The Pre-Seed Data Room: 14 Documents Investors Open Before They Reply

The 14 documents

• One-line company summary and elevator deck.
• Cap table (current and pro-forma).
• Articles of association and shareholders agreement.
• SEIS/EIS Advance Assurance letter.
• Founder service agreements and IP assignments.
• Customer list and live pipeline (anonymised if needed).
• 12-month financial model and runway tracker.
• R&D spend log and HMRC claim history.
• Trademark, patent and domain registry list.
• Key contracts (top 5 customers, top 5 suppliers).
• Hiring plan with EMI option pool and strike price.
• Risk register (commercial, technical, regulatory).
• Press, awards and customer testimonials.
• Founder bios with LinkedIn and references.

“The data room tells me whether the founder is operating a company or selling a story. I know within ten minutes.”