Services for clients across India. Applicable state, sector and professional requirements are assessed before an engagement.
Diligence is an open-book exam where the questions are known in advance: corporate records, financials, tax, contracts, IP, cap table. Founders who prepare the data room before the term sheet keep leverage and momentum; founders who scramble after it leak both. This engagement runs sell-side readiness properly.
When this service is typically required
- A round is forming and diligence is weeks away — what investors actually check
- A previous diligence stalled on findings that were fixable
- The data room is a shared drive of unsorted PDFs
- Founders want an honest pre-mortem: what will diligence find?
Indicative scope
- Readiness audit across corporate, financial, tax, GST/TDS, ROC, IP and HR trails
- Red-flag memo with severity and cure-time for each finding
- Cure execution for the fixable: filings, registers, reconciliations, papering
- Data-room build: indexed, versioned, permissioned
- Q&A support through the diligence window
Key points at a glance
| Item | Position |
|---|---|
| Timing | Readiness work before the term sheet preserves valuation leverage |
| Findings | Most red flags are curable — if found by your side first |
| Data room | Indexed to the standard checklist investors' counsel actually send |
| Tone | Disclosed-and-explained beats discovered-and-negotiated, every time |
Deliverables
The red-flag memo, cured-items evidence, the structured data room, and a disclosure schedule draft aligned to what the room shows.
Information and documents generally required
Everything — that is the point: corporate records, financials, returns, contracts, IP filings, HR papers, prior round documents.
Engagement process
Client responsibilities, assumptions and reliance
Full disclosure to your own advisor is the working rule — surprises to us become surprises to investors at worse moments. Cure decisions and their costs are founder calls.
Scope exclusions
Deal negotiation and SHA/SSA legal drafting (coordinated with counsel), and buy-side diligence for investors (a separate engagement shape).
Frequently asked questions
How early is early enough?
Six to eight weeks before expected diligence is comfortable; less is workable with focus. The audit itself takes days — cures are what need calendar.
Will you tell investors about problems you find?
We work for you — findings go to you, with cure plans. What is disclosed and when is your call, advised honestly on how each choice tends to play.
What kills rounds most often?
Not scandal — drift: unfiled allotments, unregistered IP assignments, GST/TDS gaps, cap-table mismatches. All boring, all curable, all fatal in bulk at the wrong moment.
Is the data room reusable for the next round?
That is the design: maintained per the update protocol, round two starts from ready.
The applicable scope, documentation, professional responsibilities and timelines are agreed in an engagement letter before commencement.
Cap Table ManagementStartup ValuationROC FilingsRequest a Scope DiscussionThis page describes the service in general terms as on 6 August 2026 and is not professional advice or an assurance of any outcome. Registrations, filings, refunds and departmental outcomes depend on facts and the concerned authority. Figures and due dates change; verify current positions before acting.
| Compliance | Due | Note |
|---|---|---|
| FLA return (RBI) | 15 July (annual) | All entities with FDI/ODI on books |
| FC-GPR | 30 days from allotment | For fresh foreign investment |
| Valuation report (Rule 11UA / FEMA) | Before issue price is fixed | Method and valuer depend on route |
| ESOP: board/valuation/PAS-3 chain | Event-based | Perquisite TDS on exercise |
| DPIIT recognition | Anytime (before benefits) | Needed for 80-IAC and angel-tax relief |
Dates as generally applicable on 15 July 2026; extensions/notifications can change them — confirm current dates before relying.