Due Diligence Checklists › Fintech › Pre-Seed
Fintech Startup Investment Checklist: Pre-Seed Stage (2026)
This checklist covers 28 due diligence items for Fintech startups at the Pre-Seed stage. Each item has been validated against institutional investor practice. DDR automates the majority of these checks from a single pitch deck PDF upload.
28 checklist items · 6 red flags automatically detected · See a sample DDR report
Pre-Seed Requirements
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Founding team quality and relevant domain expertise
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Problem evidence: clear pain, ideally lived experience
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Market size: TAM must justify a venture-scale outcome
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Early signal of demand: waitlist, LOIs, or first customers
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Founder-market fit: why this team for this problem
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Proprietary insight competitors don't have
Fintech Sector
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Sponsor bank relationship confirmed with signed agreement
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Money transmission licenses verified for operating states
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FinCEN registration confirmed
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AML/BSA compliance program documented
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CFPB and state regulator complaint history reviewed
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Credit model backtested on 2+ years of data (lending)
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Fraud rate below industry benchmark
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Key person risk: what happens if the compliance officer leaves?
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Interchange economics modeled correctly for payments companies
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Cap table: any prior investors with fintech regulatory conflicts?
Deep Dive
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Verify regulatory filings: state money transmission licenses, FinCEN registration, BSA/AML program
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Review banking partner agreement: terms, exclusivity clauses, termination triggers
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Audit credit model for lending fintech: test performance on held-out data
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Check fraud loss history and fraud detection methodology
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Verify KYC/KYB and AML compliance procedures
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Review consumer complaint history with CFPB and state regulators
Regulatory
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Verify: Banking Secrecy Act (BSA) and Anti-Money Laundering (AML) compliance — violations carry severe penalties
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Verify: Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) oversight for consumer-facing products
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Verify: State money transmission licensing: 48+ states require individual licenses
OSINT Signals
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Check: CFPB complaint database: search company name for consumer complaints
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Check: FinCEN registration check: required for money services businesses
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Check: State licensing databases: verify active money transmission licenses
DDR AUTOMATES THIS CHECKLIST
Upload a Fintech startup pitch deck and DDR automatically completes 20+ of these 28 checklist items — sourcing data from 13 OSINT signals, benchmarking against 4 comparable companies, and detecting all 6 critical red flags.
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