Understand the legal and commercial weight of your investment term sheet

This service is commonly used by founders, early-stage companies, growth businesses and existing shareholders who have received a proposed term sheet and want to understand what it may mean before momentum builds around the deal. It is particularly useful where the headline valuation looks attractive but the control, preference or founder restriction terms need closer attention. If you are deciding whether to sign, counter, or take the discussion back to investors with comments, a review can help clarify the practical implications of the proposal.

The short document often carries big consequences. We usually look closely at valuation mechanics, option pool treatment, liquidation preference concepts, board composition, investor consent rights, founder vesting or lock-in arrangements, information rights, exclusivity, confidentiality and any unusual conditions to completion. The key question is not just what each clause says in isolation, but how the terms work together and what leverage they create in the next stage of drafting. We explain where a point is standard, where it is more investor-friendly, and where clarification may be worth seeking.

Yes. Part of the value in a term sheet review is understanding which points are likely to matter most before the longer documents are prepared. We can help you sort issues into practical categories such as must-address items, points that may be acceptable with clarification, and terms that are mainly commercial choices. That can include matters like board control, reserved matters, founder restrictions, preference economics or exclusivity periods. We do not promise a particular negotiation outcome, but we can help you approach the discussion with a clearer view of the trade-offs.

Timing depends on the length and complexity of the term sheet, whether there are side emails or mark-ups that also need context, and how quickly you can provide background on the deal. Once we have the relevant documents and instructions, we review the term sheet, prepare written advice, and then discuss the key points with you on a call. If you are under deadline pressure from an investor, let us know early. We can then confirm whether your timeframe is realistic for the scope involved and what can be covered within the fixed-fee.

After the review, founders often use the advice in one of three ways: they accept the term sheet with eyes open, propose changes before signing, or pause until a few key points are clarified. If the transaction proceeds, the next stage may involve subscription documents, shareholder arrangements, constitution changes, board approvals or closing steps. Those items are outside this fixed-fee unless specifically included later. The review is intended to help you assess the proposed deal at the term sheet stage, not to manage the whole fundraising process from start to finish.

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 Investment Term Sheet Review 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.