Evaluate your startup's readiness to raise your first institutional capital. Designed for companies at the earliest stage — idea through first revenue. Takes about 15 minutes.
Future editions will cover Late Pre-Seed, Early Seed, and Late Seed stages.
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Before You Begin
VC fit, scoring methodology & weights
This assessment helps you prepare for venture capital fundraising. But before you invest time here, it's worth understanding what makes a company "VC-backable" — because most companies aren't, and that's not a bad thing.
Venture capital is a specific type of financing designed for a specific type of company.
VC-backable companies share a few characteristics that make them fundamentally different from most small businesses:
1.Large addressable market. The problem you're solving needs to be big enough that a successful company could reach $100M+ in revenue. A great restaurant or consulting firm can be a wonderful business — but it's not a venture deal.
2.Scalable without proportional cost. VC-backable companies can grow revenue significantly faster than they grow headcount or expenses. Software, marketplaces, and platform businesses do this naturally. Services businesses generally don't.
3.Technology-driven disruption. Technology decomposes monolithic industries — that's where venture-scale opportunity lives. Your company should be using technology to fundamentally change how something works, not just incrementally improving an existing process.
4.Path to a liquidity event. Investors need a way to get their money back — with a return. That usually means an acquisition or (rarely at this stage) an IPO within 7-10 years. If your company is designed to be a lifestyle business or stay privately held indefinitely, VC isn't the right fit.
5.Willing to give up equity. Venture funding means selling ownership in your company. You'll have partners — investors — who expect governance rights, information rights, and a return on their capital. Partnership is a marriage, not a transaction.
Even if your company IS VC-backable, this assessment might reveal you're not ready yet.
That's the point. The work of becoming "funding ready" — building your team, validating your market, creating your materials — makes your company stronger regardless of whether you raise capital. Every item in this assessment is something that helps you build a better business.
Think of this tool as a mirror, not a gate. A strong score means you're ready to have productive conversations with investors. A lower score means you have a roadmap for what to work on next — and that roadmap is often more valuable than the score itself.
"We screen 100 investments to invest in 3. The companies that get funded aren't just good ideas — they're well-prepared teams solving urgent problems with evidence that customers care. This assessment helps you become one of those 3."
How This Assessment Works
No hocus pocus. Here's exactly how we score your readiness:
Two dimensions, weighted 60/40: Business Readiness (60%) evaluates 14 items across three pillars. Materials Readiness (40%) checks 17 deliverables investors expect to see.
Pillar weights reflect what early-stage investors prioritize:
Use −/+ buttons to adjust how weightings affect your score
Item
Weight
Share
Using default weights
Weights derived from: Angel Capital Association Scorecard Method, Precursor Ventures, Hustle Fund, YC application criteria, and Evolution Accelerator's investment philosophy. The specific numbers are judgment calls — they're transparent so you can evaluate the methodology yourself.
Benchmark data sourced from Carta State of Pre-Seed Q3 2025, SEC investor type guidelines, and industry surveys.
Company InfoBusiness ReadinessMaterialsYour Roadmap
Step 1 of 4
Company Information
Tell us about your company. This information helps tailor your assessment and will appear in your personalized report.
Company Basics
Company name is required
What does your company do, in one sentence? (120 chars max)
Founder Information
Founder name is required
Valid email is required
Corporate Structure
Current Fundraise
Please enter a raise amount
Please select an instrument
SAFE Terms
Standard is 20%. Leave blank if no discount.
Benchmark (Carta Q3 2025): 92% of pre-seed rounds use SAFEs. Post-money with cap only is the most common structure. At early pre-seed, median valuation caps: $4M (rounds <$100K), $5M ($100K-$250K), $6M ($250K-$500K). Standard discount when included: 20%.
Convertible Note Terms
Standard is 15-25%.
Median is 7%. Range: 4-8%.
Standard: 18-24 months.
Benchmark (Carta Q3 2025): Convertible notes are used in ~8% of pre-seed rounds. At early pre-seed, median valuation cap: $4M. Median interest rate: 7%. Standard maturity: 18-24 months. Notes tend to have lower valuation caps than SAFEs at this stage.
Priced Round Terms
Note: Priced rounds are uncommon at early pre-seed. Most early-stage rounds use SAFEs or Convertible Notes to avoid the cost and complexity of a priced round. If you're raising less than $1M, a SAFE is almost always simpler and cheaper.
Prior Fundraising
Friends & family, grants, angel checks, accelerator funding, etc. Enter 0 if this is your first raise.
Step 2 of 4
Business Readiness
Rate your company's strength in each area. Be honest — this assessment is for you. These criteria are calibrated for early pre-seed companies (idea through first revenue). Click "What does this mean?" for guidance on each item.
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Business Readiness Score
Updates as you complete each category below
Step 3 of 4
Materials Readiness
What's the status of your key fundraising assets? In 2026, investors expect more than documents — they want to see your product, hear your story, and verify your claims before they take a meeting.
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Materials Readiness Score
Updates as you complete each item below
Your Report & Roadmap
Funding Readiness Report
Here's where you stand — and what to do next.
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Overall Funding Readiness
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Team
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Business
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Corporate
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Materials
Get Your Report by Email
We'll send this report and roadmap to the email you provided, along with a copy to the Evolution Accelerator team.
SAMPLE REPORT — Your results will be personalized based on your answers
Ready to See Your Own Report?
Complete the assessment to get your personalized funding readiness score, strengths analysis, and 90-day roadmap.
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Funding Readiness Assessment — Early Pre-Seed Edition
Prepared by Evolution Accelerator | evolutionacceleration.com
