Raising capital means being ready to open the books. A Data Room is a secure, organized repository of key company documents used during a due diligence (DD) process. Investors will use it to verify claims made in your pitch and evaluate your business at a deeper level.

If you're new to the term, check out The Insider’s Guide to Data Rooms – Andreessen Horowitz: A practical deep-dive into how top founders approach their data room setup and avoid common pitfalls.

What to Include in Your Data Room

👉🏽During the DD process, you will be asked for a wide range of materials. Prepare the following before you enter formal conversations with investors.

• [ ] Monthly P&L for the last ~2 years + Annual projections: revenues, costs, and expenses
• [ ] Revenues broken out by type (e.g. SaaS, implementation services, if any, etc.)
• [ ] Expenses broken into COGS and major Operating Expenses buckets (Marketing & Sales, R&D, General & Administrative)
• [ ] Customer info - such as monthly subscription revenue by customer
• [ ] ARR over time, quarterly new/upsell bookings, new logo adds over time, retention, ASP, and ARR contribution from top accounts
• [ ] Leading indicators of growth (e.g., MQLs, SQLs, demos, POCs) over time
• [ ] Marketing collateral
• [ ] Articles of incorporation and legal documents
• [ ] Financial Documents- Previous audits, tax records, any financial evaluations from external providers, profit and loss statements, cash flow projections and more
• [ ] Historical Documents - minutes from Board meetings, records of major past decisions, and everything an investor ought to know before committing to you
• [ ] HR Documents - contracts and equity agreements with all employees, future HR Plans, etc.
• [ ] Records of ownership – often in the form of a Cap Table
• [ ] Shareholder certificates
• [ ] Previous funding round records and liquidity events
• [ ] A comprehensive record of company financials and future projections