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E-Commerce Startup Investment Checklist: Seed Stage (2026)
This checklist covers 23 due diligence items for E-Commerce 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
E-Commerce Sector
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Unit economics by acquisition channel verified
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12-month cohort repurchase rates documented
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Gross margin by SKU reviewed and blended margin confirmed
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Supplier concentration: no single supplier >50% of COGS
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Trademark registered in US and key international markets
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Inventory analysis: no excess slow-moving inventory
Deep Dive
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Blended CAC vs. channel-specific CAC: ensure no single platform dependency
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Review 12-month cohort repurchase rates by acquisition channel
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Supplier agreements: review terms, exclusivity, pricing stability
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Inventory management and working capital cycles
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Brand protection: trademark status in key markets
Regulatory
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Verify: FTC truth-in-advertising requirements: health and performance claims require substantiation
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Verify: Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) for physical goods
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Verify: Import duties and tariffs: significant exposure for China-manufactured goods
OSINT Signals
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Check: SimilarWeb: paid vs. organic traffic breakdown
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Check: Facebook Ad Library: active ad count and creative freshness (stale ads = declining performance)
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Check: Reddit and TikTok: organic brand mentions and sentiment
DDR AUTOMATES THIS CHECKLIST
Upload an E-Commerce 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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