We review and approve every pitch on the site to ensure that all the information is fair and clear.
We conduct due diligence on the company, its legal structure and directors using leading third-party providers like Creditsafe, Experian and Trulioo. We also verify evidence supporting any claims being made by the business, such as market size, contracts and partnerships to ensure the information provided is accurate. This process can take between 3-4 weeks, and sometimes longer if the company or raise is complicated.
To make this process as open and transparent as possible, we’ve set out everything we check before approving a business’s pitch in our Due Diligence Charter, which we update regularly.
Nonetheless, we strongly recommend you do your own research before investing as your capital is at risk.
Here are five tips for conducting your own due diligence on a company and its pitch:
- Value proposition. Why will customers or clients buy this product or service? It should be significantly better than current alternatives.
- Market. Generally, the larger the market the better – ideally global. If the sector is unfamiliar to you, get to know it before you invest.
- Barriers. What’s stopping competitors from doing the same thing? The company should have some sustainable competitive advantage.
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Management. Who’s running the company? Do they have knowledge and experience of their market? Are they passionate and committed?
- Financials. Is the valuation realistic? Is the business easily scalable? In other words, can it grow with a need for modest amounts of capital?