How to build a seed data room
The folder structure investors expect, what goes in each, and what to leave out.
7 min read
The structure
A seed data room has six sections: corporate (incorporation documents, registers, board approvals), equity (cap table and every signed instrument), financials (historicals if any, and the model), commercial (key contracts and pipeline evidence), team (founder agreements, IP assignment, key hires), and the deck.
The test for every document: does it answer a question an investor would otherwise email you? If not, it is noise.
What investors actually check
That the cap table matches the signed instruments. That IP is assigned to the company, not the founders. That founder equity has vesting. That prior SAFEs are accounted for in fully diluted numbers. These four catch most seed-stage surprises.
Access discipline
Grant access per investor, not with one shared link. When a process ends, revoke that investor without disturbing the rest. Watch what they open; the section an investor spends time on is a preview of the partner meeting discussion.