Tech due diligence for investors
Technical due diligence for seed and Series A investors
This is for angels, seed funds and Series A investors about to back a software company. Before you commit, you get an independent read on its technology: what could change the deal, what each problem would cost to fix, and what to ask the founders.
The review is done by Sachin Mour, CTO at Hexis, who led Emblem's platform as CTO. Emblem is an AI due diligence platform for private equity. He still writes code, so findings come from reading the system, not from a questionnaire.
Fixed price: a report in 7 to 10 business days
For a seed to Series A company with one product and up to ten engineers, we review the code, the architecture, the cloud setup and security, and interview the CTO and one engineer. You get the report in 7 to 10 business days. It's a fixed price, from $7,500, agreed in writing before we start.
The report is written for the deal team rather than for engineers. It gives a verdict, rates each finding by risk, puts a cost on fixing it and lists the questions to put to the founders before you sign.
Later-stage companies, several products or an acquisition start at $15,000, over two to three weeks. Financial due diligence and SOC 2 audits aren't included.
The technical due diligence checklist we work through
Every review answers the same questions, so you can compare one company with the next. We answer them from the code and the cloud account first, then test the answers in the interviews.
Architecture
Does the design fit the product and the plan in the deck? What breaks first with ten times the users?
Code
Can a new engineer change it safely? Do tests cover the paths that bring in revenue? How far behind are its third-party libraries?
Security
Who can reach customer data, and what stops everyone else? Where do passwords and keys live? Has there been an incident, and what changed after it?
Infrastructure and cost
Are deploys automated, backups tested and alerts watched? How does the cloud bill grow with revenue?
Team and delivery
How does the team plan, review and ship? What's the key-person risk: who could leave and take what they know with them?
IP and open source
Does the company own its code? Who wrote it: employees, contractors or an agency? Do any open-source licences limit how it can be sold? We flag what your lawyers should check.
AI claims
If the product uses AI, what's built in-house and what's a call to someone else's model? What does each user cost in model fees?
How the review runs
Scope
A call with you about the deal and what worries you, then a fixed price in writing.
Access
The company gives us read-only access to its code, cloud accounts and docs. The 7 to 10 business days start once we have it.
Review and interviews
We read the code, check the cloud setup and security, and interview the CTO and one engineer.
Report and walkthrough
You get the verdict, the findings and the technical appendix, then a call to walk the deal team through them.
Independent of the company we review
We take no paid work from the company we review for six months, unless you agree to it. Pulore also builds software, so without this rule a finding could look like the start of a sales pitch. It keeps the review separate from any sale.
What you get
A verdict
Invest, invest with conditions, or pass, with the reasons, written for the deal team rather than for engineers.
Findings rated by risk
Each finding rated high, medium or low, with what it means for the deal.
The cost of each problem
The effort and cost to fix every finding, plus key-person risk and open-source or IP issues.
Questions for the founders
What to ask before you sign, and the conditions we'd attach to the investment.
The evidence
A technical appendix with the detail behind each finding.
A walkthrough call
A call to walk the deal team through the report and answer its questions.
What we've done for clients
Emblem
AI due diligence that cites its sources
Sachin led Emblem's platform as CTO, including the Google Cloud infrastructure and the security work behind SOC 2. It's built for private equity and investment teams, who need answers they can defend in an investment committee, so every number had to trace back to the page it came from.
Read the Emblem case studyHexis
Rebuilding the platform behind elite sports nutrition
Sachin is Hexis's CTO. He leads four engineers, helped re-architect the platform and is leading the company's SOC 2 audit, which is in progress. The data model rebuild took multi-day queries from several minutes to under 700ms, a key factor in closing Hexis's $2.1M seed round.
Read the Hexis case studyHow a project starts
From a free call to the end of the second week.
A free 30-minute call
Tell us about the company, the round and your deadline. We'll confirm the scope and the price, and when you'd have the report.
A fixed price, or hourly
After the call we send a fixed-price quote for a clear scope, or agree on hourly work at $100 to $150 an hour. Technical due diligence on a seed to Series A company is a fixed price from $7,500. Later-stage companies, several products or an acquisition start at $15,000.
The first two weeks
- We agree on the scope with you, and the company gives us read-only access to its code, cloud accounts and docs.
- We review the code, the architecture, the cloud setup and security, and interview the CTO and one engineer.
- Within 7 to 10 business days, you get the report and a call to walk the deal team through it.
Frequently asked questions
What is technical due diligence?
An independent review of a company's technology before an investment: its code, architecture, cloud setup, security and the team behind them. It tells investors whether the technology can carry the plan they're funding, and what it would cost to fix what can't.
How much does technical due diligence cost?
From $7,500 for a seed to Series A company with one product and up to ten engineers, delivered in 7 to 10 business days, at a fixed price agreed before we start. Later-stage companies, several products or an acquisition start at $15,000, over two to three weeks.
What's on a technical due diligence checklist?
Architecture, code quality, security, infrastructure and running cost, how the team ships, key-person risk, and open-source and IP issues. For an AI product, add what's built in-house and what each user costs in model fees. We answer each from the code and the cloud account, then test the answers in interviews.
How do you stay independent?
We take no paid work from the company we review for six months, unless you agree to it. Pulore also builds software, and the rule keeps our findings separate from any sale.
What does the company need to provide?
Read-only access to its code, cloud accounts and docs, and time for two interviews, with the CTO and one engineer. The 7 to 10 business days start once we have access.
Do you do due diligence for acquisitions?
Yes. The same review works when you're buying a software company. An acquisition starts at $15,000, over two to three weeks.
We're the founders. Can you prepare us for an investor's review?
Yes, with our code audit. We find the problems first, so you can fix the cheap ones and explain the rest before investors look. It's a fixed price from $5,000.