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[TEMPLATE] - Headline Series A Data Room
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For venture-backed startups, winning begins with a successful fundraising process. But AI has transformed how companies are built, evaluated, and funded. Using traditional fundraising templates makes a hard process even harder. A new playbook is needed.
So, we started creating one. This series began with a free Series A Pitch Deck Template for AI Apps Series A Pitch Deck Template for AI Apps, requested by over 3,000 entrepreneurs and featured by Sifted.
Building on that momentum, we've now developed a Series A Data Room Template. It's ready for you to copy, customize, and make your own. A great startup data room isn't just a folder of files—it's an opportunity to showcase your vision and prove you're the kind of founder ready to build big. Like Mistral AI, Swile, Homa, Payflows, Staffbase, Podimo, Monta, Motion, Nivoda, DeepIP… and many other Headline portfolio companies did.
We had the privilege of supporting them in raising successful Series A rounds and beyond. Today, we are happy to help other entrepreneurs raise equally outstanding Series A rounds by sharing the best practices we've observed along the way.
To complement it, we've also included additional tools: a Fundraising Timeline and an Investor CRM. We hope these resources help you successfully pitch your startup to us—or to whomever you choose as your partners!
- Jon Userovici, General Partner at Headline
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We partner with founders from Seed to IPO. We are on the ground with offices in San Francisco, New York, Paris, London, Berlin, São Paulo, and Tokyo. Assisted by proprietary technologies and deep local networks, we partner with ambitious teams willing to build generational companies & global category leaders. If you’re building innovative solutions in the AI app space and beyond, or have any questions, we’d love to hear from you — just reach out to [email protected] or [email protected] to contact the authors of this Series A Data Room template or another Headline team member.
Some of Headline’s portfolio companies:
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While a pitch deck should be visual and designed to grab attention for further conversation, the data room is a centralized, organized space where founders store and share critical company information covering every critical aspect of a company and its plans for future growth. Think of it as your company’s “highlight reel” plus the due diligence materials VCs need to make informed decisions.
Typically, it includes:
The goal is to give investors everything they need to quickly understand your business and make a decision, without the back-and-forth of endless email threads or scattered attachments.
Many founders build their data rooms in Notion for its ease of use, permission control, and customization features (e.g., an investor-specific FAQ page or a timeline for your fundraising round). We have designed the template here for the same reasons, but nothing prevents you from using a different tool.
The data room is usually shared with investors after initial conversations with a VC who has shown interest in moving forward with a deeper due diligence process. This step typically comes after the founding team has evaluated the VC's fit as a potential partner.
This Data Room Template provides an overview of the essential information investors need for thorough due diligence. While tailored to the specific demands of AI-native businesses, the template is intentionally high-level and customizable to accommodate a wide range of business models, industries, and stages of maturity.
To help you streamline your fundraising process, we’ve included a sample Fundraising Timeline and Investor CRM below. Remember: when pitching, you’ll also be evaluated on how you handle the fundraising process and your interactions with potential investors. Don’t underestimate the importance of structure and pacing during this critical stage.
Fundraising can take several months. The more mature a company, the longer its fundraising process might be. It’s not uncommon for founders to meet with up to 40 potential investors before finding the right fit—both in terms of personal alignment and financial terms.
While executing on your business, we recommend limiting discussions with investors but maintaining smart, strategic connections with the funds most aligned with your company’s thesis (see Investor CRM section).
Founders should only kick off their fundraising when they feel fully prepared—with finalized materials and a dedicated focus on the process. It’s essential for founders to stay in control, set the pace between different funds, and build momentum when sharing the data room.