The due diligence process from the perspective of investors

Due Diligence is a process a firm must go through before receiving funding. The purpose of this procedure is to determine whether or not investing in the firm is a good idea by looking at its operations. While the specifics of due diligence may vary depending on the company’s industry and size, there are a few boxes that must be checked in the case of each business.

Planning to seek capital? Familiarizing yourself with what investors anticipate during the diligence can help you be more prepared. You must have an investor perspective toward the key steps involved in the fundraising due diligence process. Let’s find out what investors look for in fundraising due diligence.

Fundraising due diligence and investor perspective

In the context of a business transaction, such as fundraising, due diligence refers to a thorough examination of the target firm. The point of doing the diligence on a firm is to increase your chances of providing value throughout the fundraising process by making well-informed decisions.

Overview of fundraising due diligence

The due diligence procedure reveals a wealth of data on the target firm in every aspect of its business. Integrating these disparate pieces of data into a logical whole is what the diligence assessment is aiming to do. The persons in charge of the diligence will normally get together to discuss whether or not new information learned throughout the process has caused them to revise their original appraisal of the investment.

For instance:

• Is the company ideal for investment?
• Should any contracts or agreements be signed?
• What questions or reservations should you voice to the prospective startup?

Importance of fundraising due diligence for investors

Every company will experience its largest corporate transaction when they participate in a fundraising event. The completion of proper due diligence paves the way for businesses to enter into these deals with an educated perspective. For an investor, the diligence is crucial because:

• It conducts a review of a company’s general records as well as the business plan that has been submitted to comprehend the structure of the corporation and its current condition.
• It also examines the organization of a firm as it pertains to its employees.
• When purchasing or merging with a firm, it is crucial to have a thorough understanding of the ownership structure, which may be gained, especially during organizational due diligence. Competition analysis investigates and contrasts rival firms’ borders to learn more about the subject firm.
• By alerting the buyer about the target company’s risks (red flags) and letting them know about some of its unrealized potential, considerable value may be added.

Key steps involved in the fundraising due diligence process

When an investor does due diligence, they may see whether the data they used to make their original financing choice was reliable. Therefore, investors will investigate your company’s financials, organizational structure, legal papers, key individuals, employment contracts, suppliers, customers, and more.

It’s common knowledge that potential investors will examine your company’s finances closely. However, they will also investigate the credentials of your company’s founders, board members, and other essential employees.

As part of taking precautions to safeguard your IP, they will need all employees to sign an employment agreement. They will check your vendor contracts for any unusual dangers. They will check over your company’s IT systems if you sell software or provide tech support. They could give you a call to check on the satisfaction of your product’s customers.

What is included in the investment due diligence?

The immediate response to the query is “Everything”. The following is a more in-depth explanation of the due diligence process for venture capital:

• Management – Background checks on the company’s founders and management are standard practice for attracting investors.
• Legal elements – The legal aspects of running a business include securing the necessary licenses and permits, forming any necessary partnerships, drafting and filing articles of incorporation, and so on. Your intellectual property’s patents, licenses, etc., and other legal safeguards will be stored in your virtual data room. Any pending or previously resolved legal proceedings must also be disclosed.
• Financial reports – Profit and loss statements, budgets, and forecasts will all be scrutinized by the investor. You’ll also have to produce things like company strategy and customer and vendor contracts.
• Employees – To prove you’ve taken measures to safeguard your IP, such as having your staff sign contracts or agreements, you’ll need to provide copies of those documents.
• Technical Details – Investors are likely to want to learn more about your product’s inner workings, including the technology it employs and how you plan to handle security and scalability concerns.
• Client Details – Investors may inquire with a subset of your clientele about the state and prospects of your firm. All customer contracts will be checked to see whether they corroborate your forecasts.

What do investors look for in fundraising due diligence?

When researching probable liabilities, investors try to be as thorough as is humanly feasible. They will have to focus their attention on the most important parts of the company if they want to finish the process of doing due diligence in the shortest amount of time feasible. In general, investors pay the greatest attention to the following factors.

Preliminary Evaluation

Before committing to an expensive complete due diligence endeavor, it is common practice to do a preliminary examination, to establish whether or not a firm is a suitable financial, cultural, and strategic fit.

Here, investors will do the diligence on more than just your business. They will be thinking about the viability of the market and your place in it. Potential backers will want to know details about the market and your expected share. Aside from asking for it, they’ll probably look into it more on their own as well.

When investors see a limited prospective consumer base, they may decide to pull out of the agreement since there aren’t enough growth opportunities. Or maybe there just isn’t a good match between your product and the market.

Financial Due Diligence

As part of their due diligence, investors will likely ask more detailed questions about your company’s most important sources of income. Investors are concerned with the long-term growth prospects of the revenue sources. The economics per unit must be viable.

After that, investors will think about how your firm may expand and the potential income streams it has. No matter how impressive these metrics seem to potential investors, it is ultimately your company’s earnings that will provide cash flow. Your company may fail if it is unable to create sufficient profits. Potential backers are unlikely to put money into such an organization.

They will also examine your capital structure and the allocation of funds amongst various asset types by poring through your Balance Sheets.

Legal Due Diligence

If you want to attract investors, you need to show them that your business is operating within the law and that all of its registrations are accurate. If your business is a corporation, you will also need to produce annual meeting minutes, as well as letters verifying good standing. Having the articles of organization for your limited liability company (LLC) on hand is a must. You will also be expected to provide documentation of its good status with federal authorities. Licenses, regulatory concerns, contracts, and potential legal obligations are some of the areas often examined.

Technical Due Diligence

Technical details about your product, such as the technology used and your strategies for addressing security and scalability concerns, may be of interest to a potential investor. The functionality, manufacturing/development process, and distribution plan of your product may expect intense scrutiny from potential investors.

Investors will also want to see comprehensive code reviews of firms that sell software or use a technological platform. The quality of your code and the scalability of your platform will be evaluated.

They will also want to know whether you have exclusive rights to sell your goods or service. Your patents and other forms of intellectual property ownership will be scrutinized. Institutional investors often see disputes over intellectual property as a red flag.

Operational Due Diligence

Investors analyze the company’s operations or the means through which it transforms inputs into products or services. The majority of experts agree that this kind of investigation is the most prospective. The investor will want to know who your primary customers and vendors are.

They will be curious to find out whether any certain individuals form a significant chunk of your startup’s core team. It’s not always the case that a company’s product or service is what gives it an edge over the competition. Investors like company models with short operating cycles, such as those that build a brand via the expansion of distribution channels.

Final Evaluation and Investment Decision

A company owner faces a wide variety of threats. Investors keep tabs on all of these potential threats and factor them in when determining a company’s worth. Some business hazards are difficult to categorize, in contrast to the financial risks that can be readily detected using the Balance Sheet. Competition, commercial, legal, political, economic, etc. hazards all fall within this category.

Therefore, it is to the benefit of investors to have a plan or a strategy for reducing potential risks. Investors often review the Balance Sheet footnotes in search of potential future liabilities. Budgeting with these potential setbacks in mind can help you provide investors with a more credible strategy. Investors will make a calculated judgment after considering the opportunities and threats of your firm.

Get valuation done by experts for your fundraising!

The process of due diligence is exhaustive. When trying to grasp the intricacies of a sector, investors often seek counsel from professionals working inside it. When doing diligence on a corporation, it is important to take into account the aforementioned elements. However, due diligence might still cause a contract to fall through.

This occurs most often when an investor discovers information that the corporation omitted to disclose, either purposefully or unintentionally. Having Eqvista do a thorough appraisal may assist with this problem. Let our team of seasoned value experts ease the burden of this procedure for you. Contact us today and get a free consultation for your valuation!