Fundraise Preparation

Ideally before you go to market looking for investors. That gives you time to find records, resolve inconsistencies and address gaps before they interrupt a promising conversation. Tell us your fundraising stage and timetable: we will recommend a practical sequence, whether the round is months away or diligence has already started. Tidying the records should not become the critical path to your funding.

Yes. Angel investors, syndicates and venture funds can all scrutinise your legal records, although the scale of their diligence varies. This service is most useful where your company has enough history, agreements or ownership questions to justify structured preparation. A simple early-stage company may need a smaller scope, not the full package. Get in touch about your fundraising aims and what is already organised; we will recommend proportionate work and confirm the fee before starting.

It depends on your business, stage and target investors. We expect the legal review pack usually to include: corporate and ownership records, such as the cap table, register of members, share issues and transfers, options and previous funding; governance documents and approvals; founder, employee, contractor and adviser agreements; IP assignments, registrations, software licences and relevant open-source records; key customer, supplier and partnership contracts; privacy notices, DPAs, security commitments and relevant incident records; regulatory permissions and material correspondence; and records of disputes, insurance, borrowing, grants or premises commitments where relevant. Pension and employment-policy records can also matter as the team grows. Investors may also ask for accounts, forecasts and tax records: we identify legal dependencies and organise relevant material, but do not audit the figures or verify tax treatment. We choose a core review pack around your business and round, rather than asking for every document by default.

We compare your cap table with the register of members, share allotment and transfer records, approvals, previous funding documents and relevant option or convertible records you provide. We identify inconsistencies or missing evidence and explain what needs resolving. The spreadsheet and its supporting records should tell a consistent story. Checking those records is different from reconstructing a history where documents are missing, resolving disputed ownership or issuing a formal ownership opinion. If we find a deeper problem, we explain it and discuss the appropriate next steps separately.

We do routine fixes as well as identify issues. The starting package includes up to five straightforward remedial documents or targeted amendments: for example, a current board or shareholder resolution where appropriate, a founder or contractor IP assignment, a confidentiality agreement or a targeted amendment to an existing contract. We select the actual fixes with you after the review, in line with your priorities, and incorporate one combined set of team comments. Each document or amendment uses one of the five places; one issue needing several documents may use several places. We reserve the allowance upfront and choose the specific fixes once the findings are available. Substantial rewrites, complex share or option work, disputed rights and counterparty negotiations need a separate scope.

This service prepares the company for diligence and the round; it does not by default include negotiating a term sheet, drafting investment agreements or completing the transaction. We can help with those stages too under a different scope and involve specialist advisers where appropriate. Please get in touch to discuss what we can support with, whether you need help with the whole round or a particular stage.

It should not. Tell us what they are doing and share their preparation or diligence checklist. We focus on the existing records, gaps and agreed fixes that still need an owner, and define the handoff. If your platform or lawyer already covers all of that, you may not need this separate service. The point is to remove gaps, not add another adviser doing the same job.

It helps you build a strong legal foundation and show investors a business that takes its records, rights and responsibilities seriously. You can explain the legal position with organised evidence and tackle avoidable gaps before they become distractions. Investors may still ask new questions, require different terms or choose not to invest. We focus on what you can control: preparation, coherent records and informed decisions. Investor questions are inevitable; starting every answer with “we’ll have to find that” need not be.

We consider the company structure, available records, document volume and complexity, share history and fundraising timetable before confirming the fixed fee. The £5,000 starting package includes the legal review and an allowance of up to five routine documents or targeted amendments; we choose those fixes with you once the findings are available. If the review reveals substantial further work, we explain it and discuss a separate scope before doing that work. If you only need a focused gap check or a smaller task, get in touch and we will discuss a proportionate quote or the Business Legal Health Check.

Yes. Recurring contracts, approvals and follow-up work can move into an outsourced legal-function plan. We can also support round execution and other specialist needs under a separate scope. Start a plan within 30 days of completion and we credit the project fee you paid, up to £2,500, against month one.