Seed fundraising: build the foundation for scalable growth

Raise your seed round with readiness, credibility, and control

Raising your seed round isn't just about convincing investors; it's about showing readiness, credibility, and control. At this stage, founders need more than a great idea. They need the right structure, the right valuation, and clean documentation that gives investors confidence without sacrificing future flexibility.

At dups, we help early-stage startups raise their first institutional or angel capital efficiently and intelligently. Our legal and financial teams work together to prepare your company, structure your round, and negotiate terms that keep your ownership intact while setting up for growth. We make your seed round investor-ready and your company founder-safe.

Why the seed round matters

The seed round defines your company's future. It sets your valuation baseline, your governance model, and the relationships that will follow you through every future raise. Most mistakes at Series A or B start here, in unclear cap tables, weak documentation, or poorly structured convertible notes. We make sure you avoid that.

Our approach focuses on clarity: clean capitalization, transparent terms, and documents that can scale with your business. The goal is simple: raise what you need, on fair terms, and with no surprises later.

Our seed fundraising approach

1. Readiness and structuring

We start by understanding your model, your capital needs, and your investor targets. Together, we define your fundraising strategy: how much to raise, from whom, and under what instruments (equity, SAFE, or convertible notes).

We clean up your cap table, align your legal structure, and prepare a concise investor narrative with the right supporting materials: financial model, investment memo, and data room. You walk into investor meetings prepared and confident.

2. Investor engagement and negotiation

We help you identify and engage the right investors: angels, early-stage VCs, or family offices. As term sheets arrive, we translate the clauses into their real implications: dilution, governance, liquidation preferences, or conversion mechanics.

Our goal isn't just to "get the deal done." It's to make sure the deal works for you: fair, defensible, and scalable for your next round. You'll know exactly what you're signing, and what it means for your ownership and control.

3. Documentation and closing

Once terms are agreed, we coordinate the full documentation and closing process. Our legal and financial teams prepare or review your subscription agreement, shareholders' agreement (SHA), and convertible instruments if applicable.

We handle investor coordination, signature flow, and fund transfers, ensuring your first deal is clean, compliant, and frictionless. By the time you close, your company isn't just funded; it's structured for the next stage.

What makes dups different

At dups, we integrate the legal and financial dimensions of fundraising into a single, efficient process. There's no disconnect between your model, your valuation, and your legal documents; everything aligns from start to finish.

We move fast, but with rigor. We know what early-stage investors look for and where founders often lose leverage. Our experience across dozens of pre-seed and seed rounds means we know how to protect your stake without slowing your growth.

We're pragmatic: we focus on what matters: clean terms, sound structure, and a clear path to Series A.

Deliverables you can expect

We deliver a full fundraising execution package tailored to your stage:

• Seed fundraising strategy and capital plan
• Financial model and valuation range
• Term sheet review and negotiation notes
• Convertible or SAFE documentation setup
• Shareholders' agreement (SHA) drafting or review
• Closing documentation and investor coordination

Each deliverable is designed to help you raise efficiently, protect your ownership, and prepare for institutional rounds.