Data room for a SAFE round.
A SAFE round data room holds the standard SAFE form you use, any side letters, a register of every SAFE signed with its cap and discount, a conversion table, and the usual company basics. Most SAFE investors do light diligence, so clarity about dilution matters more than volume.
SAFE round room
- 01 Overview
- 02 SAFE documents
- 03 Side letters
- 04 SAFE register
- 05 Conversion table
- 06 Company basics
- 07 Founder equity and IP
How it works for a startup.
The SAFE (simple agreement for future equity) was published by Y Combinator in 2013, and the post-money version followed in 2018. A post-money SAFE fixes the investor's ownership percentage before the next priced round, which makes dilution easy to read for investors and harder to ignore for founders.
SAFE rounds are often rolling: investors sign at different times, sometimes on different caps. Each new SAFE dilutes the founders, not the earlier post-money SAFE holders. A register that shows every signed SAFE and the resulting ownership is the most useful document in the room, for investors and for the founders themselves.
Diligence is light but not absent. Investors still check formation, founder vesting and IP assignment, and sophisticated SAFE investors ask for the pro rata side letter and information rights terms you offer.
Top 10 data rooms for this job.
Our five measures, re-weighted for safe round. Places 11 to 17 are listed below the cards.
- Setup speed 28%
- Investor experience 20%
- Access control 16%
- Diligence tools 10%
- Startup pricing 26%
- 1 9.6/10First-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 8.6/10First-rate
- $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
- $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
- 4 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
- 5 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
- 6 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
- 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 7.8/10Strong pick
- $15 monthly
- Free trial offered
- 6/12 feature checks
- Dynamic watermarks
- Viewer activity log
- Bulk folder upload
- Mobile app
- SOC 2
- 9 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
- 10 7.5/10Good option
- $120 monthly
- Free trial offered
- 4/12 feature checks
- Dynamic watermarks
- View-only and download control
- Viewer activity log
- Bulk folder upload
- SOC 2
Show places 11 to 17
- DocSend 7.5
- DealRoom 7.4
- Drooms 7.4
- Intralinks 7.3
- SmartRoom 7.2
- ShareVault 7.0
- Venue by DFIN 6.3
Folder index.
A starting structure for this room. Rename folders to fit your company and keep the numbers.
Deck, memo, round size, current cap and discount.
The exact SAFE form you use (post-money valuation cap, discount, MFN or a combination), with no edits or a redline of edits.
Standard pro rata and information rights letters, and who has received them.
Every SAFE signed: investor, date, amount, cap, discount, side letters.
Ownership after conversion at several Series A or seed valuations.
Charter, bylaws, board consent authorising the SAFE round, good standing.
Stock purchase agreements, 83(b) proof, invention assignments.
Budget, runway and milestones for the round.
Need every file by stage? Use the startup data room checklist.
Must-have features.
| Provider | NDA e-signing | Viewer activity log | Dynamic watermarks | Bulk folder upload |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ellty | ||||
| SecureDocs | ||||
| Citrix ShareFile | ||||
| iDeals | ||||
| Firmex | ||||
| CapLinked | ||||
| Ansarada | ||||
| Onehub | ||||
| Datasite | ||||
| Digify |
- NDA e-signing
- Investors sign the NDA or click-through terms before the room opens.
- 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.
- Bulk folder upload
- Drag a whole folder tree in at once and keep its numbering.
Set up the room in 5 steps.
- 1
Pick one SAFE form
Use the standard post-money form without edits where you can. Every change is something each investor's lawyer will read.
- 2
Start the register on day one
Record each SAFE as it is signed, with cap, discount and side letters. Update the cap table the same day.
- 3
Model dilution openly
Show founders' and investors' ownership after conversion at a few next-round valuations. Use our founder tools to run the numbers.
- 4
Get board approval
Have the board approve the SAFE round and its maximum size, and put the consent in the room.
- 5
Sign in the room
Send SAFEs for e-signature and file the signed copy in the register folder.
Common mistakes.
- Raising on several caps with no register, then discovering at Series A that founders own far less than they thought.
- Editing the standard SAFE for each investor, which slows every later review.
- Promising pro rata rights by email without a side letter.
- Forgetting a board consent for the SAFE round.