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What Investors Actually Look At in Due Diligence

A Series A lead investor runs the same diligence model on every deal that hits their IC meeting. Four numbers matter most: ARR versus stage benchmark (are you big enough for the round you are raising?), year-over-year growth rate (does the trajectory support the valuation?), net revenue retention (are your existing customers expanding or churning?), and burn multiple (cash burned per dollar of net new ARR — the most important efficiency metric in venture today). A company with $2M ARR, 120% growth, 115% NRR, and a 1.5x burn multiple is investor-ready. The same company with 60% growth, 95% NRR, and a 3.5x burn multiple is not — and no amount of pitch deck polish will fix that. The Fundraise Readiness Score puts these four metrics into a single 0–100 score so you know where you stand before the first investor call, not after a rejection email.

How the Fundraise Readiness Score Works

Enter six inputs: current ARR, year-over-year growth rate, net revenue retention percentage, burn multiple (cash in bank divided by monthly net burn), target raise amount, and your funding stage. The tool scores each of the four core metrics on a 0–25 scale based on stage-specific benchmarks — pre-seed thresholds differ from Series A thresholds, which differ from Series B+ thresholds. The four sub-scores add up to a 100-point composite. The output shows your composite score, the four sub-scores (color-coded green, amber, or red), an investor readiness checklist of six to seven items reflecting which signals you can defend and which you cannot, and a Critical Gaps section that names the two to three metrics most likely to be flagged in diligence. Everything is generated client-side in under a second.

Who Should Run a Fundraise Readiness Score

Founders 4–6 months before they plan to start a process — enough time to close the gaps the score surfaces. Founders who have been told by an investor "your metrics are not quite there yet" and need an objective read on what "there" means. Finance leads preparing a metrics memo for the CEO before the board discusses whether to raise. Operators at companies that have raised once before and want to know if their current trajectory supports a Series A round on a defensible valuation. The score is most valuable when you run it on a recurring basis — once a quarter, then again two months before starting a process. If your score climbs above 85, you are investor-ready. If it sits below 70, focus on the gaps before raising; VCs will find them on their own.

What You Get in the Output

The output is a 100-point score in a hero card, a 4-tile breakdown of your sub-scores across ARR vs stage, YoY growth, NRR, and burn multiple, an Investor Readiness Checklist (six to eight items with green checkmarks for strengths and amber circles for gaps), and a Critical Gaps section listing the specific metric weaknesses most likely to come up in diligence. Each gap links back to a concrete action — e.g., "NRR at 95% — build expansion playbook before approaching investors" or "burn multiple at 3.2x — develop path-to-profitability narrative." The output is delivered as a PDF via email for inclusion in your board materials.

How to Get Started

Pull your most recent monthly SaaS metrics — ARR, growth rate, NRR, and cash balance. Enter them into the form along with your target raise and current stage. The score appears immediately. To unlock the full readiness checklist and critical gaps analysis, drop your email. No account creation, no payment, no commitment.

Fundraise Readiness Score

Know if your metrics will survive due diligence

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Frequently Asked Questions

What is a fundraise readiness score? +
A fundraise readiness score is a 0–100 composite that benchmarks your startup against the metrics Series A and B lead investors diligence before committing to a term sheet. CFO Tech Stack's score combines four signals that VCs weight most heavily — ARR versus stage benchmark, year-over-year growth, net revenue retention, and burn multiple — into a single number, plus a sub-score breakdown and a checklist of the gaps most likely to come up in IC. The score is meant to be run 4–6 months before you start a process, so you have time to fix the gaps before your first partner meeting.
What does a VC look at before investing? +
A lead investor at Series A or B runs four core numbers before any qualitative diligence: (1) ARR versus stage benchmark — are you big enough for the round and at the right trajectory; (2) year-over-year growth — is the curve defensible at the valuation you are asking for; (3) net revenue retention — are existing customers expanding or churning; and (4) burn multiple — how much capital is required to add each dollar of net new ARR. These four metrics, plus qualitative judgment on team, market, and product, drive 80% of the diligence weighting for early- and growth-stage rounds.
How do I score my Series A readiness? +
To score your Series A readiness, enter your current ARR, year-over-year growth rate, net revenue retention percentage, burn multiple (cash in bank divided by monthly net burn), your target raise amount, and your current funding stage into the Fundraise Readiness tool. The output is a 0–100 composite plus four sub-scores (ARR vs stage, growth, NRR, burn multiple) color-coded green, amber, or red. A score of 85+ means your metrics will survive diligence; 70–84 means strong candidate but you have one or two gaps investors will probe; below 70 means you should defer the round and close the gaps first.
Can I use the score mid-round? +
Yes — the fundraise readiness score is most useful mid-round as a triangulation tool. If you have already started investor conversations and received "your metrics are not quite there yet" feedback, running the score gives you an objective read on which specific metrics are below stage benchmark and how much movement is required before the next conversation. We recommend re-running it after each major metric change (a quarter of NRR improvement, a burn reduction, an ARR data point) so you can show investors a defensible delta when you re-engage.
Is the score calibrated to my stage? +
Yes. The score applies different benchmarks depending on which funding stage you select — pre-seed, seed, Series A, Series B, or Series C+. A 1.5x burn multiple is strong for a Series A SaaS company but weak for a pre-seed company; a $2M ARR is at benchmark for seed but below benchmark for Series A. The stage-specific multiplier and the four sub-score thresholds both calibrate to the round you are actually raising, so the score reflects what an investor at that round will diligence against — not generic SaaS averages.
What's the difference between readiness and pitch? +
Readiness measures whether your underlying metrics can support a successful round; pitch measures how clearly you communicate the story to investors. The two are independent — a company can have perfect pitch and weak readiness (story is great but metrics will not survive diligence), or strong readiness and weak pitch (metrics will win the round but the narrative loses investor attention). The score targets readiness specifically because readiness is the harder of the two to assess objectively; pitch quality is a function of storytelling, deck design, and rehearsal. Run the readiness score first, then refine the pitch once the metrics are defensible.