Investment Term Sheet

When startups agree to take investors on board, the conditions of this partnership are usually written down in a legal term sheet. To give founders and investors a better basis for negotiations, save time, and reduce misunderstandings during this process we teamed up with the Austrian Angel Investors Association and the two law firms Herbst Kinsky and Höhne, In der Maur & Partner to create a template for an early-stage investment term sheet.

While the term sheet reflects current best practices, it leaves room for individual adjustments and should not replace necessary advice by lawyers and tax advisors. It’s our aim to reduce complexity in the process and create a better understanding of all the different dimensions covered in a term sheet. That’s why next to each paragraph, you will find a simple explanation about why this is included and what it means for both sides. At the same time, you can hide the explanation column via a Macro (toggleCol3) in the Word document, in case you don’t need it anymore.

You can check out the preview on the right side or download the full documents here. The package consists of two elements:

• The Term Sheet with a simple explanation for all points including sample catalogs for activities that might need investor approval.
• A sample cap table to calculate the distribution of shares before and after the investment.

It’s our aim to continuously improve and adapt the term sheet to the latest standards – that’s why we are always looking for feedback! If you feel the term sheet could be improved, please send your input to md@austrianstartups.com.