VC application form template for startup intake

VC application form template to copy

Each field shows whether it is required and a suggested length. Character limits keep answers comparable and stop founders pasting whole decks.

STARTUP APPLICATION FORM
[Fund name] invests in [stage] [sector] companies in [geography]. We read every application and reply within [number] working days.

ABOUT THE COMPANY
1. Company name (required)
2. Website (optional)
3. One sentence: what does the company do, and for whom? (required, up to 200 characters)
4. Where is the company based? (required, select country)
5. Stage (required, select: Idea / Building product / Early users / Paying customers)
6. Sector (required, select from [your list] or Other)

THE FOUNDERS
7. Founder names, roles and email addresses (required, repeat for each founder)
8. For each founder: what have you done before that matters for this company? (required, up to 500 characters)
9. Is each founder full time? (required, yes or no, with a date if not yet)

THE BUSINESS
10. What problem do you solve, and how do customers deal with it today? (required, up to 800 characters)
11. Who pays you, or who will? (required, up to 400 characters)
12. Traction so far. Say what each number means: paid or unpaid, monthly or annual, and the month. (optional, up to 800 characters)
13. Why now? (optional, up to 400 characters)

THE ROUND
14. How much are you raising, and on what instrument? (required)
15. How much is already committed, and from whom? (optional)
16. What will this round let you prove? (required, up to 500 characters)

FILES
17. Pitch deck, PDF (required, up to [size] MB)

HOW YOU FOUND US
18. How did you hear about [Fund name]? (optional, select: Referral / Website / Event / Other)
19. If someone referred you, who? (optional)

PRIVACY
We use what you share to assess your company for investment. We keep applications for [period] and then delete them. You can ask us to delete yours sooner at [email]. Full notice: [privacy link].
[ ] I confirm I may share the founders' details above with [Fund name] for this purpose. (required)

When to use the form

Use it as your fund's single front door for inbound deals, linked from your website, so every application arrives in the same shape. Referred founders can use the same form with a referral field filled in. Accelerators can add questions about the programme dates and the founders' availability.

What to change

• Replace the stage and sector lists with the ones in your thesis, so answers map to your criteria.
• If you only invest in one country, drop the country field and say so at the top of the form.
• Set the reply time you can actually meet.
• Add one question your fund always asks at a first meeting, if knowing it earlier would change your screening.

What to leave out of a startup application

The GDPR's data minimisation principle says personal data should be adequate, relevant and limited to what is necessary for the purpose. Similar ideas appear in other privacy laws. For a first screen, that rules out a lot.

• Date of birth, age, marital status and photos of founders.
• Home addresses and identity documents. Collect them at closing, if needed.
• Detailed financials and the cap table. Ask after the first meeting.
• Diversity questions in the main form. If you monitor diversity, use a separate, optional form that reviewers don't see. Data revealing racial or ethnic origin is a special category under GDPR Article 9 and needs a specific legal condition, such as explicit consent: take advice first.

Using the form with or without Delsivo

The form works in any form tool. Delsivo's branded portal, planned for the Pilot release, is designed to host this kind of form on your fund's own subdomain with save and resume, a receipt for the founder, PDF deck analysis with slide citations, and a single deal record even if a founder submits twice. A startup application portal guide covers the options.