Data room for a bridge round.
A bridge round data room explains why the company needs time, how long the money lasts and what milestone it reaches before the next priced round. Insiders lead most bridges, so the room is short: updated financials, runway math, progress against the last plan, the cap table with the new instrument, and the draft terms.
Bridge round room
- 01 Bridge memo
- 02 Runway model
- 03 Progress since last round
- 04 Financials
- 05 Capitalization
- 06 Terms
- 07 Investor updates
How it works for a startup.
A bridge is a small raise, usually on SAFEs or convertible notes, that extends runway until a larger round. Existing investors often fund it to protect their position, sometimes with a few new investors. Because insiders already receive updates, the questions are narrow: what changed since the last round, and what will the next six to twelve months prove.
New investors joining a bridge look harder. They want to know why insiders are not funding all of it, whether the next round is realistic, and how the bridge instrument converts. A clear runway model with and without the bridge answers most of this.
Keep the tone factual. A bridge to a specific milestone, such as a product launch or a revenue figure, reads better than a bridge with no defined end point.
Top 10 data rooms for this job.
Our five measures, re-weighted for bridge round. Places 11 to 17 are listed below the cards.
- Setup speed 26%
- Investor experience 18%
- Access control 20%
- Diligence tools 12%
- Startup pricing 24%
- 1 9.5/10First-rate
- $149 monthly
- 14-day free trial
- 8/12 feature checks
- Investor Q&A
- NDA e-signing
- Dynamic watermarks
- View-only and download control
- SOC 2 (hosting)
- 2 8.3/10Strong pick
- $250 monthly
- Free trial offered
- 8/12 feature checks
- Investor Q&A
- NDA e-signing
- Dynamic watermarks
- View-only and download control
- SOC 2
- 3 8.2/10Strong pick
- Quote only
- Free trial offered
- 9/12 feature checks
- Investor Q&A
- Dynamic watermarks
- View-only and download control
- Viewer activity log
- SOC 2
- ISO 27001
- GDPR
- 4 8.1/10Strong pick
- Quote only
- Free trial offered
- 7/12 feature checks
- Investor Q&A
- Dynamic watermarks
- View-only and download control
- Viewer activity log
- SOC 2
- ISO 27001
- 5 8.1/10Strong pick
- $55 monthly
- Free trial offered
- 9/12 feature checks
- NDA e-signing
- Dynamic watermarks
- View-only and download control
- Viewer activity log
- SOC 2
- ISO 27001
- HIPAA
- 6 7.9/10Strong pick
- Quote only
- Free trial offered
- 8/12 feature checks
- Investor Q&A
- Dynamic watermarks
- View-only and download control
- Viewer activity log
- SOC 2
- ISO 27001
- 7 7.9/10Strong pick
- $299 monthly
- Free trial offered
- 7/12 feature checks
- Investor Q&A
- Dynamic watermarks
- View-only and download control
- Viewer activity log
- SOC 2
- 8 7.8/10Strong pick
- Quote only
- Demo, no trial
- 10/12 feature checks
- Investor Q&A
- Dynamic watermarks
- View-only and download control
- Viewer activity log
- SOC 2
- ISO 27001
- GDPR
- 9 7.6/10Good option
- $15 monthly
- Free trial offered
- 6/12 feature checks
- Dynamic watermarks
- Viewer activity log
- Bulk folder upload
- Mobile app
- SOC 2
- 10 7.5/10Good option
- Quote only
- Demo, no trial
- 8/12 feature checks
- Investor Q&A
- Dynamic watermarks
- View-only and download control
- Viewer activity log
- SOC 2
- ISO 27001
- GDPR
Show places 11 to 17
- DealRoom 7.5
- Digify 7.4
- Intralinks 7.4
- DocSend 7.3
- SmartRoom 7.3
- ShareVault 7.0
- Venue by DFIN 6.4
Folder index.
A starting structure for this room. Rename folders to fit your company and keep the numbers.
Why now, amount, milestone, timeline to the next round.
Monthly cash forecast with and without the bridge, cost cuts already made.
Plan versus actual from the last raise, key wins and misses.
Last 12 months of monthly statements, current bank balance, payables aging.
Current cap table, pro forma with the bridge converted at the next round.
Draft SAFE or note, any warrant coverage, side letters.
Recent monthly or quarterly updates sent to existing investors.
Target investors, metrics needed, timing.
Need every file by stage? Use the startup data room checklist.
Must-have features.
| Provider | Viewer activity log | Dynamic watermarks | View-only and download control | NDA e-signing |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ellty | ||||
| SecureDocs | ||||
| iDeals | ||||
| Firmex | ||||
| Citrix ShareFile | ||||
| Ansarada | ||||
| CapLinked | ||||
| Datasite | ||||
| Onehub | ||||
| Drooms |
- 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.
- View-only and download control
- Set each file to view only, print or download, and change it later without resending anything.
- NDA e-signing
- Investors sign the NDA or click-through terms before the room opens.
Set up the room in 5 steps.
- 1
Write the milestone in one sentence
State what the bridge buys and by when. Every other document supports that sentence.
- 2
Show runway two ways
Model months of cash with and without the bridge, including any cuts. Investors check this first.
- 3
Model conversion
Show how the bridge converts at the next round at two or three valuations, including caps, discounts and interest on notes.
- 4
Brief insiders first
Give existing investors access a few days before outside investors so you can confirm their participation.
- 5
Collect signatures in the room
Use e-signature for the bridge documents so the signed set and the cap table update land in the same place.
Common mistakes.
- A bridge with no milestone, which reads as an open-ended rescue.
- Hiding that insiders declined to participate, which new investors will find out anyway.
- Stacking several bridges with different caps and no consolidated conversion table.