[Please note that this is a general checklist for Angel Investor, Venture Capital and Private Equity Investment and does not constitute legal advice. As each jurisdiction may be different, you may want to speak to your local lawyer.]

The following checklist assumes that there will be a Startup Company (“Company”) whereby one or more investor(s) will provide an investment and participate in the equity of the Company. This can be used by seed investors such as angel investor, venture capital, and private equity fund investing into a startup.

Checklist for Investing in Startup

1. Purpose of the Startup

First Things First - is to understand the purpose of the Startup for planning purpose:

• who are the founders and the investors of the Startup?
• what are the primary commercial objectives?
• is it confined to a particular territory or technological field?
• what are the key interests of the parties to protect? 
• how do the parties expect to make a commercial return from the venture?
• what rights of control or participation do the parties expect?
• do the investors need or have an exit strategy?

Business plan can be a vital document to ensure that the Startup has a clear objective for the venture. It is common to identify the opening business plan in the investment agreement.

2. Ownership and Funding

Ownership. Ownership/voting shares of the parties will be vital:

• will it be an equity, debt or convertibles investment?
• will economic ownership and voting rights be the same?

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