Get your pre-seed raise documented on clearer legal footing

It is usually most useful when your startup is moving beyond informal founder discussions and into real investor conversations. That might be before a launch, during pilot activity, or when you need capital for early hires and product development. At that point, investors often expect more than a handshake understanding. They may want to see how founder roles are documented, what instrument is being used for the raise, and whether the commercial terms in a SAFE, convertible note or term sheet line up with the rest of the company setup.

Early rounds often raise questions about valuation mechanics, conversion terms, discount rates, founder equity, investor rights and whether the company records are ready for outside money. Another common issue is mismatch between a term sheet and the actual legal documents that follow. Founders also run into trouble when early promises are made in emails or pitch conversations without being properly reflected in the paperwork. This service helps address those practical issues by covering the main fundraising documents commonly used at pre-seed stage.

The service includes a consultation with a startup lawyer, a tailored convertible note or SAFE agreement, investor term sheet review, and related founder-side documents such as a founders' agreement and shareholder or subscription agreement where needed for the scope described on this page. It is broader than a single-document service because pre-seed fundraising often touches several connected issues at once. The fixed-fee does not include tax advice, investor-side representation, or open-ended support after the agreed work is completed.

Once you get in touch, we will confirm whether this service matches the stage and structure of your raise. From there, you provide the key background documents and details of the proposed investment terms, such as whether you are using a SAFE or convertible note and whether a term sheet already exists. We then carry out the agreed legal work and come back to you with the documents and any follow-up points that need your input. If you also need broader support beyond this service, that can be discussed separately.

Pre-seed rounds can evolve quickly, especially if investor feedback changes the proposed instrument or commercial terms. The fixed-fee covers the inclusions listed on this page and the usual legal work involved in that scope, including two rounds of revisions. If the matter expands into a larger capital raise, multiple investor negotiations, or ongoing support across separate transactions, that would usually sit outside this service and be scoped separately. We can flag that early so you know whether the existing scope still fits what you are trying to do.

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 Pre Seed Fundraising Pack service, pricing starts from $1,200.00.

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.