Running a Fundraising Round: Pre-Money and Post-Money Valuation
Fundraising starts from the premise that the startup has a value that can rise sharply when an investment is made.
Series A, B and C Funding Rounds: How to Support Your Start-up’s Fundraising
Funding rounds (A, B, C) shape how a start-up evolves and allow it to develop products and markets.
Protect Your IP Before Raising Funds
Protecting your intellectual assets before a funding round reassures investors about the long-term future of the company and can support its valuation.
What Is Startup Fundraising? Definition and Key Steps
Fundraising means obtaining financing in exchange for a share of the company’s share capital, favoured when equity and revenue are no longer enough.
Seed Stage Legal Mistakes: How to Avoid Them
Legal mistakes made at seed stage are often discovered during the first due diligence. Intellectual property, shareholders’ agreement, BSPCE, articles of association: the concrete points to watch.
Investing in a French Start-up and Residing in France as a Foreign National: Residence Permits
A foreign national who invests or sets up a business in France may apply for several residence permits, depending on their situation.
Setting Up a Startup in France: the Key Pillars to Build On
Building a start-up on solid ground rests on several pillars: concept, profitability, organisation, communication and priorities.
How BSA-AIR Start-up Funding Works: A Suitable Tool for Growing Start-ups
The BSA-AIR combines a share subscription warrant and a rapid investment agreement, useful to start-up founders and investors alike.
Fundraising Legal Checklist in France: How to Prepare Your Round
Due diligence, term sheet, shareholders’ agreement, terms of issue: how to prepare a fundraising round legally, avoid deadlocks and prepare for closing.
Patent vs Trade Secret: Which Strategy for a Deeptech Start-up?
The choice between a patent and a trade secret turns on one question: is the technology vulnerable to reverse engineering?
Investor Clauses in the Shareholders’ Agreement When Raising Funds
In a fundraising round, the content of the shareholders’ agreement clauses matters as much as the split of the share capital.
Startup IP Protection in France: How to Protect Your Intangible Assets
Source code, database, trade mark, algorithm: how does a start-up protect its intellectual assets? Assignment of the founders’ rights, employee contracts, trade marks, databases.
Deeptech Due Diligence: What Do Investors Check in a French Start-up?
Due diligence on a deeptech start-up covers five areas: the intellectual property chain of title, freedom to operate, the cap table, regulatory compliance and technological maturity.
When to Hire a Startup Lawyer: The Key Milestones
At what point should a start-up call on a lawyer? Incorporation, first contract, fundraising, strategic hiring, disputes between shareholders: the milestones not to miss.
Which Company Structure Is Best for a French Start-up Raising Funds?
Raising funds is a crucial goal for any company that wants to accelerate its growth and achieve its ambitions.
10 Startup Fundraising Tips from a Lawyer: How to Prepare Your Round
Structuring the company before approaching investors requires clear articles of association, a detailed shareholders’ agreement and sound governance.
Shareholders’ Agreement for a Startup in France: Fundraising Guide
A shareholders’ agreement is a contract governing relations between the shareholders and the company, supplementing the articles of association.
French Startup Term Sheet: What You Need to Know
The term sheet, a key document in the fundraising process, serves as the basis for discussions between investors and companies to set out the…
Founder Vesting in France: How to Make Progressive Vesting and the Transfer Back of Shares Legally Sound
Vesting makes a founder’s right to keep all of their shares conditional on their continued presence in the company over a defined period.
NDA Before Fundraising: Can You Ask Investors to Sign One?
Investors often refuse to sign an NDA before reviewing a deal. Why? What can you do to protect your information in this context? The alternatives and useful precautions.
Startup Founder Holding Structure in France: Holding Company or Direct Ownership?
Holding shares through a personal holding company is often relevant for founders who anticipate a sale: contribution-and-sale, reinvestment, costs and conditions to meet.
Startup Governance in France: What to Set Up from Day One
Articles of association, governance bodies, management powers, reserved matters, investor reporting: what a start-up must set up from incorporation to avoid later deadlocks.
Startup Fundraising in France: Legal Structuring Before You Raise
Careful legal preparation is essential before launching a fundraising round, to maximise the chances of success.
BSPCE vs BSA: How to Reward Researchers and Scientific Advisors in a French Start-up
To reward a researcher or scientific advisor without straining cash flow, two tools stand in contrast: BSPCE,
Pre-emption Right (Right of First Refusal): a Safeguard for French Start-ups
The pre-emption clause gives a priority right to buy the shares of a shareholder who wishes to leave the start-up, ahead of any third party.
Judicial Liquidation in France: Protecting Your Interests and Avoiding Sanctions
You are dealing with a difficult situation when your company is in cessation of payments. Article L640-1 of the French Commercial Code governs judicial liquidation…
What Counts as a Bad Leaver? How to Define the Managing Shareholder’s Fault
In a shareholders’ agreement, the bad leaver clause is the one providing that a shareholder who leaves the company in circumstances considered wrongful or disloyal will have their shares bought back on unfavourable terms, often well below market value. It is the counterpart of the good leaver clause, which gives fair treatment to a shareholder […]
How to Remove a Minority Shareholder Who Harms Your Start-up in France
French law recognises no general right to exclude a shareholder: exclusion is only possible if it has been provided for contractually…
Who Is Involved in a Fundraising Round: Venture Capital, Business Angels and Other Players
In the dynamic and often complex process of a fundraising round, several players play a key role.
Safeguard Proceedings in France: How to Prevent Insolvency
Safeguard proceedings, provided for by Article L620-1 of the French Commercial Code, are aimed at companies in serious difficulty but not yet insolvent…
