Bridge round note legal support for startup fundraising

It is often used when a company needs interim funding before a larger round is ready to close. That can happen where founders want to extend runway, hit milestones, or avoid setting a full valuation too early. A bridge note can work where the parties expect the investment to convert later, but still need current funding documented properly now. The right structure depends on the deal terms, the likely timing of the next raise, and how the note interacts with your existing shareholder and investment documents.

The pressure points are usually conversion mechanics, valuation treatment, discount or cap settings, maturity timing, and what happens if the next funding event does not occur as expected. Problems also arise when investor rights are discussed commercially but not expressed clearly in the note, or when the bridge terms sit awkwardly with existing constitutional or shareholder arrangements. Founder dilution can also be misunderstood if the economics are not modelled and documented carefully. A bridge note works best when the legal wording matches the actual commercial deal.

It usually includes a lawyer consultation on the proposed bridge raise, drafting the bridge round note itself, and advice on the main legal and commercial issues raised by the structure. That can include conversion triggers, repayment or maturity wording, investor protections, and closing points that need to be dealt with before signing. If there are related documents or board approvals needed, we can identify those as next steps, but this page is aimed at the bridge note support itself rather than every document in the wider fundraising process.

It is commonly used by startups and growth companies that are between major rounds and need a short-term funding instrument recorded properly. It can also suit founders who already have investor interest but need the legal terms clarified before money comes in. If your raise involves several investors, bespoke side rights or a more complex capital structure, that may affect the drafting approach and whether related documents should be handled at the same time. The service is most useful where the bridge note is a meaningful part of the transaction, not an afterthought.

Signing the note is usually one step in the broader fundraising timeline, not the end of the legal story. You may still need to deal with board approvals, cap table updates, later conversion mechanics, or additional round documents when the next raise occurs. This service does not include ongoing representation after the note is finalised unless that is separately arranged. If you expect the bridge funding to roll into a larger round soon, it is worth flagging that early so the note can be drafted with the likely next step in mind.

Just submit an enquiry via this page or click the 'get started' button on our website to submit an enquiry. After you've submitted an enquiry, one of our legal consultants will review your enquiry within 1 business day and get in touch to get a better idea of exactly what you are looking for.

Then your legal consultant will send through an email with a bit more information about the services you need, along with a fixed fee quote setting out costs, scope of the service and timing. Have a read through it, and if you're happy with the scope, you can accept and sign our engagement letter online - easy!

Once you've formally accepted, we'll connect you with a specialist lawyer and they will work with you to complete your project. They will contact you by email or phone if they need to get in touch.

Sprintlaw works on fixed-fee pricing wherever possible, so you can review the scope and cost before you decide whether to proceed. For the Bridge Round Note service, pricing starts from $900.00.

After you enquire, a legal consultant will confirm what is included, the expected timing and whether any extra work is needed before you engage us.

We operate completely online, which means we can help you wherever you are in New Zealand. We have office spaces in Sydney, and in Melbourne, but our use of technology allows our team members to work remotely from around the world. Our legal team are mostly based in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Perth. We also have a London office for Sprintlaw UK.

Our legal team is made up of experienced lawyers, who are specialists in various areas of law and hold an Australian legal practising certificate. None of our Sprintlaw lawyers are New Zealand qualified lawyers and they do not currently hold a New Zealand practising certificate.

They provide legal services working remotely from Australia via our 'legal consultancy' model, through which (under section 6 and section 35 of the New Zealand Lawyers and Conveyancers Act 2006) our Australian legal team are permitted to provide legal services to New Zealand businesses provided they do not provide services in certain 'reserved' areas of law. You can read our FAQ page to learn a bit more about our 'legal consultancy' model.

Given the strong similarities between Australian and New Zealand law, and the areas of law in which we practice (being small business and startup law), we do not view the fact that our lawyers have not qualified in New Zealand as having any substantive impact on the quality of our service. We are committed to ensuring that we provide high quality, affordable legal services to all our New Zealand clients.

Our legal team have all trained at leading firms, but have left the traditional corporate law world to join us on our mission to create a new and better way of delivering legal services. They have specialist expertise in technology law, intellectual property law, contract drafting and review, corporate law and commercial law.