Investor updates and ongoing reporting.
Regular investor updates keep backers informed and make the next round easier. Send a short update by email and file it, with the financial statements behind it, in a reporting room where investors with information rights can find every past report and you can see who reads them.
Investor updates room
- 01 Updates
- 02 Quarterly financials
- 03 Annual financials
- 04 Budget
- 05 Cap table
- 06 Fund requests
- 07 Tax documents
How it works for a startup.
Many founders send a monthly or quarterly update to investors and advisers: highlights, key metrics, cash and runway, asks and lowlights. Priced rounds usually add formal information rights, set out in the investor rights agreement, which give major investors annual and quarterly financial statements and sometimes a budget.
Over a few years these updates turn into a record of how the company has done against its plans. New investors in the next round often ask for past updates to judge whether the founders deliver what they say, and existing funds need your numbers for their own quarterly valuation work and reports to their LPs.
A reporting room solves two small problems at once. Investors stop asking for copies they lost, and you can see which investors read the updates, which helps you plan who to call before raising again.
Top 10 data rooms for this job.
Our five measures, re-weighted for investor updates. Places 11 to 17 are listed below the cards.
- Setup speed 24%
- Investor experience 25%
- Access control 20%
- Diligence tools 12%
- Startup pricing 19%
- 1 9.3/10First-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 8.1/10Strong 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 8.0/10Strong 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
- 7 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
- 8 7.7/10Good option
- $299 monthly
- Free trial offered
- 7/12 feature checks
- Investor Q&A
- Dynamic watermarks
- View-only and download control
- Viewer activity log
- SOC 2
- 9 7.6/10Good 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
- 10 7.5/10Good option
- $15 monthly
- Free trial offered
- 6/12 feature checks
- Dynamic watermarks
- Viewer activity log
- Bulk folder upload
- Mobile app
- SOC 2
Show places 11 to 17
- Intralinks 7.5
- DealRoom 7.4
- Digify 7.3
- SmartRoom 7.3
- DocSend 7.2
- 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.
Every investor update in date order, as sent.
Quarterly P&L, balance sheet and cash flow delivered under information rights.
Annual statements, audited or reviewed if required.
Board-approved budget for the current year.
Current cap table summary for existing investors.
Answers to fund valuation and portfolio questionnaires.
K-1s where relevant, QSBS statements on request, tax forms for investors.
Notices of financings, acquisitions or other events covered by investor agreements.
Need every file by stage? Use the startup data room checklist.
Must-have features.
| Provider | Viewer activity log | Mobile app | Dynamic watermarks | Bulk folder upload |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ellty | ||||
| SecureDocs | ||||
| iDeals | ||||
| Firmex | ||||
| Citrix ShareFile | ||||
| Datasite | ||||
| Ansarada | ||||
| CapLinked | ||||
| Drooms | ||||
| Onehub |
- Viewer activity log
- Shows which investor opened which file, for how long and when, and exports the record.
- Mobile app
- An installable phone and tablet app on top of the mobile website.
- Dynamic watermarks
- Stamps the viewer email and the time across every page, so a forwarded screenshot points back to its source.
- Bulk folder upload
- Drag a whole folder tree in at once and keep its numbering.
Set up the room in 6 steps.
- 1
Pick a cadence
Monthly in the early years and quarterly later is a common pattern. Pick one and keep to it.
- 2
Use one template
Same sections every time: highlights, metrics, cash and runway, lowlights, asks. Investors can compare quickly.
- 3
Send and file
Email the update for reach and file the PDF in the room the same day so there is one master copy.
- 4
Deliver financials on time
Check the deadlines in your investor rights agreement and file quarterly and annual statements in their folders.
- 5
Read the analytics
Look at who opens updates. Engaged investors are your first calls for pro rata and introductions.
- 6
Reuse for the raise
Give new investors access to past updates during the next round to show your track record.
Common mistakes.
- Stopping updates when things go badly, which is when investors most want them.
- Missing information-rights deadlines written into the investor rights agreement.
- Sending different numbers to different investors.
- No archive, so past updates cannot be shown to new investors.