Due Diligence Checklists › Crypto / Web3 › Growth / Pre-IPO
Crypto / Web3 Startup Investment Checklist: Growth / Pre-IPO Stage (2026)
This checklist covers 22 due diligence items for Crypto / Web3 startups at the Growth / Pre-IPO stage. Each item has been validated against institutional investor practice. DDR automates the majority of these checks from a single pitch deck PDF upload.
22 checklist items · 3 red flags automatically detected · See a sample DDR report
Growth / Pre-IPO Requirements
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$10M+ ARR with clear path to $100M+
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Profitability or credible path to profitability within 24 months
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Category leadership: top 1–2 in defined market
✓
CFO and board ready for public market scrutiny
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Revenue quality: multi-year contracts, low churn, high NRR
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Institutional governance: audit committee, independent board majority
Crypto / Web3 Sector
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Smart contract audits from 2+ reputable firms reviewed
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Token legal opinion obtained on securities classification
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Founding team KYC completed
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Treasury management policy reviewed
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On-chain metrics (TVL, DAA, fees) verified independently
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OFAC compliance process documented
Deep Dive
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Smart contract audit reports from recognized security firms
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Token economics and distribution analysis
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Regulatory framework: SEC vs. commodity classification
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Treasury management: stable vs. crypto-denominated reserves
Regulatory
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Verify: SEC Howey test classification: tokens may be deemed securities
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Verify: FinCEN money transmission licensing for exchanges
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Verify: OFAC compliance: screening for sanctioned entities on-chain
OSINT Signals
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Check: On-chain analytics: Dune dashboards, Nansen, Chainalysis
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Check: Smart contract audit reports (public on GitHub)
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Check: Token holder concentration (top 10 wallets as % of supply)
DDR AUTOMATES THIS CHECKLIST
Upload a Crypto / Web3 startup pitch deck and DDR automatically completes 15+ of these 22 checklist items — sourcing data from 13 OSINT signals, benchmarking against 2 comparable companies, and detecting all 3 critical red flags.
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