[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":894},["ShallowReactive",2],{"home-engagements":3,"home-articles":532},[4,202,374],{"id":5,"title":6,"audiences":7,"body":9,"category":169,"client":170,"description":171,"extension":172,"facts":173,"figure":43,"figureCaption":46,"image":186,"logo":187,"meta":188,"navigation":189,"order":190,"path":191,"seo":192,"service":194,"services":195,"sitemap":198,"stem":199,"summary":200,"__hash__":201},"engagements\u002Fengagements\u002Fangel-a.md","Supporting an angel to assess and invest with confidence",[8],"investing",{"type":10,"value":11,"toc":151},"minimark",[12,17,22,26,36,40,44,47,51,54,58,61,65,68,71,88,91,98,102,105,119,122,128,132,136,139,145],[13,14,16],"h2",{"id":15},"the-project","The project",[18,19,21],"h3",{"id":20},"assess-technology-viability-in-multiple-pre-seed-opportunities","Assess technology viability in multiple pre-seed opportunities.",[23,24,25],"p",{},"An angel investor with a track record of writing first checks to early stage businesses needed technical validation on three opportunities to better evaluate realistic potential versus unduly high risk to capital, in four weeks.",[27,28,29,33],"ul",{},[30,31,32],"li",{},"Over four weeks, work with three founders to review proof-of-concepts, product roadmaps, and plans for post-investment.",[30,34,35],{},"Standardised assessments and red flag reporting that allows the investor to compare various opportunities in a single, repeatable format.",[13,37,39],{"id":38},"key-results","Key results",[18,41,43],{"id":42},"_50000","£50,000",[23,45,46],{},"deployed into one business as a pre-seed investment for this angel, which was SEIS qualifying.",[18,48,50],{"id":49},"advisory-role","Advisory Role",[23,52,53],{},"As part of investment, Embeddable was retained to provide ongoing advisory and technical leadership to the successful investee.",[18,55,57],{"id":56},"clarity","Clarity",[23,59,60],{},"The investor was able to effectively review different businesses side-by-side using our due diligence reporting framework.",[13,62,64],{"id":63},"the-opportunity","The opportunity",[23,66,67],{},"An angel investor in the UK was keen to responsibly deploy pre-seed capital into businesses that placed AI at the centre of their solution.",[23,69,70],{},"Three investment opportunities were made available, with Embeddable engaged to provide due diligence on each.",[27,72,73,76,79,82,85],{},[30,74,75],{},"Spend time with each target company to understand founder profiles and any team structure",[30,77,78],{},"Technical assessment of proof-of-concepts and early-stage products",[30,80,81],{},"Differentiate between what is likely to exist in the product long-term, and what would be rebuilt to support scale",[30,83,84],{},"Assess ongoing technical spend and commitments, such as AI provider costs",[30,86,87],{},"Provide standardised due diligence reporting for the investor to make comparisons where applicable",[23,89,90],{},"The objective was not to advise on investment decisions, but to establish what was technically true in each case.",[23,92,93],{},[94,95,97],"a",{"href":96},"\u002Fservices\u002Ftechnical-due-diligence\u002F","Explore Due Diligence",[13,99,101],{"id":100},"the-results","The results",[23,103,104],{},"The investor deployed £50,000 into one of the three opportunities. Embeddable were subsequently appointed into an advisory role to provide ongoing advisory and technical leadership for the co-founders, and technical guidance as the product was developed and prepared to enter the market.",[27,106,107,110,113,116],{},[30,108,109],{},"Due diligence reporting on three opportunities completed in four weeks, for a fixed cost",[30,111,112],{},"Angel had a clear understanding of technical risks, and launch and scaling barriers, in a standard report format",[30,114,115],{},"Development timeline stayed aligned with the roadmap and business launched on schedule",[30,117,118],{},"Technology spend for the invested business is predictable and the company is set to be profitable in 12 months",[23,120,121],{},"The result was faster, more confident capital deployment, with continued support post-investment to reduce execution risk.",[23,123,124],{},[94,125,127],{"href":126},"\u002Fservices\u002Fadvisory\u002F","Explore Advisory",[13,129,131],{"id":130},"summary","Summary",[18,133,135],{"id":134},"angels-invest-with-confidence-and-provide-ongoing-support-to-your-portfolio","Angels: invest with confidence and provide ongoing support to your portfolio.",[23,137,138],{},"We helped an angel investor deploy £50,000 of pre-seed funding into an early-stage AI business, then provided ongoing support to the portfolio company, which launched on schedule, with predictability of costs and a roadmap for scaling.",[23,140,141],{},[142,143,144],"strong",{},"Looking to de-risk your next angel investment? We can help.",[23,146,147],{},[94,148,150],{"href":149},"\u002Fcontact\u002F","Discuss a Potential Investment",{"title":152,"searchDepth":153,"depth":153,"links":154},"",2,[155,159,164,165,166],{"id":15,"depth":153,"text":16,"children":156},[157],{"id":20,"depth":158,"text":21},3,{"id":38,"depth":153,"text":39,"children":160},[161,162,163],{"id":42,"depth":158,"text":43},{"id":49,"depth":158,"text":50},{"id":56,"depth":158,"text":57},{"id":63,"depth":153,"text":64},{"id":100,"depth":153,"text":101},{"id":130,"depth":153,"text":131,"children":167},[168],{"id":134,"depth":158,"text":135},"Investing","Angel A","Embeddable worked with an independent investor, “Angel A”, to explore and validate three pre-seed opportunities, leading to an initial £50,000 investment.","md",[174,177,180,183],{"label":175,"value":176},"Client","Angel investor",{"label":178,"value":179},"Stage","Pre-seed",{"label":181,"value":182},"Scope","Three opportunities",{"label":184,"value":185},"Timeframe","Four weeks, fixed cost","\u002Fimages\u002Fengagements\u002Fangel-a.jpg",null,{},true,1,"\u002Fengagements\u002Fangel-a",{"title":193,"description":171},"£50,000 Angel Investment After Embeddable Due Diligence","Technical Due Diligence",[196,197],"technical-due-diligence","advisory",{"loc":191},"engagements\u002Fangel-a","Embeddable were engaged by an active angel investor to filter and validate opportunities, leading to a £50,000 investment.","hfdtAa6FD9mzeSDzGva_f-RkziWQkmISNAuoLG5_JPE",{"id":203,"title":204,"audiences":205,"body":208,"category":345,"client":346,"description":347,"extension":172,"facts":348,"figure":358,"figureCaption":359,"image":360,"logo":361,"meta":362,"navigation":189,"order":153,"path":363,"seo":364,"service":366,"services":367,"sitemap":370,"stem":371,"summary":372,"__hash__":373},"engagements\u002Fengagements\u002Fassessable.md","Using AI to support teachers in marking, portfolio management and moderation for Key Stage 2",[206,207],"starting","growing",{"type":10,"value":209,"toc":330},[210,213,215,219,222,233,235,239,242,246,249,253,256,260,263,266,280,286,288,291,294,305,311,313,317,320,325],[23,211,212],{},"Embeddable worked with Assessable to evaluate an existing proof-of-concept, move to MVP and launch into commercial partnerships with a number of primary schools.",[13,214,16],{"id":15},[18,216,218],{"id":217},"ai-assisted-handwriting-marking-and-moderation-that-is-accurate-and-efficient-and-can-be-safely-procured-by-schools","AI-assisted handwriting marking and moderation that is accurate and efficient, and can be safely procured by schools.",[23,220,221],{},"Assessable set out to create a product that is accurate and efficient, whilst still keeping teachers in control of marking and feedback of their pupils.",[27,223,224,227,230],{},[30,225,226],{},"Teachers invest a significant amount of time in marking and portfolio management, but speed isn’t the primary concern. An AI that takes time but is accurate is much more valuable.",[30,228,229],{},"The teacher remains in the driving seat, where AI pupil feedback is provided for review and subsequently edited or approved by a teacher.",[30,231,232],{},"Governance and data protection are critical to protect the information of young people.",[13,234,39],{"id":38},[18,236,238],{"id":237},"successful-pilot","Successful Pilot",[23,240,241],{},"Assessable successfully piloted the MVP with a number of schools across England, attaining over 90% AI feedback accuracy.",[18,243,245],{"id":244},"agile-team","Agile Team",[23,247,248],{},"Assessable now has a multi-discipline team onboard, with rigorous governance processes in place to keep the business digitally secure.",[18,250,252],{"id":251},"investment-ready","Investment Ready",[23,254,255],{},"With SEIS in place, product in-market, and schools onboard, Assessable are well placed to open their latest investment round.",[13,257,259],{"id":258},"the-discovery","The discovery",[23,261,262],{},"Our discovery process reviewed the state and results of the previously built proof-of-concept, working with the founding team and other stakeholders to scope the subsequent MVP – a move away from a no-code build, to a bespoke, agentic platform.",[23,264,265],{},"Working alongside specialists in UX and AI architecture, Embeddable developed a costed, time-bound scope and oversaw the development of the new platform, whilst also leading on the implementation of the UI layer and the foundations of the businesses data governance requirements.",[27,267,268,271,274,277],{},[30,269,270],{},"Decoupled AI, API and front-end layers",[30,272,273],{},"Interactive assessment framework and moderation folders",[30,275,276],{},"Upload photographs of handwritten work from any device",[30,278,279],{},"Security aligned with expectations of schools and public sector authorities",[23,281,282],{},[94,283,285],{"href":284},"\u002Fservices\u002Fdiscovery\u002F","Explore Discovery",[13,287,101],{"id":100},[23,289,290],{},"Working with the Assessable team and other stakeholders, the MVP was delivered on time and on budget, subsequently launching as a pilot with a number of schools across England.",[23,292,293],{},"We subsequently engaged as the fractional CTO for Assessable to lead on technology scaling, and continue to work with the team today.",[27,295,296,299,302],{},[30,297,298],{},"Successfully pilot with primary schools across England",[30,300,301],{},"SEIS ready and product in-market",[30,303,304],{},"Robust data governance and security practices in place",[23,306,307],{},[94,308,310],{"href":309},"\u002Fservices\u002Ffractional-cto\u002F","Explore Fractional CTO",[13,312,131],{"id":130},[18,314,316],{"id":315},"assessable-mvp-pilots-product-launch","Assessable: MVP, Pilots, Product Launch",[23,318,319],{},"We helped the founders of Assessable take the insight from their proof-of-concept and translate that into a fully-fledged AI product that’s been piloted and procured by schools across England.",[23,321,322],{},[142,323,324],{},"Got an idea? Let’s see if we can do the same for you.",[23,326,327],{},[94,328,329],{"href":149},"Book your Discovery",{"title":152,"searchDepth":153,"depth":153,"links":331},[332,335,340,341,342],{"id":15,"depth":153,"text":16,"children":333},[334],{"id":217,"depth":158,"text":218},{"id":38,"depth":153,"text":39,"children":336},[337,338,339],{"id":237,"depth":158,"text":238},{"id":244,"depth":158,"text":245},{"id":251,"depth":158,"text":252},{"id":258,"depth":153,"text":259},{"id":100,"depth":153,"text":101},{"id":130,"depth":153,"text":131,"children":343},[344],{"id":315,"depth":158,"text":316},"Starting","Assessable","Teacher-led, AI-assisted portfolio assessment and moderation with consistent judgements over time.",[349,351,353,355],{"label":175,"value":350},"EdTech founders",{"label":178,"value":352},"Proof-of-concept to MVP",{"label":181,"value":354},"Discovery, MVP, fractional CTO",{"label":356,"value":357},"Outcome","SEIS ready, product in-market","90%+","AI feedback accuracy, piloting the MVP with a number of schools across England.","\u002Fimages\u002Fengagements\u002Fassessable.jpg","\u002Fimages\u002Flogos\u002Fassessable.png",{},"\u002Fengagements\u002Fassessable",{"title":365,"description":347},"Assessable: AI-assisted marking, MVP to pilot | Embeddable","Discovery · Fractional CTO",[368,369],"discovery","fractional-cto",{"loc":363},"engagements\u002Fassessable","Embeddable worked with Assessable to review the results of a prior proof of concept and manage the delivery of new, bespoke platform used in schools.","Bo-e84qWag1XBHoRKhmhPddzxPvyWns6OZYrw3QPTQ8",{"id":375,"title":376,"audiences":377,"body":378,"category":345,"client":509,"description":510,"extension":172,"facts":511,"figure":519,"figureCaption":520,"image":521,"logo":522,"meta":523,"navigation":189,"order":158,"path":524,"seo":525,"service":366,"services":527,"sitemap":528,"stem":529,"summary":530,"__hash__":531},"engagements\u002Fengagements\u002Fhome-sale-pack.md","Property tech that helps you sell your home faster and for more money",[206],{"type":10,"value":379,"toc":494},[380,382,386,389,400,402,406,409,413,416,420,423,425,428,431,448,452,454,457,460,473,477,479,483,486,490],[13,381,16],{"id":15},[18,383,385],{"id":384},"on-average-it-takes-6-months-to-sell-your-home","On average, it takes 6 months to sell your home.",[23,387,388],{},"Home Sale Pack decided there must be a faster, transparent, and reliable way.",[27,390,391,394,397],{},[30,392,393],{},"In that time information goes stale, mortgage rates and property valuations change, property chains break and sales fall through.",[30,395,396],{},"Founded by solicitors who saw the opportunity for a digital product that could support all parties involved in a sale.",[30,398,399],{},"Identity, information forms, Land Registry documents, searches and other documents become digital and verified.",[13,401,39],{"id":38},[18,403,405],{"id":404},"investment","Investment",[23,407,408],{},"Home Sale Pack secured six-figure seed investment to develop and iterate the product at pace.",[18,410,412],{"id":411},"adoption","Adoption",[23,414,415],{},"Within 90 days of launch, Home Sale Pack onboarded 100+ estate agents, who in turn invited their customers to the platform.",[18,417,419],{"id":418},"progress","Progress",[23,421,422],{},"Accepted onto Ignite accelerator and private Government incubators, ultimately appointing a full-time CTO.",[13,424,64],{"id":63},[23,426,427],{},"Our discovery process highlighted that the concept of “upfront information” in the home sale process was not new, but it was also not widely adopted, and there was a clear gap in the market for a seller-focused, digital solution.",[23,429,430],{},"With a goal of 5-day turnaround from starting a Home Sale Pack to receiving a completed pack, the product needed to be the glue between various digital and non-digital sources, backed up by legal expertise.",[27,432,433,436,439,442,445],{},[30,434,435],{},"Digital property forms, aligned with legislation requirements",[30,437,438],{},"Interactive property boundaries and maps",[30,440,441],{},"Integrated ordering of property title, register, referred documents, and search orders",[30,443,444],{},"AI-supported features to give context to information",[30,446,447],{},"Identity verification of all relevant parties",[23,449,450],{},[94,451,285],{"href":284},[13,453,101],{"id":100},[23,455,456],{},"Working with the Home Sale Pack founding team, their external management and consultants, Embeddable developed and scaled a web-based API platform built to serve the various requirements of parties involved in buying or selling a home: solicitors, estate agents, sellers, buyers, and internal Home Sale Pack staff.",[23,458,459],{},"We subsequently engaged as the fractional CTO for Home Sale Pack to lead on technology scaling, before a full-time Chief Technology Officer took over the reins in mid-2026.",[27,461,462,465,468,471],{},[30,463,464],{},"Discovery, MVP development and launch in 6 months, on-time and on-budget",[30,466,467],{},"100+ estate agents onboarded in the first 90 days",[30,469,470],{},"Seed funding secured to support future growth",[30,472,447],{},[23,474,475],{},[94,476,310],{"href":309},[13,478,131],{"id":130},[18,480,482],{"id":481},"home-sale-pack-idea-mvp-investment-scale-with-embeddable","Home Sale Pack: Idea, MVP, Investment, Scale with Embeddable",[23,484,485],{},"We helped the founders of Home Sale Pack go from an idea through to launching a product, securing investment, accessing accelerators and ultimately bring a full-time Chief Technology Officer onboard.",[23,487,488],{},[142,489,324],{},[23,491,492],{},[94,493,329],{"href":149},{"title":152,"searchDepth":153,"depth":153,"links":495},[496,499,504,505,506],{"id":15,"depth":153,"text":16,"children":497},[498],{"id":384,"depth":158,"text":385},{"id":38,"depth":153,"text":39,"children":500},[501,502,503],{"id":404,"depth":158,"text":405},{"id":411,"depth":158,"text":412},{"id":418,"depth":158,"text":419},{"id":63,"depth":153,"text":64},{"id":100,"depth":153,"text":101},{"id":130,"depth":153,"text":131,"children":507},[508],{"id":481,"depth":158,"text":482},"Home Sale Pack","Embeddable worked with Home Sale Pack to go from an idea to seed funding and market launch within 6 months.",[512,514,516,517],{"label":175,"value":513},"PropTech founders",{"label":178,"value":515},"Idea to seed funding",{"label":181,"value":354},{"label":184,"value":518},"Launch in 6 months","100+","estate agents onboarded in the first 90 days.","\u002Fimages\u002Fengagements\u002Fhome-sale-pack.jpg","\u002Fimages\u002Flogos\u002Fhome-sale-pack.svg",{},"\u002Fengagements\u002Fhome-sale-pack",{"title":526,"description":510},"Home Sale Pack: idea to seed round in 6 months | Embeddable",[368,369],{"loc":524},"engagements\u002Fhome-sale-pack","Embeddable worked with the Home Sale Pack team to discover, build, and launch an MVP that led to investment, scaling, and a full-time CTO.","1RnpokjyEmQxpGkGYQbTE_jLvDiYmWno01bdx-syH-k",[533,797],{"id":534,"title":535,"audiences":536,"body":537,"categories":782,"date":783,"description":784,"extension":172,"image":187,"meta":785,"navigation":189,"path":790,"seo":791,"services":793,"sitemap":794,"stem":795,"__hash__":796},"insight\u002Finsight\u002Ftechnical-due-diligence-for-startups-what-to-expect-during-investment.md","Technical Due Diligence for Startups: what to expect during investment",[8,206],{"type":10,"value":538,"toc":772},[539,542,545,548,552,555,558,564,567,570,574,577,580,591,595,598,601,627,631,634,651,655,658,661,664,672,676,679,699,703,706,720,723,727,730,750,758,761,766,769],[23,540,541],{},"When it comes to starting a business, particularly if you’re a first-time founder, the path to investment (should you decide to pursue it) can be particularly fuzzy.",[23,543,544],{},"During the early-stages of a tech-based business, there’s often only small parts of your product that are “built-to-last”, if any. The rest is undoubtedly going to evolve over time – as you grow, as you gather feedback, as the result of a pivot, or should you receive investment that lets you accelerate, for example.",[23,546,547],{},"Over time, Embeddable has sat on both sides of the table when it comes to early-stage investment. We’ve supported a number of investors of various size, stature, and average deal size, by carrying out technical due diligence and providing advisory support. We’ve also been the technology partner or fractional CTO for a business that is aiming to raise through the likes of angel syndicates and venture capital.",[13,549,551],{"id":550},"what-investors-arent-looking-for","What investors aren’t looking for",[23,553,554],{},"One of the biggest misconceptions around technical due diligence is that investors are searching for reasons not to invest. In reality, particularly at early stages, investors generally understand that technology is imperfect and evolving.",[23,556,557],{},"Perfect code, enterprise-grade infrastructure, comprehensive documentation and a complete product are not an expectation at this stage.",[559,560,561],"blockquote",{},[23,562,563],{},"What they do expect is transparency, awareness, and sensible decision-making.",[23,565,566],{},"Most concerns uncovered during technical due diligence can be addressed. The bigger problem is when founders are unaware of the risks, unable to explain key decisions, or cannot demonstrate a credible plan for moving forward.",[23,568,569],{},"So when it comes to an investor’s tech due diligence (“Tech DD”), what are they looking for, if it’s clear that a lot is likely to change?",[13,571,573],{"id":572},"_1-can-your-tech-do-what-youve-said-it-can","1. Can your tech do what you’ve said it can?",[23,575,576],{},"As part of your pitch to an investor, you’ve likely outlined what your business or product can do right now, as well as what the future (hopefully) holds in terms of capabilities.",[23,578,579],{},"The first port of call for tech due diligence is often a walkthrough of the product’s current features.",[27,581,582,585,588],{},[30,583,584],{},"Fundamentally, can you evidence what you’ve claimed is possible?",[30,586,587],{},"How much of the product is automated (or uses AI) versus requires a human to take action?",[30,589,590],{},"What are the key success measures (or KPIs) for the technology?",[13,592,594],{"id":593},"_2-what-does-the-codebase-look-like-and-what-is-the-development-process","2. What does the codebase look like and what is the development process?",[23,596,597],{},"Whilst an investor will appreciate your early-stage tech is likely going to change quickly and drastically, it’s still key to understand what the codebase looks like right now.",[23,599,600],{},"Investors are not usually assessing whether your code is perfect. They’re assessing whether future capital will be spent accelerating growth rather than fixing avoidable mistakes.",[27,602,603,606,609,612,615,618,621,624],{},[30,604,605],{},"How is the product built, using what infrastructure or tools, and why?",[30,607,608],{},"How is AI used in the development process?",[30,610,611],{},"How much rework would be needed to the current product, before anything new can be incorporated?",[30,613,614],{},"How much work is needed to ensure the current platform could scale if it needed to accommodate a significant increase in users or customers?",[30,616,617],{},"Is security taken seriously, and are there any immediate security threats or concerns?",[30,619,620],{},"What is the process for building, launching, and reviewing the technology today?",[30,622,623],{},"How is data structured?",[30,625,626],{},"Are recognised patterns used in the codebase to make it consistent and easier to manage, particularly if new people were to join the team and inherit elements of the code?",[13,628,630],{"id":629},"_3-how-defensible-is-the-business-product-or-concept","3. How defensible is the business, product, or concept?",[23,632,633],{},"When it comes to what you’ve built, an investor will always look at how it can be protected. The unique-ness of what you’ve created is a key component of investment. If it can be easily replicated (particularly in a world of AI), then your business lacks defence and an investor’s capital is at risk. You’ll need to consider:",[27,635,636,639,642,645,648],{},[30,637,638],{},"What intellectual property (IP) exists within the business?",[30,640,641],{},"Are there opportunities to patent elements of the solution?",[30,643,644],{},"Does the product rely on specialist knowledge or expertise?",[30,646,647],{},"Are there proprietary datasets, processes, or workflows involved?",[30,649,650],{},"What prevents a competitor from recreating the same solution?",[13,652,654],{"id":653},"_4-whats-the-composition-of-the-current-team","4. What’s the composition of the current team?",[23,656,657],{},"Whether your business is multiple people or you’re a solopreneur, due diligence will cover the make up of your technical team.",[23,659,660],{},"In early-stage businesses, a team gives you resilience and a greater likelihood of capacity to move and react quickly. A one person-business, or a one technical person-team in a cofounded team, for example, will have significant “key person dependency”. Small technical teams are not immune to this either and often investment in early rounds is used to give a business more resilience by engaging with support providers or making key hires.",[23,662,663],{},"The risk here is that your entire technical efforts lean on a very small selection of people. With that comes the need to plan for:",[27,665,666,669],{},[30,667,668],{},"How would the business continue if a key person was unavailable?",[30,670,671],{},"Are the proposed plans for the technical team composition aligned with where you’re aiming to take the product?",[13,673,675],{"id":674},"_5-what-are-your-technical-integrations-dependencies-and-costs","5. What are your technical integrations, dependencies, and costs?",[23,677,678],{},"In part, this is covered as part of the codebase audit, however integrations and dependencies are often broken into their own section, as dependent on your business or product, this can be quite the rabbit hole.",[27,680,681,684,687,690,693,696],{},[30,682,683],{},"What integrations, if any, does your technology rely on?",[30,685,686],{},"What is the current spend on integrations and third-parties that allow your technology to function?",[30,688,689],{},"Are the costs associated with these likely to change over time?",[30,691,692],{},"How does your technology provide continuity to users if an integration becomes unavailable (are you overly reliant on an external provider)?",[30,694,695],{},"Are there any risks associated with the integrations and dependencies you currently have?",[30,697,698],{},"Under what licence is each of your dependencies, and are you abiding by the terms of the licensing (such as GPL licences, which mandate open source)?",[13,700,702],{"id":701},"_6-are-there-security-or-privacy-concerns","6. Are there security or privacy concerns?",[23,704,705],{},"It’s likely that your technology collects, manages, or has access to data on other businesses, individuals, or other protected information. Security is a key concern for any investment, with due diligence exploring:",[27,707,708,711,714,717],{},[30,709,710],{},"Is the business aware of its requirements on data security, such as the UK’s data protection legislation?",[30,712,713],{},"What security practices are in place in the business, or as part of any technology?",[30,715,716],{},"How is data from external sources, or generated by AI, verified?",[30,718,719],{},"When were any security practices last stress tested?",[23,721,722],{},"The likes of penetration tests are often carried out during due diligence, however they are not always carried out in early-stage funding rounds, particularly in cases where the funding is primarily focused on product expansion or rebuilds, where it may instead be proposed that this is required post-investment, once work has been carried out.",[13,724,726],{"id":725},"_7-is-the-roadmap-relevant-and-realistic","7. Is the roadmap relevant and realistic?",[23,728,729],{},"From a technical standpoint, due diligence will look to assess your plans for how you’ll expand the technology aspect of your business.",[27,731,732,735,738,741,744,747],{},[30,733,734],{},"Does a roadmap exist?",[30,736,737],{},"Are the proposed additions that make up the roadmap realistic and deliverable?",[30,739,740],{},"How have elements of the roadmap been prioritised?",[30,742,743],{},"What are the associated costs and timeline for elements of the roadmap?",[30,745,746],{},"How will new additions to the technology be assessed for success or failure?",[30,748,749],{},"Does the roadmap address the defensibility, team composition, and security considerations already covered in the due diligence report?",[23,751,752,753,757],{},"An investor is funding your business based on future potential, so an understanding of ",[754,755,756],"em",{},"where"," your technology intends to go, and therefore the need for a roadmap, is critical.",[759,760],"hr",{},[559,762,763],{},[23,764,765],{},"The purpose of technical due diligence is not to prove a startup is perfect.",[23,767,768],{},"It exists to help investors understand where technology creates risk, where it creates opportunity, and whether future investment is likely to accelerate the business or simply fund the resolution of avoidable problems.",[23,770,771],{},"Particularly in early-stage companies, a due diligence report is rarely about finding reasons not to invest. More often, it provides clarity about what needs to happen next.",{"title":152,"searchDepth":153,"depth":153,"links":773},[774,775,776,777,778,779,780,781],{"id":550,"depth":153,"text":551},{"id":572,"depth":153,"text":573},{"id":593,"depth":153,"text":594},{"id":629,"depth":153,"text":630},{"id":653,"depth":153,"text":654},{"id":674,"depth":153,"text":675},{"id":701,"depth":153,"text":702},{"id":725,"depth":153,"text":726},[169,345],"2026-08-03","For first-time founders, the path to investment can be fuzzy. What investors look for during technical due diligence, and what they don’t expect early on.",{"cta":786},{"title":787,"text":788,"label":789},"Thinking about investment, but not sure if you’re ready?","We provide advisory support to businesses, allowing them to get their technology investment-ready.","Start a conversation","\u002Finsight\u002Ftechnical-due-diligence-for-startups-what-to-expect-during-investment",{"title":792,"description":784},"Technical Due Diligence for Startups: what to expect",[196,197],{"loc":790},"insight\u002Ftechnical-due-diligence-for-startups-what-to-expect-during-investment","tb6TsWMIjKJQF28oCB-4oK7GStzF4lk0Y9ueziDEad4",{"id":798,"title":799,"audiences":800,"body":801,"categories":882,"date":884,"description":885,"extension":172,"image":187,"meta":886,"navigation":189,"path":887,"seo":888,"services":890,"sitemap":891,"stem":892,"__hash__":893},"insight\u002Finsight\u002Fare-new-businesses-more-reliant-on-investment.md","Are new businesses more reliant on investment, or more aware of it?",[206,8],{"type":10,"value":802,"toc":877},[803,806,810,813,816,819,822,826,834,844,847,861,864,868,871,874],[23,804,805],{},"When I first started Embeddable, the tagline was “supporting founders and businesses to start, scale, and succeed”. Naturally, the business has iterated and adapted over time, and the tagline has adjusted accordingly, but some of the work I still most deeply enjoy is those first conversations with founders at the very beginning of the “start” phase.",[13,807,809],{"id":808},"the-raised-ceiling","The raised ceiling",[23,811,812],{},"Every opportunity – even if it’s just the kernel of an idea – has huge potential to the founder(s). Sometimes that potential is realised, sometimes not. What has remained a near constant, particularly here in the North East, is people’s ambition. Without straying into a whole other topic, the power of AI has reshaped what is achievable, in what timescale, with what team, and at what cost and, in my opinion, founders are more ambitious than ever.",[23,814,815],{},"However, whilst the ceiling of what is achievable in the early stages has shifted dramatically, seemingly so too has the attitude towards how those first movements are funded.",[23,817,818],{},"I’ve been fortunate in recent years to have been involved on both sides of early-stage investment, having worked with businesses throughout their raise, as well as with investors as their technical partner for prospective portfolio companies.",[23,820,821],{},"What has become clear in conversations I’ve had with founders, particularly over the last two years or so, is not only an increased awareness of the likes of venture capital, but also an increased, perhaps even self-induced, pressure to secure it in order to achieve their goals or simply enter the market. Likewise, investors I have worked with – angel and institutional – are seeing an increase in the number of pre-product or pre-revenue businesses seeking to raise, often with significantly higher initial funding asks.",[13,823,825],{"id":824},"more-businesses-are-preparing-to-raise","More businesses are preparing to raise",[23,827,828,829,833],{},"In ",[94,830,832],{"href":831},"\u002Fresources\u002Ftees-valley-digital-innovation-survey-2026\u002F","our own research"," at the turn of the year, which focused on the Tees Valley, just over one in four respondents (27%) indicated that they believed their business would access some form of investment or debt financing in the year ahead.",[23,835,836,837,843],{},"Provisional data from ",[94,838,842],{"href":839,"rel":840},"https:\u002F\u002Fwww.gov.uk\u002Fgovernment\u002Fstatistics\u002Fenterprise-investment-scheme-seed-enterprise-investment-scheme-and-social-investment-tax-relief-may-2025",[841],"nofollow","HM Revenue and Customs"," indicates a 16% increase in the volume of requests for SEIS Advance Assurance in FY 2024\u002F25 versus the previous year, whilst the number of new company registrations in the same period grew by just 1%.",[23,845,846],{},"There are, without doubt, a number of factors that could contribute to the increased intent to raise early funding. My non-exhaustive thoughts are:",[27,848,849,852,855,858],{},[30,850,851],{},"There is increased general awareness of investment, particularly (S)EIS and venture capital,",[30,853,854],{},"There is a certain perception around both the requirements for, and ease of, raising,",[30,856,857],{},"The current UK economy makes bootstrapping increasingly unsustainable,",[30,859,860],{},"There is a want – or need – for many businesses to pursue more aggressive early-stage growth in order to gain an advantage, requiring outside capital.",[23,862,863],{},"With regards to the perceived requirements, this is potentially linked to activity in the US VC market, where, in 2025, a quarter of “seed” venture capital deals involved businesses raising over $5m. From the outside looking in (or over the pond, so to speak), it can therefore appear that the level of effort required for a UK business to raise one tenth of that amount requires somewhere in the region of one tenth of the traction, right? Wrong, of course – and even then, $500,000 (~£367,000) exceeds the SEIS cap.",[13,865,867],{"id":866},"intent-does-not-guarantee-results","Intent does not guarantee results",[23,869,870],{},"At this stage, I do feel it’s important to highlight that seeking investment does not necessarily imply a reliance on securing it – raising can be one of several calculated levers to pull.",[23,872,873],{},"The data suggests an increasing proportion of new businesses have investment intent, but, critically, that is not to say that more businesses are successful in securing a deal, which is potentially where the real disconnect lies: the expectation of securing investment is very different from the reality.",[23,875,876],{},"There are naturally a multitude of reasons why a business doesn’t secure investment rather than a single root cause, and the gap between expectation and reality is only one of them, but is it becoming an increasingly common barrier?",{"title":152,"searchDepth":153,"depth":153,"links":878},[879,880,881],{"id":808,"depth":153,"text":809},{"id":824,"depth":153,"text":825},{"id":866,"depth":153,"text":867},[169,883,345],"Opinion","2026-07-08","Founders are more ambitious than ever, and more are preparing to raise early. Are new businesses more reliant on investment, or simply more aware of it?",{},"\u002Finsight\u002Fare-new-businesses-more-reliant-on-investment",{"title":889,"description":885},"New businesses: more reliant on investment, or more aware?",[197,368],{"loc":887},"insight\u002Fare-new-businesses-more-reliant-on-investment","4leK5-4GRqL4l82gEOgxNHWHPuPCcZTXS4E8xbQwlTQ",1793356172864]