Maor Investments, founded by Phillippe Guez and Eric Elalouf, is a Luxembourg-based VC fund and has become a leading growth investor in the Israeli tech ecosystem. With a local team based in Tel-Aviv, Maor enjoys extensive sourcing capabilities and is an investor in some of the most rapidly growing Israeli tech companies, including Minute Media, Aidoc, BlueVine, Coralogix and WSC Sports. They recently conducted the fundraising of their second fund using DocSend’s virtual data room.

The Challenge

Ido Hart, Partner at Maor Investments, expressed the need for Maor Investments to securely share sensitive financial documents with potential limited partners (LPs) as part of the fundraising process of their new fund. Additionally, they needed data and insights to help them prioritize follow-up with interested parties.

The Solution

Ido and the Maor team rely on DocSend’s virtual data room (VDR) to securely share decks, legal documents and other materials with potential LPs and investors. Thanks to DocSend’s analytics, firm partners are able to gauge potential investors’ interest in their fund and strategically follow-up with the right stakeholders.

Securely sharing investment materials with ease

As a venture capital firm that invests in rapidly growing startups, the team at Maor Investments is constantly trying to keep up to speed with the level of innovation of their own portfolio companies. As part of the fundraising process of Maor’s second fund, Ido needed a solution that would protect his firm’s sensitive documents that are shared with potential investors and LPs.

Ido had first heard of DocSend from portfolio companies of his firm, who were using DocSend to raise their capital. “In the last two years we saw a lot of our portfolio companies were using DocSend. We were impressed to hear how you could restrict access to certain viewers and set expiration dates,” Ido shared. After initially trying out the software, Ido upgraded to the Advanced plan, so his entire firm could have more control over the materials they send out to potential investors.

Ido appreciates how he can easily integrate DocSend with Microsoft OneDrive, where his team members create and collaborate on all of their internal files. Once documents are ready to be shared with potential investors, the team can easily upload investment decks, spreadsheets and other types of documents from OneDrive into their DocSend account – fast and secure.

When searching for a virtual data room, security was our top priority. We felt that DocSend provided strong security features, including access restrictions, authentication, and NDAs, that would allow us to better control the documents we are sharing with potential investors.

Ido Hart

Partner, Maor Investments

Protecting virtual data rooms with built-in NDAs

Some investment firms rely on a separate software to manage non-disclosure agreements (NDAs). This can easily become a disjointed experience for signers, often with those requests getting lost in potential investors’ inboxes, thus delaying the entire due diligence process.

The team at Maor Investments wanted a seamless way for potential investors to sign an NDA before accessing investment materials, all within their virtual data room. Security and compliance are critical for Maor Investments, so they needed a way to ensure all potential investors were easily agreeing to their privacy terms before reviewing due diligence documents.

With DocSend’s NDA, Ido can easily protect his virtual data rooms. “I really like the flexibility of DocSend’s NDA feature and its ability to upload different NDAs for different investors, despite showcasing the same data room of documents. For less sensitive materials, with one click, I can remove the NDA functionality,” Ido shared.

NDAs embedded within DocSend have been very convenient when raising our second fund from LPs. The investor can easily sign the NDA and access our data room of investment documents, all in one click and within the same viewer experience.

Ido Hart

Partner, Maor Investments

Setting up a virtual data room in less than a day

In a remote fundraising environment, the challenge many investment firms face is maintaining a high level of security over sensitive information and doing so in a timely manner. Working with potential investors across Europe, Maor Investments needed a secure way to have more control over the documents they were sending out internationally to potential investors and LPs.

During their initial search, Ido was looking for a cost-effective data room solution that prioritized security and customization. “We have seen many different data room platforms and been consumers of probably twenty different data room solutions before encountering DocSend. We found DocSend to be by far the best in terms of the user interface, and at the same time very cost-effective as a virtual data room,” Ido shared. When he first came across DocSend’s VDR, Ido was impressed to see that he could restrict access to specific email addresses, set expiration dates, and require an NDA for access to certain materials. Additionally, members of his execution team could customize their VDR with a unique banner and personalized logo.

With DocSend, Ido was able to create different data rooms to showcase the impressive work of his firm and their portfolio companies. “We create data rooms by the funnel stage of the fundraising process. One of our VDRs contains a teaser deck that we send out as an initial overview to potential LPs. Another VDR we create holds investor committee memos, fund performance spreadsheets, legal documents, purchase agreements, certificates of incorporation, and more, to investors that are committing to partner with us,” Ido shared. With a vast list of sensitive files to keep track of, the team at Maor Investments can find peace of mind, from relying on DocSend’s virtual data room for potential investors.

One of the things we like the most in DocSend is its super intuitive user experience and that it’s completely self-serve. This allowed us to set up a full virtual data room in less than a day, and easily share it with a broad audience of different potential investors, even while being on the road.

Ido Hart

Partner, Maor Investments

DocSend’s document analytics optimize investor prioritization

While most virtual data rooms provide only a broad glimpse of user activity, DocSend’s virtual data room showcases page-by-page engagement metrics that arm partners with critical insights on where to prioritize their time. “The feature we were most excited about trying was tracking what pages viewers spend the most time on and which potential investors were the most interested in our firm,” Ido shared. “With DocSend, we are able to smartly deal source and prioritize potential investors through viewing their document analytics,” Ido shared. For example, if a potential investor spends a long period of time carefully reading their overview deck, Ido would know that this might be someone who is seriously considering investing.

Refining messaging to investors with analytics

Additionally, Ido relies on DocSend’s analytics to inform data-driven decisions on how to best update investor materials. “DocSend’s analytics are really helpful for us to see which slides matter most to potential investors. We are constantly updating our materials, so when we make changes, we focus on sharpening the message of the most viewed slides, while getting rid of redundant slides which attracted no investor interest,” Ido shared.

As the team at Maor Investments completed the fundraise of their second fund, they were able to optimize the impact of their investment decks. By prioritizing what matters most to their investors with DocSend’s analytics, Ido and the team at Maor Investments told an effective narrative about their firm that resonated with their audience and helped them secure their funding.

The post Maor Investments uses DocSend’s virtual data room to raise capital from limited partners appeared first on DocSend.

Retail insights and ecommerce mystery shopper platform Humii combines cutting-edge technology with real human analysis to help brands deliver a superior online shopping experience. When Humii needed a secure way to send sensitive files with investors, they started using DocSend to store, control, and track documents.

They found it so effective that they expanded their use, leveraging DocSend for day-to-day business operations, like sharing confidential reports with customers.

The challenge

When Humii started raising capital, they faced the same challenge as many startups – the company needed a way to share sensitive investor documents. Email wasn’t secure enough, and Google Drive didn’t look professional. The Humii team needed a solution that could control access to investor material, so that no one could download sensitive files and potentially send them to unsecure, external third-parties.

It's been a real game changer for us, moving away from sharing files via email and Google Drive. The ability to track clearly who accessed which files and how engaged they are with each of them has improved our end-to-end fundraising process .

Andy Evans

Co-Founder, Humii

The solution

Humii started using DocSend’s virtual data room to control access to all investor documents, including sensitive financial information that shouldn’t be shared freely. After seeing success with investors, the team at Humii expanded DocSend’s capabilities to include secure file sharing with prospects and customers, from pre-sales documents to crucial data reports.

Controlling investor materials in DocSend’s virtual data room

When creating a personalized virtual data room to create a unique experience for each venture capital firm, Andy can easily pull in all his investor documents from his desktop or external storage provider, and protect them with a one-click non-disclosure agreement (NDA). DocSend makes securely sharing documents easy for business owners like Andy, who can easily have investors sign an NDA before accessing material through Humii’s custom data room. DocSend’s document analytics gave Andy valuable insight into which content investors were engaging with most.

This data enabled him to have more compelling client conversations and tailor his follow-up calls accordingly. With DocSend, Andy was able to protect investor memorandums and glean valuable insights, like the fact that investors were engaging most with the company’s financials.

The virtual data room is a great way to control access, so that people can't just download a document and send it out to thousands of people. We can clearly see who has access, which is incredibly useful.

Andy Evans

Co-Founder, Humii

Narrowing down the sales funnel with DocSend’s engagement metrics

With DocSend, Humii has improved their sales process with dedicated client portals for each prospect. When that prospect becomes a customer, they continue to access all files going forward within the same client portal — a seamless onboarding process. “It was really a frictionless evolution for our customers,” Andy shared. He went on, “When we first pitch to a customer, we share details in their client portal on how our reports can improve their businesses, as well as information on pricing. Once they become a client, they can access all of their information in the same portal.”

When sales teams send out pricing information and explainer decks to prospects, they can see which parts of a document the prospect has engaged with the most.

Seeing when people are browsing through the document means you know they skimmed the data before you’re sitting in front of them. You know they have some context, which tells you what leads care about before your meeting even starts.

Andy Evans

Co-Founder, Humii

Protecting sensitive information in DocSend’s client portals

As part of their service to customers, Humii sends performance reports that contain sensitive information about each brand’s online shopping experience. Every report contains a score for each stage of the customer lifecycle and recommendations for improvement.

Humii has set up client portals for each customer, so that all reports are secure and centralized. When a customer wants to compare previous performance reports with a current one, all documents are easy to find in one centralized access point. With DocSend data rooms, there’s no risk that customer reports will get into the wrong hands.

If your business isn’t performing well, that’s not something you want your competitors to know. At a previous company, I've seen that type of thing go horribly wrong with getting the wrong data sent to the wrong customer, and DocSend prevents that from happening.

Andy Evans

Co-Founder, Humii

The post Humii locks down sensitive investor and customer documents with DocSend appeared first on DocSend.

An emerging venture capital firm that was established during a time when remote working was becoming more of the norm was looking for a better way to organize files and successfully fundraise across a distributed team in the United States. This firm turned to Dropbox and DocSend to allow them to work most effectively from anywhere and raise their fund I initial investment.

The Challenge

Prior to Dropbox and DocSend, the Director of Investor Relations at the emerging fund shared that his firm needed a more secure way to share sensitive financial documents with potential limited partners (LPs) in order to raise their fund I initial investments.

The Solution

The Director of Investor of Relations at the company uses Dropbox’s file sync platform and DocSend’s secure document sharing solution to seamlessly store essential firm operating files and securely share and optimize their outreach to potential LPs and investors.

Dropbox stores all collaborative internal firm materials

As the organization began when most emerging firms needed to adapt to a remote working environment, the team brought on Dropbox from the start to be the source of truth for all files and information related to internal operations. “We create most of our files on Microsoft Word, Powerpoint, and Excel and we are relieved to know they are always backed up on Dropbox,” the director shared.

No matter where someone on the team is located, all important files including investment strategies, underlying portfolio fund research, risk-return analysis documents, and risk management procedures are up-to-date and protected. The team can easily make revisions and final edits in Dropbox and get notified when someone updates a document. “The shared folder and group folder structures in Dropbox give us more control over sensitive financial information,” the director shared.

The team is largely distributed across the United States, so having a centralized source of information is critical for remote collaboration. In addition to full-time staff members and fund fellows, the Director of Investor Relations works with an external marketing team that creates customized PDFs and marketing collateral. “We’re able to revise different iterations of one-pagers and investment decks that our marketing team creates for us. We can comment back and forth to get the look and design right,” the director shared. Once the document is finalized, the director can upload it to DocSend right from his Dropbox account.

DocSend protects sensitive financial documents shared with potential LPs

The Director of Investor Relations is responsible for identifying a broad group of potential investors and raising capital for the firm’s first fund. When he first uploads materials into DocSend, the director can set advanced security over confidential financial documents. He can create a unique passcode, require email verification, and set expiration dates, so that only a targeted list of potential investors are accessing his files. “I want our financial information to be broadly distributed among potential investors; however, I also want to control access, so it doesn’t end up in the hands of other funds who might be looking to replicate what we are doing,” he shared.

Several overview decks and financial documents require signed NDAs before potential investors can access them. The director can simply upload the firm’s standard NDA into DocSend and drag and drop designated signable fields directly into his document. Whenever a file requires this extra layer of security, he can simply require an NDA in one-click. Potential LPs can breeze through the NDA signature process with DocSend’s intuitive solution, built into the document viewing workflow.

DocSend has given us a new way to manage files that we are sharing with potential LPs and investors for our emerging fund. From a control perspective and managing files that are too big to send over email as an attachment, I love DocSend.

Director of Investor Relations

Emerging Venture Capital Firm

Closing an emerging venture capital fund using DocSend’s virtual data room

Once the Director of Investor Relations has uploaded his files into DocSend, he creates a virtual data room to share all critical investment information in a single link. “I simply embed the DocSend data room link into my email to our investors. Potential LPs and investors can then access reference documents and financial documents, without needing to download software,” the director shared. Potential investors can easily view due diligence questionnaires, fact sheets, and legal documents, all within their browsers on any device. Additionally, he can personalize his virtual data room with a custom banner image and logo, which provides a clean viewing experience for viewers.

For other documents that require more protection, the director can add an NDA in one-click, as well as password protection or email verification. Instead of manually attaching files to an email, which could be easily downloaded and shared with third-parties, the director can easily safeguard sensitive financial information in DocSend’s virtual data room.

DocSend’s analytics provide insights into LP interest

Once potential LPs and investors access his virtual data room, the Director of Investor Relations is notified via email, so he knows exactly who has reviewed which of his files. The director can see page-by-page analytics, which “gives a deeper understanding of where potential LPs and investors are focusing their attention within a particular document, which has allowed us to improve relationships with specific investors,” he shared. DocSend’s document analytics can help shape conversations with potential LPs and investors, helping him have more meaningful interactions.

DocSend’s analytics helps us to determine what is working and what is not and what needs to be removed from the deck in the future and where we can potentially enhance information.

Director of Investor Relations

Emerging Venture Capital Firm

The director’s efforts creating an impactful investor experience have ultimately paid off, as the emerging firm recently closed their fund I initial investments. “We had a handful of LPs signing off after they accessed our data room in DocSend. Our data room was easy for me to create and seamless for LPs to view,” he shared.

The post An emerging firm relies on Dropbox and DocSend to securely manage their operations and raise capital from limited partners appeared first on DocSend.

Bringing investors on board with SAFE agreements

DocSend launched multi-party eSignature just as the Flow team was garnering serious interest from individual investors. As Chris Boncimino, Co-Founder of Flow Networks, puts it, “DocSend came through for us in the nick of time. We were managing investment documents with DocSend data rooms when we realized we were going to need eSignature capabilities to bring investors on board. Right when we needed it most, DocSend released its two-way eSignature feature, which allowed us to do even more with the software we already loved.” By adopting eSignature, Chris and the Flow team knew they’d be deepening their use of DocSend to match the company’s expansion: “DocSend has a natural unfolding of capabilities that has kept pace with our own growth. As we’ve become more sophisticated, so has our use of DocSend.”

We realized we were going to need eSignature capabilities to bring investors on board. When DocSend released its eSignature feature, it allowed us to do even more with software we already loved.

Chris Boncimino

Co-Founder, Flow Networks

During their friends and family raise, Chris and his team positioned eSignature at the endpoint of their investor outreach strategy. As Chris explains, “The friends and family round involves a lot of conversations with a lot of people. We’d schedule 3-4 chats with potential investors, and during the last of these we’d ask if they’d like us to send over additional information, including our SAFE template.” Whenever an investor showed high intent, Chris leaned on DocSend to send and sign an executable, personalized SAFE note with investment terms.

How the Flow team gets SAFEs signed with DocSend

Chris has a well-developed, repeatable process in place to get his SAFEs executed. After an investor says they’re ready to come on board, Chris customizes a SAFE template with the investor’s name, investment amount, and discount rate. Then, Chris uploads that SAFE PDF to DocSend and embeds the necessary fields for each signer using DocSend’s multi-party eSignature capability. “DocSend covers us through the entire fundraising process. Investors view our pitch deck and all financial documents in DocSend, so when it comes time to close our deal, e-signing SAFEs with DocSend allows for a seamless experience.”

From simple presentations, to eSignature, to data rooms, DocSend has transformed the way we interact with investors and VCs who are looking at us.

Chris Boncimino

Co-Founder, Flow Networks

Once the SAFE notes are uploaded and all the fields set, Chris creates a DocSend link and embeds the link in an email template that he personalizes for each investor. Once the SAFE template is executed by all parties, Chris opens Flow’s data room for that investor.

From e-Signing SAFEs to accessing the investor Data Room

As Chris explains, DocSend’s eSignature feature is closely tied to the team’s data room. This is because the Flow team sees eSignature as both a tool for fundraising and for strengthening relationships. “Once we get that signed SAFE note back from an investor, we know they’re now part of the Flow family and we can immediately open our Investor Data Room to them.” The Flow data room contains every document an investor has already seen through the fundraising process, plus materials from quarterly meetings and press about the company. “Our data room brings all investors together in one well-organized place. DocSend’s eSignature tool is the key that unlocks the door to this room.”

Our data room brings all investors together in one well-organized place. DocSend’s eSignature tool is the key that unlocks the door to this room.

Chris Boncimino

Co-Founder, Flow Networks

E-signing beyond fundraising

DocSend’s eSignature feature is more than just a fundraising tool for Flow Networks. When onboarding new hires, for example, Chris and the Flow team use eSignature to sign employment agreements. They also use it for documents that safeguard mission-critical information, such as NDAs. “DocSend’s eSignature feature worked so well for us with SAFEs that we integrated it into other aspects of our business,” explains Chris. From pre- to post-fundraise, the Flow Networks team relies on DocSend as they help a growing number of businesses upgrade their payment experiences.

The post From pitch decks to signing SAFE notes, Flow Networks uses DocSend as its full-circle fundraising platform appeared first on DocSend.

Aperture Venture Capital is an investment fintech fund and corporate partner network that invests in diverse founders and companies of The Multicultural Mainstream. They are on a mission to redefine the venture landscape for generations of diverse entrepreneurs by building an ecosystem engineered for successful exits. They rely on DocSend’s platform to fundraise from major investors and limited partners (LPs), including FIS, Truist Financial, and PayPal to catalyze a new generation of founders and their companies.

The Challenge

William Crowder, Founder and Managing Partner of Aperture Venture Capital, was searching for a more secure way to externally share and track confidential fundraising pitch decks with potential LPs and investors.

The Solution:

William turned to Dropbox’s file storage and DocSend’s secure document sharing to unify the way he creates and distributes investment files both within and outside of his organization. 

Dropbox safely stores internal investment documentation 

When starting a venture capital fund, VCs must build trusted relationships with potential limited partners (LPs) in the hopes of raising funds. At the core of building trust is knowing that no matter where someone might be working, their organization’s files are secure. 

When searching for a way to house all of his venture firm’s files, William turned to a solution that he was already familiar with using. As a user of the Dropbox Personal plan, William knew the first-hand benefits of organizing his files on Dropbox’s intuitive cloud storage platform. Adding an additional business license for his firm only seemed second nature. “Our entire firm runs on Dropbox. It’s easy for me to grant access to different documents using file permissions, depending on who is working with us.” William is able to customize permission access to a range of individuals working with his firm, whether they are legal contractors, full-time employees, or fund administrators. Everyone can easily access necessary materials for daily operations, including employment agreements, compensation packages, and financial models.

Raising initial funds with DocSend’s virtual data room  

Once William was ready to send out final documents to potential investors that he created using Microsoft Suite products in Dropbox, he uploaded them into his DocSend virtual data room. Though there were many options to consider when first evaluating data room software, William chose DocSend because of its overall frictionless user experience for potential investors. “What we were looking to raise and who we were going to be raising the money from, I wanted to make sure that everything we put together looked as professional as possible, but was easy to access for potential investors & LPs. That’s where DocSend’s virtual data rooms came into play,” William shared. Aperture Venture Capital’s data room reflects the polished nature of the firm, containing customized branding and logos. 

Once he got started with DocSend’s virtual data room, William uploaded all of his firm’s introductory materials and shared it with potential LPs and investors. His data room holds his fund’s pitch deck, one pagers, and all due diligence materials. Potential investors can easily access fund documents and investment memos right in their browsers. Additionally, William can control who can download files and set expiration dates, granting him full control over sensitive funding information. With DocSend, so far, Aperture Venture Capital has closed its first round of a $75 million corporate diversity fund and its second close is well underway, aiming to power a more inclusive economy. 

DocSend has been seamless in terms of people accessing the materials and being able to see everything they need to see. It's a perfect mix of an easy user experience and great peace of mind.

William Crowder

Founder and Managing Partner, Aperture Venture Capital

Seamless updates after sharing virtual data rooms

For many VCs, positioning their core message can be an evolving process. Initial drafts might go through many iterations until managing partners see traction with potential investors. 

As William was initially fundraising for Aperture Venture Capital, he was able to seamlessly test out different versions of his pitch decks using DocSend. Meticulous to detail, William shared that in the early stages, there were many changes, whether it was the branding, messaging, or the overall look and feel of the virtual data room. William wanted to ensure that potential investors had the right information, without bombarding them with notifications of a new version or email attachments. “With DocSend, we were able to update our pitch deck and virtual data room without notifying the end consumer of that information. Automatically, everyone has the latest versions, without any tedious notifications. It positions us in the best light, especially in a critical time when we are trying to form relationships,” William shared. 

Our decision to use DocSend’s data room for fundraising is largely driven by the idea of version control. Having the ability to control distribution and access to our information has been invaluable to us.

William Crowder

Founder and Managing Partner, Aperture Venture Capital

Protecting sensitive information with advanced security controls in DocSend

When initially raising funds for a new venture capital firm, managing partners want to keep confidential information tightly secured to protect the narrative and reputation of the firm. With DocSend, William has more control over the information he sends out to dozens of potential LPs. For example, when sending out a virtual data room, William sets an expiration date. Sometimes, investors will reach back out after the link expires, which might indicate that they are considering an investment. 

On the other hand, if there are individuals requesting access to the link, but they were not granted information, William can see exactly who was trying to view his virtual data room. “Especially when you are sharing proprietary information online, once you press send, typically what you put out there is pretty much gone. We wanted more control over our fundraising documents. In this new landscape of virtual meetings, DocSend provides us with peace of mind knowing our documents aren’t ending up in the wrong hands,” William shared. 

DocSend’s analytics optimizes venture capital fundraising

Early on in the fundraising process, William relied on DocSend’s document analytics to help refine his pitch deck. “In the beginning, we were trying to figure out what was resonating and what was not. DocSend lets us see what pages people were spending the most time on, which helped us understand the most critical areas of our pitch,” William shared.  

Additionally, DocSend’s analytics helped William approach conversations with potential investors and LPs with an idea of what they cared about most. He was able to see the parts of the deck that people spent the most time on, letting him make his conversations most relevant to potential investors. “By looking at how much time people are spending on specific slides, I’m more prepared when approaching meetings with potential investors and am able to anticipate any questions that people might have beforehand,” William shared. DocSend provides critical information that helps personalize meetings with potential investors early on in the fundraising process. 

Forming warm introductions with potential investors 

It can be daunting to ask for investors to provide warm introductions to a colleague or a peer. DocSend can help identify new parties that may be interested if someone forwards a link on to a potential LP. “If a potential LP we met thinks a peer of theirs might be interested, I can see who they have forwarded our pitch deck to,” William shared. Uncovering these warm leads in DocSend could take hours out of the painstaking process of trying to determine whether an LP has already viewed your virtual data room. 

Additionally, DocSend’s forwarding analytics show managing partners when pitch decks are getting into the hands of the right decision makers. “I love watching who is accessing the pitch deck and seeing how it gets forwarded within an organization. I’ll use this as a trigger for when to reach out proactively. It takes a ton of guesswork out of the equation and points us to real leads,” William shared.  

Looking ahead to the future: utilizing block list to protect sensitive fundraising materials 

As Aperture Venture Capital continues to raise the rest of its $75 million fund, William is looking forward to continuing to explore all that DocSend has to offer for his team. “I am excited to try out the block list feature. It’s a great way to add additional layers of security that could prevent potential third-parties from viewing our documents,” William shared. 

With Dropbox and DocSend, William is able to continue to hyperfocus on his venture firm’s mission and pave the way for a new generation of diverse founders. 

The post Aperture Venture Capital successfully raises the first round of their investment fund using Dropbox and DocSend appeared first on DocSend.

Zazuu is a money transfer platform that helps people avoid unknown hidden fees when sending money to Africa. Zazuu is a growing startup that relies on DocSend to raise funds, as they focus on their mission to make sending money across borders more intuitive and accessible to Africans, wherever they are in the world.

The Challenge

Prior to DocSend, Kay Akinwunmi, Co-Founder and CEO, would send out his pitch deck to hundreds of potential investors as an email attachment. But needing to continuously make changes to his deck and wanting more peace of mind on the distribution of his deck, Kay wanted to find a more secure sharing solution that would provide him more security, visibility, and insights.

The Solution:

Kay turned to DocSend’s secure document sharing solution to more strategically manage outreach and follow-up to potential investors.

Creating pitch deck changes in one click

Time is everything to a founder. When working with limited time and resources, especially in the early days of a startup, founders need to efficiently prioritize activities that will have maximum impact.

For Kay Akinwunmi, his experience was no different. While growing his early-stage venture, a platform that makes transfering money across borders a better experience for customers, Kay wanted to more effectively communicate with potential investors. “Before using DocSend, I had been sending my deck manually as an old school PDF to loads of people and we had no visibility into if they viewed it and who was potentially interested. Our deck, company narrative, and numbers were constantly changing. It was very hard to manage who had which version, and it was not the most respectful to go back to those investors and share an updated version,” Kay shared. In addition to managing version control errors with potential investors, Kay needed valuable time back in his day. Manually emailing hundreds of potential investors with updates was not a sustainable solution.

When Kay first heard about DocSend, he immediately understood the value it could have on his day to day and was excited to gain more control over the fundraising process. “DocSend has been extremely helpful with revisions. We can make an instant change to our deck and now that every single person has the latest version straightaway,” Kay mentioned. He has saved countless hours and consolidated what previously was multiple versions of his pitch deck into one intuitive, up-to-date version.

DocSend has given us peace of mind that we can update our deck and know that anyone who opens a link will have the latest version. As a founder, that is very powerful; to have the confidence that we can control the slides and our company narrative, and know that people are never sitting with an outdated version.

Kay Akinwunmi

Co-Founder and CEO, Zazuu

Increased visibility into investor interest

Kay also wanted to more effectively prioritize his investor wishlist, going after the right investors who were most interested in his product. “Before DocSend, we would send our deck to dozens of investors. It was tough to then prioritize next steps because you did not know who was opening these emails much less looking at our deck,” Kay recalled.

Now, armed with DocSend’s document analytics, Kay is having a completely different experience. Instead of waiting for an email response, Kay can proactively know whether potential investors are interested in his company before they reach out. “I love receiving  notifications that investors are viewing my deck. Tracking investor activity in real-time helps me know when to reach out to them, what part of the deck they’re most interested in, and therefore, where to focus my conversation,” he shared. Kay can take charge and prioritize the right investors to spend time pursuing.

For example, when Kay was engaging with the CEO of a venture capital firm, he sent his DocSend pitch deck link via WhatsApp and he did not receive a reply. While a lack of response would have been a cause for concern without DocSend, Kay slowly learned that the VC firm was indeed very interested in his company. “The CEO was in Portugal at the time and over the weekend I noticed the same link I had sent to him was opened in Dubai, Amsterdam, and all over the globe.” Picking up on the signal that the firm was reviewing his deck even days after sending his initial pitch, Kay remained hopeful, “This was invaluable information then knowing I should follow up. They are actually one of our investors now.”

Additionally, Kay has uncovered new investor opportunities through DocSend. “We’ve been able to identify new investors for Zazuu by seeing when our deck is forwarded onto someone else and they enter their email to view the pitch deck. I’ll follow-up with them and see if they have any questions,” Kay shared. By using DocSend’s analytics, Kay is able to grow his top of funnel and identify new, potentially interested investors.

DocSend has let us have conversations with investors that would not have otherwise happened through tracking our pitch deck link that has been forwarded to others.

Kay Akinwunmi

Co-Founder and CEO, Zazuu

Creating more meaningful conversations with investors

Time becomes even more critical for founders when they have to set-up meetings with potential investors. For Kay, these meetings provided a limited time period to share his company mission and vision in more color than a static deck can do. With DocSend, Kay can use his time with his investors most effectively because he goes into meetings knowing exactly what areas of his pitch deck investors spent the most time on. As Kay shares, “DocSend’s insights allowed us to have better control over the flow of the conversation with potential investors. I now maximize my time with potential investors knowing they have seen the deck and sometimes don’t even need to pitch to them during our meetings.” Instead of repeating information, Kay is able to dig into the finer details and go straight into answering questions. Appreciating more nuanced conversations with investors, Kay remarks, “DocSend has been really useful. There is not any other way to track VC activity on pitch decks and accelerate the conversations we are having with potential investors.”

Additionally, at the end of his pitch deck, he includes an additional DocSend link to a frequently asked questions presentation. Kay shares, “It was helpful for us to know when potential investors wanted to learn even more because it meant they were very interested.” Overall, DocSend provides visibility into potential investor activity and interest, allowing Kay to target and partner with the right people to make his dream of creating a fairer market for international financial transfers become a reality.

DocSend is a must have tool for an effective fundraising process. Uncovering DocSend insights can boost your confidence as a founder and even the playing field. It would have been very difficult for us to complete our pre-seed raise and get to where we are today without DocSend.

Kay Akinwunmi

Co-Founder and CEO, Zazuu

The post Zazuu narrows down a funnel of hundreds of investors with DocSend to raise their pre-seed round appeared first on DocSend.

Combining scientific expertise and business savvy in one location

Viraj Mane, co-founder and Chief Scientific Officer of Lactiga, has to deal with challenges most software-related startups don’t have to face: biotechnology startups have to navigate legal and regulatory requirements for medical products. When biotech companies fundraise, they need to show scientific traction in addition to more traditional business metrics like monthly recurring revenue or customer acquisition costs. Viraj and his team needed a single location where they could organize their scientific expertise and show Lactiga’s business fundamentals to potential investors.

Data room analytics enable proactive investor outreach

As Viraj explains, “We decided to use DocSend data rooms to organize our scientific results and market traction because they were so much cleaner than the alternatives we had been working with.” Prior to DocSend, Viraj and his team had been using cloud-based storage on Google Drive to house their research and business documents for investors. The problem? “Earlier solutions like Google Drive didn’t give me any tracking or visibility into time spent on specific assets. They didn’t tell me who had viewed what or which documents might have been forwarded on to other investors. To make matters worse, investors had to weed through many different files to find what they needed.”

With DocSend’s analytics, Viraj can see when potential investors view crucial documents, how long they spent, and what particularly they are most interested in. This visibility helps him create proactive investor outreach strategies. “Before DocSend, I didn’t know whether investors were reviewing our fundraising resources without me contacting them over and over again. I’m now able to see when investors look through our documents; a few days after they do so, I know it’s a suitable time to reach out and continue the conversation. DocSend’s analytics have taken the guesswork out of managing investor relationships.”

Before DocSend, I didn’t know whether investors were reviewing our fundraising resources. I’m now able to see when investors look through our documents - DocSend’s analytics have taken the guesswork out of managing investor relationships.

Viraj Mane

Co-founder and Chief Scientific Officer of Lactiga

Powerful customization leads to better storytelling

Viraj and his team don’t just rely on DocSend’s analytics to proactively reach out to investors. They also take advantage of customization features to build unique data rooms for every investor. Some of Lactiga’s investors are family or friends, smaller angels, and family offices. But as Viraj puts it, “Each investor has unique concerns: some care about social impact, some just want to see the science or the patents, and still others want to see how you engage with manufacturers. Since all of our documents are already organized in DocSend, with just a few clicks it’s easy to create a customized data room with the files that are most likely to resonate with that particular investor.” DocSend’s customization features allow Viraj to hone in on what an investor really wants to see. “Since it’s so easy to personalize a DocSend data room,” he explains, “I don’t need to bombard investors with documents that might not even be interesting to them. Instead, I can focus on their most pressing interests.”

Customization also helps Viraj craft a better company narrative for investors. “I love that our DocSend data room is branded with our logo, tagline, and banner image alongside the investor personalization,” he says. “This way, potential investors already feel included in Lactiga’s story. Showing them the right documents is like rewarding their curiosity — and makes it that much more likely they’ll spend time on our materials.” For Viraj, DocSend’s data rooms are storytelling tools as well as user-friendly ways to share mission-critical documents.

I love that our DocSend data room is branded with our logo, tagline, and banner image alongside personalization in data room format for each investor. This way, potential investors already feel included in Lactiga’s story.

Viraj Mane

Co-founder and Chief Scientific Officer of Lactiga

User-friendly access controls for peace of mind

Since Viraj and his team are busy running a business and conducting scientific research, having an easy-to-use data room is a top priority. This means that permissions and access controls are simple to set up and, importantly, not overly burdensome for external visitors. “We’re able to make sure the right people access our data room by asking them to input their email address when they visit,” explains Viraj. “We’re then able to see who’s looking at our documents without imposing lots of other restrictions that might seem too transactional for friends and family investors. What I love about DocSend is how easy it is to set up a level of access control that’s just right for our business.”

DocSend’s analytics also let Viraj know that his data room is as easy to use for visitors as it is for him. During a process with as much uncertainty as fundraising, having this peace of mind is crucial for the Lactiga team: “I no longer have to worry about whether investors are having access problems to our fundraising documents. Thanks to DocSend’s analytics, I can keep an eye on user activity–this visibility assures me that investors have smooth access to our documents since they don’t need to keep track of any login details.”

Anticipating the next raise with DocSend

With an award-winning business and robust science to back it up, Viraj and his team already have their sights set on their Series A fundraising round. This means they’ll have to organize their data room differently, adding new categories and levels of complexity that top-tier investors want to see from rapidly-maturing companies. Says Viraj, “DocSend allows us to be proactive when thinking about our next raise, not just our current one. We’re starting to get advice for our Series A round and we’re already able to organize our data room to anticipate the high standards that future investors will have.”

Whereas friends and family investors might have more targeted interests when making investment decisions, larger institutional investors expect to see a wide variety of documents. “This is where DocSend really puts me in control of our next raise,” Viraj states. “Taking our data room to the next level will involve creating new categories for our documents and reorganizing how we present our business. This might seem daunting at first glance, but with DocSend I’m able to make these updates seamlessly. This is an easy way to show that we are building the sophistication and organization needed to impress investors at the Series A stage.”

DocSend has allowed Viraj and his team to bring scientific and business documents together in one easy-to-use data room. With DocSend’s analytics and customization features, Viraj is able to proactively manage Lactiga’s current fundraising efforts and build out a next-level data room for the future.

DocSend allows us to be proactive when thinking about our next raise, not just our current one. We’re starting to get advice for our Series A round and we’re already able to organize our data room to anticipate the high standards that future investors will have.

Viraj Mane

Co-founder and Chief Scientific Officer of Lactiga

The post Lactiga uses DocSend data rooms for proactive and personalized fundraising appeared first on DocSend.

Captain Experiences is a platform that unlocks the outdoors for everyone by making it seamless for people to book outdoor sports guides. Offering trips across the United States and beyond, Captain Experiences simplifies the stresses of planning a trip through streamlining reviews and providing excellent, insured guides for booking. Focused first on fishing across the U.S., Captain Experiences is rapidly expanding across all outdoor sports and geographies.

The Challenge

Prior to DocSend, Jonathan Newar, Co-Founder & CEO, would ask lawyers to collect signatures for NDAs and investor agreements on DocuSign. Their time was costly and “getting them to collect signatures would cost their business hundreds of dollars,” Jonathan shared. The team needed a more cost-effective solution to centralize external documents and collect eSignatures.

The Solution

The team turned to DocSend’s easy-to-use secure document sharing and eSignature solution that would grow and scale alongside Captain Experiences. “Not only is DocSend intuitive and easy to use but it also allows us to close deals faster,” Jonathan shared.

A $2 million seed fund and lasting partnership built through the DocSend Fundraising Network

When Jonathan was first testing out his pitch, he relied on the DocSend Fundraising Network for initial warm introductions to investors who align on investing in marketplaces and outdoor experiences. The initial introductions to investors helped Jonathan learn what was working and refine his pitch for future conversations. Eventually, these warm introductions led to securing a $2 million seed fundraise. The data-driven insights provided by DocSend’s Pitch Deck Analyzer helps founders like Jonathan best convey their mission and business objectives for pre-seed and seed funding rounds.

Through the DocSend Fundraising Network, we fielded multiple high-value intros to VC's excited about Captain Experiences. These intros led to relationships we continue to cultivate- hearing directly from VC's on traction benchmarks they're keying on allows us to firm up our fundraising strategy and our deck.

Jonathan Newar

Co-Founder & CEO, Captain Experiences

As a result of being part of the DFN, Jonathan secured his first institutional investor meetings that were critical to the early traction of Captain Experiences.  “It was fantastic to get access to warm introductions with DocSend early on in our growth,” Jonathan shared. The DFN introduced Jonathan to 8 VCs, which led to multiple meetings and follow-ups. “The DFN provided introductions to industry-leading, brand-name VCs that we otherwise would have had to reach out to cold or network tirelessly to connect with. We met with a handful of funds through the DFN and ended up signing with our lead investor,” Jonathan shared. These meetings were fundamental to the company’s early fundraising success and provided detailed feedback that helped Jonathan ultimately fundraise successfully. Additionally, a connection Jonathan made through the DFN made countless other introductions, which helped the team close their seed round.

The DFN provided data-driven feedback that was integral to improving investor views on subsequent versions of Jonathan’s pitch deck. While early slides on traction, team, business model, and “the ask” were in good shape, the data-driven feedback provided by DFN suggested that earlier versions of the pitch deck had too few product slides. Using those insights, Jonathan added a product roadmap slide to the appendix. “Thanks to DocSend analytics, I know that this is one of our most viewed slides and it gives us a chance to present our execution progress and future rollouts to investors,” Jonathan shared.

A more organized and secure way of reaching investors through seamless updates

When Jonathan was first beginning to reach out to investors, he would send out hundreds of emails each day. He knew there had to be a more streamlined approach to launching his business.

After speaking with a founder in Houston, Jonathan learned about how he could use DocSend to more easily manage and share versions of his pitch deck. As Jonathan began to use the product, he was able to seamlessly update pitch decks once in DocSend and make follow-up edits, even after they reached investors’ inboxes. With DocSend, Jonathan could protect sensitive information in his pitch deck by adding a passcode and email verification to ensure that the right investors can view his pitch deck.

Developing more meaningful relationships with investors through insights on pitch decks

Previously, Jonathan was relying on chance to determine whether he would follow-up with an investor. He did not have any insights into whether people were opening his decks, or what parts of his deck were most relevant to the conversations he was booking. Hoping to generate interest and financial backing for his company, Jonathan needed insights on his pitch decks to personalize his conversations with VC firms.

DocSend made all the difference. Jonathan sent a pitch deck out to a venture associate in DocSend and saw that the investor spent the most time on his slide that discussed unit economics. When Jonathan met with that associate, he prepared in advance using document analytics and catered the conversation to focus on unit economics, making it most relevant to that investor.

With DocSend’s insights and analytics, Jonathan was able to more effectively prioritize his time when reaching out to investors and was able to close funding from 15 investors.

Centralizing business agreements with a unified eSignature platform

Previously, Jonathan was paying an hourly fee to a lawyer who was managing Captain Experiences’ contracts through DocuSign; however, this was a costly use of a lawyer’s time – basically project managing signatures – and not sustainable in the long term. Once Jonathan engaged with DocSend for fundraising, he quickly realized he could use the multi-party eSignatures feature to streamline important contracts for his business.

Jonathan is now able to collect multiple signatures on NDAs, consulting agreements with contractors, and convertible note agreements with investors in an automated way without expensive oversight. When onboarding a new hire or contractor, DocSend allows Jonathan to easily send out an NDA and consulting agreement with the click of a button and manage the workflow from the tips of his fingers. Between managing offshore workers and marketing contractors in the United States, Jonathan relies on DocSend as a simple way to manage and unify all of his agreements. Additionally, DocSend’s eSignature solution was more cost effective than other platforms, helping Jonathan and his team improve their bottom-line.

Personalizing investor experiences with multi-party eSignature customization

The founder experience can be particularly challenging, especially when it comes to finding the right investor to join a pre-seed or seed round.

With eSignature, Jonathan is able to tailor each document to include a field for a name, date, or initials. Jonathan loves how the seamless user experience saves him time when creating documents that are sent out for eSignatures.

Multi-party eSignature has been one of the most useful features DocSend offers. We are able to send NDAs, onboard new consultants, fundraise, and close convertible notes all from one platform. It is especially critical when fundraising with many different parties involved-- that’s a lot of signatures to manage and DocSend streamlines the process.

Jonathan Newar

Co-Founder & CEO, Captain Experiences

For example, when Jonathan was preparing a document that was to be sent out for a signature, he noticed that DocSend pre-adjusted the sizing of the text field based on his previous preferences. As Jonathan shares, “The customizable fields are perfect and they fit all of my needs.”

DocSend has allowed Jonathan to customize document viewing experiences for all potential investors. Jonathan has total control every step of his journey sharing pitch decks, collecting eSignatures, and more as he continues to grow and scale Captain Experiences.

The post Captain Experiences Secures $2 Million in Seed Funding with DocSend’s Multi-Party eSignature appeared first on DocSend.

“When I submitted my pitch deck to DocSend Fundraising Network, I not only received tangible, specific feedback within 48hrs from DocSend on how I could perfect my pitch, I also was introduced to VCs that were genuinely interested in my idea.”

“DocSend Fundraising Network was able to introduce me to Uncork Capital, which resulted in a term sheet! This type of custom, hands-on help during the fundraising process is invaluable for any founder.”

UserGems’ Success Metrics with DocSend Fundraising Network

The DFN was able to provide UserGems with introductions to 21 interested VCs, resulting in 8 meetings, 2 term sheet offers, and one confirmed term sheet from Uncork Capital.

Prior to DocSend, Christian shared his pitch deck with investors via an attachment. This led to a lot of unknowns and questions, such as was there any interest and which investors were genuinely interested?

“With DocSend my insight no longer stops the second I send an email to investors. With real-time notifications, I know who is looking at my deck, for how long, and most importantly, which part of my pitch they’re most interested in. Whenever my presentations include information that changes over time, or I need to know how that information was consumed, I use DocSend.”

The post How UserGems Successfully Raised Their Seed Round Using DocSend Fundraising Network appeared first on DocSend.

When it comes to raising capital for its funds, 500 Startups has a particularly complicated set of compliance requirements due to the firm’s global presence. As such, the firm must vet each potential investor to ensure compliance with global fund marketing rules.

This process can be slow and tedious, and it was the source of much friction. Some LP leads were so buried in the process that they gave up trying to access the decks altogether!

Furthermore, 500 Startups lacked visibility into where investors were focusing their attention. Which LPs needed follow-up? Which materials did viewers spend the most time reviewing? Where did they bounce? These are all important data points that, if applied to pitch decks themselves, would make fundraising more efficient and effective for 500 Startups. However, 500 Startups’ ability to control or track investor engagement within particular documents was difficult to track once investors were added to fund data rooms. Moreover, the process of onboarding investors to the fund data room was clunky. Having to create an account to view the data room and having to sign in every time to view fund documents was seen as a hurdle for investors.

Since discovering DocSend, 500 Startups has taken its fundraising process to the next level. DocSend’s seamless yet secure viewing experience immediately removed the login barrier 500 Startups historically associated with sharing assets and materials. Additionally, with DocSend’s premier analytics, the 500 Startups team has a crystal clear picture of which LPs are engaging with the documents they send, and which aren’t. The 500 Startups team even uses DocSend’s secure Spaces to securely house all pertinent fundraising materials in one customizable place.

Let’s take a deeper look.

Increased Fundraising Efficiency with DocSend

500 Startup’s previous compliance requirements led to a number of lost leads—since there was so much initial friction, potential investors would often abandon the process. Using DocSend, 500 Startups can easily share links to fund documents with potential investors via email and can leave tedious sender and viewer experiences in the past without sacrificing security and the ability to track who accesses fund documents.

“DocSend helps 500 Startups remove barriers for investors,” says Sheel Mohnot, Partner at 500 Startups. “Now, it’s a seamless experience for both parties.”

Enhanced Document Engagement Insights

Before DocSend, 500 Startups had limited visibility as to what content within fund materials viewers were focusing on. With DocSend, 500 Startups has access to granular page-by-page analytics for each user who engages with their documents. These analytics define follow-up strategy since they enable the 500 Startups fundraising team to identify who needs follow-up and what is resonating (or not resonating) with each viewer. 500 Startups now has the ability to better structure and quantitatively measure their outreach.

With DocSend, I can see where investors are focusing, and where I am losing investors. Tracking who's seeing the deck and where their attention was focused has been super useful.

Sheel Mohnot

Partner, 500 Startups

DocSend Solves for Version-Control and Dynamic Content

Once a conversation has started with a potential investor, 500 Startups shares a link to a DocSend Space that houses fund documents and provides investors with a single source of truth for all information moving forward. This has enabled 500 Startups to keep investors focused on their business.

Given the number of investors that 500 Startups interacts with, managing document version-control is important. Document updates are made all the time and keeping tabs on who has reviewed what version of what document can be a challenge. By sharing DocSend links, 500 Startups can make changes to documents behind the scenes dynamically. Furthermore, link sharing to updated fund materials on Spaces removes the friction-point of investors having to log into a data room to view the updated documents.

“We have many living documents, like pitch decks, that are changing all the time,” said Mohnot. “With DocSend, it’s not an issue because we can make changes dynamically and viewers always have access to the most updated version.”

In short, link-based access enables 500 Startups to ensure that only those who are supposed to have access to 500 Startups’ assets do. Version control enables 500 Startups to ensure that those who do have access aren’t referencing outdated assets. It’s a winning pair for 500 Startups—one that makes all the difference.

In Conclusion

With DocSend, 500 Startups sends all high-stakes fundraising materials seamlessly, securely, and intelligently. Tracking and analyzing LP engagement enables the team to identify and concentrate on high-engagement leads. DocSend’s Spaces has provided the perfect deal room platform for 500 Startups to keep all the materials pertinent to a given fund organized and (mutually) easily accessible.

In Mohnot’s own words, “DocSend has proven extremely valuable for our internal processes. We now encourage our startups to use DocSend, for fundraising as well as for their sales teams.”

For 500 Startups, the insights, efficiencies, and advantages DocSend provide empower the team to make the most out of their engagements with LPs, investors, portfolio companies, and other start-ups. Curious about how your business can do the same? Click here to get started with DocSend for free.

UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES SHOULD ANY INFORMATION OR CONTENT HEREIN, BE CONSIDERED AS AN OFFER TO SELL OR SOLICITATION OF INTEREST TO PURCHASE ANY SECURITIES ADVISED BY 500 STARTUPS OR ANY OF ITS AFFILIATES OR REPRESENTATIVES. UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES SHOULD ANYTHING HEREIN BE CONSTRUED AS FUND MARKETING MATERIALS BY PROSPECTIVE INVESTORS CONSIDERING AN INVESTMENT INTO ANY 500 STARTUPS INVESTMENT FUND NOR  BE CONSTRUED AS LEGAL, TAX OR INVESTMENT ADVICE FROM 500 STARTUPS OR ANY OF ITS AFFILIATES.

The post DocSend Streamlines 500 Startups’ Fundraising Process appeared first on DocSend.