP, Security, People and Round Documents folders, named guests with expiry, watermarks and an activity log. See [Delsivo for founders](https://delsivo.com/founders). ## Frequently asked questions ### What goes in a startup data room for a seed round? Incorporation documents, a fully diluted cap table, every SAFE or note, a cash and burn summary, metric definitions, a billing export, a customer list and IP assignments. ### Should founders share the data room before a first meeting? Usually not. Share the deck first, then open the room to investors who are moving into diligence. ### How should a data room be organised? By topic, in numbered folders with an index, so every investor finds the same document in the same place. ## Related pages - [What goes in a startup data room](https://delsivo.com/what-goes-in-a-startup-data-room) - [Data room](https://delsivo.com/glossary/data-room) - [Data rooms in Delsivo](https://delsivo.com/data-rooms) - [Delsivo for founders](https://delsivo.com/founders)