Due Diligence Checklists › Marketplace › Seed
Marketplace Startup Investment Checklist: Seed Stage (2026)
This checklist covers 23 due diligence items for Marketplace startups at the 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.
23 checklist items · 4 red flags automatically detected · See a sample DDR report
Seed Requirements
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Product-market fit signals: retention, NPS, organic growth
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Early revenue: $10K–$100K MRR is the seed sweet spot
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Repeatable go-to-market: clear acquisition channels with data
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Team completeness: key hires made, gaps identified
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Path to Series A: clear $1M ARR milestone credibly achievable
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Unit economics: CAC and LTV directional even if not optimized
Marketplace Sector
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Liquidity metrics verified by category and geography
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Take rate trend confirmed and stable
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Bypass rate estimated through user interviews and transaction audit
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Network effect evidence documented in cohort analysis
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Worker classification legal opinion obtained
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Key supplier concentration: top 10 suppliers < 20% of GMV
Deep Dive
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Measure true liquidity: percentage of listings that result in transactions by category
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Check bypass rate: survey samples of buyers/sellers about off-platform behavior
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Review take rate trend: has it been stable, rising, or declining?
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Assess network effect evidence in cohort and geographic data
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Interview both supply and demand side users independently
Regulatory
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Verify: Worker classification: gig economy platforms face ongoing IRS and state scrutiny on contractor vs. employee
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Verify: Antitrust: dominant marketplaces face regulatory scrutiny on self-preferencing and exclusivity
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Verify: Consumer protection: transaction guarantees, fraud liability, and dispute resolution obligations
OSINT Signals
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Check: App Store / Play Store downloads and ratings trend
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Check: Supply-side community forums (Reddit, Discord) for sentiment
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Check: Google Trends for marketplace brand and category terms
DDR AUTOMATES THIS CHECKLIST
Upload a Marketplace startup pitch deck and DDR automatically completes 16+ of these 23 checklist items — sourcing data from 13 OSINT signals, benchmarking against 3 comparable companies, and detecting all 4 critical red flags.
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