The complete Series B due diligence checklist for E-commerce startups. Prepare your data room, anticipate every investor request, and close your round faster.
6–12 weeks
Typical DD Timeline
5
DD Categories Covered
50+
Checklist Items Total
Ecommerce DD increasingly includes supply chain ESG review (labor practices, environmental compliance). Investors sourcing capital from institutional LPs will run supply chain audits.
Documents to have ready before DD begins
Institutional-grade legal DD covering corporate governance, regulatory risk, key contract change-of-control provisions, and cross-border compliance. Full rep and warranty review.
Audited financial statements (typically required). Revenue quality review by Big 4 accounting firm. Deep customer cohort and retention analysis. Cap table fully modeled through exit scenarios.
Executive team professional background investigations. Non-compete and non-solicitation enforceability analysis. Board composition governance review.
E-commerce Series B due diligence typically takes 6–12 weeks. Institutional-grade legal DD covering corporate governance, regulatory risk, key contract change-of-control provisions, and cross-border compliance. Full rep and warranty review. Having a complete data room ready before DD kicks off can reduce this timeline by 30–50%.
For E-commerce at the Series B stage, investors focus heavily on: Supplier contracts and exclusivity provisions, Platform terms of service compliance (Amazon, Shopify, etc.), and Gross and net margin by product category and SKU, Return rate and refund policy cost modeling. Ecommerce DD increasingly includes supply chain ESG review (labor practices, environmental compliance). Investors sourcing capital from institutional LPs will run supply chain audits.
Your Series B data room should include: 3 years of audited financial statements; Full customer list with contract terms and renewal dates; Complete IP portfolio with FTO opinion; All board materials and resolutions; Material subsidiary documentation; Insurance policies (D&O, E&O, cyber); All government filings and regulatory correspondence. Use a structured folder system that mirrors investor expectations — most institutional investors use a standard folder taxonomy.
The five most common DD deal-killers are: (1) undisclosed founder litigation or criminal history, (2) IP ownership gaps — particularly for university-origin technology, (3) customer contract terms that prevent assignment on change of control, (4) cap table math errors or undocumented equity grants, and (5) financial restatements required after revenue recognition review.
Executive team professional background investigations. Non-compete and non-solicitation enforceability analysis. Board composition governance review.
Get the E-commerce Series B due diligence checklist as a Google Sheets or Notion template. Track completion status for every item in your data room.
Includes data room folder template, investor question tracker, and reference FAQ guide