Venue by DFIN review for startups.
DFIN's room for IPOs and capital markets work, with redaction and a question module; ISO 27001, quote only.
Facts checked Sep 30, 2026. Editorial score, no paid placement.
Overview.
Venue is the data room of DFIN, launched in 2016 in the United States, and sits close to the filing work that surrounds an IPO.
It holds ISO 27001 and SOC 2 and can redact in the platform. No trial; pricing by quote.
Why a founder would pick it
Relevant for a late-stage company preparing an IPO with advisers who already use DFIN.
| Key fact | Venue by DFIN |
|---|---|
| What you pay | Quote only |
| Before paying | Demo, no trial |
| Security reports | SOC 2, ISO 27001 |
| Year started | 2016 |
| Home base | United States |
| Hosting model | Cloud |
Score breakdown.
Startup score 6.5 of 10, place 17 of 17 on our startup ranking; the 17-room mean is 7.6.
Strengths
- Built around IPO and capital markets work.
- Redaction and ISO 27001.
- Question module.
Gaps
- Quote only, and no trial.
- Second-step login, SSO, an API, e-signing, a phone app and AI tools are not listed.
Features.
Venue by DFIN lists 6 of the 12 features we track; nda e-signing, mobile app, open api, single sign-on, two-step login, ai assistance are not listed.
| Feature | Listed | What it does for a founder |
|---|---|---|
| Investor Q&A | Funds and buyers ask questions against a file; you assign, answer and publish replies, and the thread stays on record. | |
| Viewer activity log | Shows which investor opened which file, for how long and when, and exports the record. | |
| Dynamic watermarks | Stamps the viewer email and the time across every page, so a forwarded screenshot points back to its source. | |
| In-app redaction | Blacks out salaries, customer names or personal data inside the platform without keeping a second copy. | |
| NDA e-signing | Investors sign the NDA or click-through terms before the room opens. | |
| Mobile app | An installable phone and tablet app on top of the mobile website. | |
| Open API | Lets your engineers create rooms, add users or pull activity into your own tools. | |
| Single sign-on | Your team signs in with Google Workspace, Microsoft Entra ID or Okta instead of another password. | |
| Two-step login | Every login needs a one-time code or an app approval as well as the password. | |
| Bulk folder upload | Drag a whole folder tree in at once and keep its numbering. | |
| View-only and download control | Set each file to view only, print or download, and change it later without resending anything. | |
| AI assistance | Vendor-listed help such as auto-filing, document summaries, search across files or drafted answers. |
Pricing.
Venue by DFIN does not publish a price and quotes per project. The figures below are our market band for rooms of its kind, not a vendor price.
| Scenario | Months | Seats | Indicative cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pre-seed or angel round | 2 | 1 | $2,400 to $7,000 |
| Seed round | 3 | 2 | $4,850 to $14,200 |
| Series A | 4 | 3 | $6,500 to $18,900 |
| Sale of the company | 6 | 4 | $13,700 to $39,900 |
What Venue by DFIN costs against the field
Totals in US dollars for the life of the room, indicative only. Listed prices are each vendor's entry plan; vendors who only quote get our own market band. Get the real figure from the vendor before you sign.
| Provider | How it is priced | Total for the project | Link |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ellty | $149 monthly | $596 | Visit Ellty |
| iDeals | Quote (our band) | $2,450 to $8,100 | Pricing details |
| Firmex | Quote (our band) | $2,450 to $8,100 | Pricing details |
| SecureDocs | $250 monthly | $1,000 | Pricing details |
| Ansarada | Quote (our band) | $2,450 to $8,100 | Pricing details |
| Datasite | Quote (our band) | $6,500 to $18,900 | Pricing details |
| Citrix ShareFile | $55 monthly | $220 | Pricing details |
| CapLinked | $299 monthly | $1,196 | Pricing details |
| Drooms | Quote (our band) | $2,450 to $8,100 | Pricing details |
| Intralinks | Quote (our band) | $6,500 to $18,900 | Pricing details |
| DealRoom | Quote (our band) | $2,450 to $8,100 | Pricing details |
| SmartRoom | Quote (our band) | $2,450 to $8,100 | Pricing details |
| Onehub | $15 monthly | $60 | Pricing details |
| Digify | $120 monthly | $480 | Pricing details |
| ShareVault | Quote (our band) | $2,450 to $8,100 | Pricing details |
| DocSend | $45 per seat monthly | $360 | Pricing details |
| Venue by DFIN | Quote (our band) | $6,500 to $18,900 | Pricing details |
More on prices and models in our startup data room pricing guide.
Where it fits.
Security and setup.
Security and compliance
ISO 27001 and SOC 2; watermarking, file locks, redaction and an activity record.
Getting started
Vendor-led, usually next to filing work.
Check during the trial or demo
- Upload your real folder index and confirm the numbering holds.
- Invite a test investor and open a file as that person on a phone.
- Set one folder to view only and one to hidden, then check the activity log.
- Ask for the current security report and where data is hosted.
Alternatives.
7.5/10 · Quote only
One of the first virtual data rooms (1996), built for large and regulated transactions and sold by quote, with SSO and redaction.
See the review
8.0/10 · Quote only
The platform many investment banks run sell-side processes on: AI tools, a phone app, SSO and redaction, bought through a quote.
See the review
8.2/10 · Quote only
A UK deal room priced by quote, with redaction, Okta-style single sign-on and an API, plus both ISO 27001 and SOC 2. A trial is offered.
See the review