July Edition 2024

30 Also value of data room Ephraim Schmeidler, Of Counsel at Greenberg Traurig (GT) adds: “The key factors are a great product and management that the investors will find to be hands on and trustworthy. Counsel cannot help with the former but can very much help on the latter. The investment stage includes the investor reviewing the material documents of the company (both corporate and transactional). Counsel could be extremely helpful in organizing the documents during the diligence stage. My personal experience includes mostly representing investors and I can say that an organized data room and a responsive team go a long way into building trust between the parties.” Communication can significantly de-risk the business Adam at Dechert continues: “Legal counsel are in the best position to provide an objective sounding board and the benefit of some good judgment when it comes to taking decisions which have a legal or financial impact on the start-up. Advising startups on the legal boundaries within which they operate so that they can take decisions within them is a real benefit, so regular communication and bouncing ideas around between a client and a trusted legal advisor can contribute significantly to de-risking the business and so improving the chance of a start-up’s success.” Know the market trends Dr. Ayal at Goldfarb, Gross, Seligman: “When preparing for financing, startups should get familiar with the market trends in general, and the investment strategy and terms of investment of the investors they are approaching, to enhance the likelihood of consuming the investment and minimize friction. Startups should also consider addressing, whether as part of a pre-seed financing or as part of the financing itself, high profile, added-value angel investors, who can use their knowledge, experience and connections to accelerate the start-up’s growth, as week as enhance other investor’s confidence in the start-up’s future success.” Granting anti-dilution protection is very useful Jonathan at Shibolet continues: “In the current unstable environment, it’s crucial for startups to ease investor concerns about future uncertainties. An example of a beneficial financing feature is granting early-stage investors catch-up rights regarding, among other things, anti-dilution protection,

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