What to Put in an Australian Startup Investor Room Before a Term Sheet

TL;DR

• Start with the deck, model, KPI pack and cap table.
• Add ESOP, financing history, corporate and IP records for serious investors.
• Keep R&D, employee and customer evidence in more restricted folders where appropriate.
• Prepare the room before term-sheet conversations so documents do not slow the process.

A practical Australian investor-room structure

The investor room should answer the next layer of questions after the pitch deck. It should be easy for investors to verify financial performance, ownership and legal readiness without exposing every sensitive file too early.

Practical workflow

1. Investor-facing folder

Deck, fundraising summary, KPI pack and financial model.

2. Ownership folder

Cap table, financing history, ESOP and relevant equity records.

3. Corporate folder

Company registration, governance and approvals.

4. IP and people folder

Founder, employee and contractor IP plus key employment records.

5. Diligence folder

Material contracts, R&D support, customer evidence, security or compliance documents as needed.

What to prepare

• Pitch deck.
• Financial model and KPI support.
• Cap table and prior financing.
• ESOP records.
• Corporate and governance documents.
• IP, employment and selected diligence files.

Related SendNow resource: fundraising data room checklist.

Common mistakes

• Treating the room as a full company archive.
• Sharing employee-level data too broadly.
• Using outdated cap-table or model versions.
• Waiting until a term-sheet conversation to begin organizing documents.

External reference: ASIC. This article is educational and not legal, tax or financial advice.

See the VDR and Microsite workflow

Frequently asked questions

Should the full room be shared before a term sheet?

Not necessarily. Prepare it early, then disclose deeper folders as investor interest becomes serious.

What should be available first?

Deck, KPI evidence, model and current ownership information are usually the most important first layers.

Why separate folders by sensitivity?

It lets founders control access as the investor advances through the process.

Build a cleaner investor workflow

Use SendNow Microsites to keep deeper investor access organized and auditable.