# VC application form builder > A VC application form builder helps you choose what a startup application should ask and turns your choices into a spec you can rebuild in any form tool. Start from a pre-seed, seed or accelerator preset, add or remove fields, mark which are required and add your own questions. A checker flags a missing privacy notice, too many required fields and questions about sensitive personal data. It all runs in your browser. Source: https://delsivo.com/tools/vc-application-form-builder ยท Updated 2026-11-06 ## Key takeaways - Ask only what you need for a first review. Detail you need at diligence belongs in a later request. - Every traction number needs a definition next to it, or you can't compare it with the deck. - A privacy notice tick box, required, belongs on every application form that collects founder data. - Age, gender, nationality, religion and family plans have no place in a screening form. ## How to use the VC application form builder 1. Name the form, then pick a starting point: pre-seed, seed or accelerator. Each preset ticks a set of fields and marks the usual ones as required. 2. Go through the sections and tick or untick fields. Each field shows its answer type and why funds ask it. 3. Switch Required on or off for each field you keep. Keep required fields to what you need to decide on a first read. 4. Add up to five questions of your own, with an answer type for each. 5. Read the checker's notes, fix what applies, then copy the spec as plain text or JSON and build the form in the tool you use. ## What a startup application form should cover Most first-review forms answer the same questions in roughly this order: who the company is, who the founders are, what problem they solve, what proof they have, what they are raising and why they applied to you. The builder groups its fields the same way, so the form reads as a short story rather than a questionnaire. | Section | Typical fields | What it lets you decide | | --- | --- | --- | | Company | Name, one-line description, location, sector, website | Whether it meets your hard rules on sector and geography | | Founders | Contact details, background of each founder, commitment | Who to contact, and a first read of the team | | Problem and product | Problem and customer, product stage, demo, alternatives | Whether the problem is specific and the founders know the alternatives | | Traction | Customers, revenue, growth, metric definition | What has been proven, and how each number is counted | | The round | Amount, instrument, commitments, use of funds, deck | Whether the round size fits your cheque and ownership targets | | Fit with the fund | Referral source, why you, programme dates | Where good applications come from and whether the founder read your thesis | | Privacy and consent | Privacy notice, consent to future contact | That founders know how their data is used before they send it | ## How the form checker works The checker reads the form you have built and lists problems, most serious first. It runs a fixed set of rules in your browser; nothing is sent to a model or a server. - No email field is an error: without it you can't send a receipt or a follow-up question. - A missing or optional privacy notice is a warning, and so is consent to future contact that is required rather than optional. - More than 15 required fields, or more than 25 fields in total, is a warning. These are Delsivo's own starting points for a first-review form, not an industry standard. - Asking for customers or revenue without asking how the founder defines them is a note, because a number without a definition can't be checked. - Your own questions are checked for words that suggest sensitive personal data, such as age, gender, nationality, religion, family status, health or a photo of a person. Under the EU GDPR, Article 5 asks that personal data be limited to what is necessary for the purpose, and Article 9 treats data revealing racial or ethnic origin, religious beliefs, health, sex life or sexual orientation as special categories with stricter rules. Rules differ by country, so check with your own adviser; the checker is a prompt to ask why you need a field, not legal advice. ## Limits of the builder - It writes a spec, not a live form. You still build the form in your own tool and test it as a founder would. - The sensitive data check matches words, so it can miss a question phrased another way and can flag a harmless one. Read every question yourself. - The presets reflect common practice for each stage. They are a starting point, and your thesis may need fields they leave out. - The JSON uses a simple shape (name, version, sections of fields). It is not the import format of any particular form tool, so you may need to map it. - The field library is in English, and the incorporation list names only a few countries plus Elsewhere. Edit the options to suit your fund. ## Application forms in Delsivo Delsivo is at the design partner stage, so everything here is planned. In the pilot, each fund gets a branded application portal on its own subdomain, with forms that support text, number, choice and file fields and required answers, plus save and resume and a receipt. Currency, date and URL fields, repeating rows and conditional logic are planned for the first release. When the builder's notes mention a first release type, that is why. There is no import of the builder's JSON into Delsivo. Use the spec as a checklist when you set up any form. [See how the branded portal works](https://delsivo.com/white-label-portals) or [read about follow-up requests](https://delsivo.com/features/founder-requests-and-forms). ## Frequently asked questions ### What should a VC application form ask? The company's name, one-line description, location and sector; the founders' contact details and backgrounds; the problem and product stage; traction with a definition for each number; the round size and use of funds; the deck; and a required privacy notice. Leave diligence detail for a later request. ### How many questions should a startup application form have? As few as you need to decide whether to take a closer look. The builder warns above 15 required fields or 25 fields in total. Those are Delsivo's own starting points, not a standard, so judge by whether you actually read every answer at first review. ### Should a VC application form ask for a founder's age or gender? Not to screen on. You rarely need it to judge a company, and in many countries it counts as sensitive personal data with strict rules. If you collect it for reporting, make it optional, say why you ask, and keep it away from the people screening. ### Is the form builder free, and is what I type stored? It is free and needs no sign-up. It runs in your browser, so the form name, fields and questions you type are not sent to Delsivo or anyone else, and nothing is saved when you close the tab. ### Can I import the JSON into Delsivo? No. Delsivo has no import for this JSON. The JSON is a plain description of the form that you can map to any form tool or keep as a record of what you ask. ## Sources - [GDPR Article 5: Principles relating to processing of personal data](https://gdpr-info.eu/art-5-gdpr/) (checked 2026-11-06) - [GDPR Article 9: Processing of special categories of personal data](https://gdpr-info.eu/art-9-gdpr/) (checked 2026-11-06) ## Related pages - [VC application form template](https://delsivo.com/templates/vc-application-form-template) - [Startup application portal](https://delsivo.com/startup-application-portal) - [How to screen startup applications](https://delsivo.com/how-to-screen-startup-applications) - [Founder interview question generator](https://delsivo.com/tools/founder-interview-question-generator) - [White-label founder portals](https://delsivo.com/white-label-portals)