DLA Piper’s Technology sector team has produced a pack of free legal guidance and documents aimed at high growth start-ups.
The firm announced that the pack is available for free online at www.dlapiper.com/startup and has been specifically designed for start-ups that have ambitions for high growth and international expansion.
Having seen that a funding and advisory gap in the start-up market in London’s Tech City and elsewhere can contribute to difficulties in attracting investment, the firm stated, DLA Piper has drawn upon its international experience of what the top VC houses, corporate venturers and angel investors look for to create a resource that should help to provide high growth start-ups with the legal framework required to make them an attractive investment.
The legal start-up pack contains downloadable legal documents, guidance notes and checklists with respect to IP, corporate, employment and tax matters. Including:
- guidance notes and checklists to demystify the key legal issues that are most likely to be relevant to start-ups at the early stages of their development;
- and key legal documentation which can be used by a start-up to foster a positive legal starting point. This includes a subscription and shareholders’ agreement, an employment contract, an intellectual property assignment agreement and a non-disclosure agreement. DLA Piper has had a presence in London’s Tech City for the last two years. It has drawn upon its international expertise in global tech start-up hubs such as Silicon Valley, Germany’s Silicon Allee, Russia’s Digital October and London’s Tech City working alongside start-ups, venture capitalists and professional services advisers to produce a unique resource tailored to the needs of the start-up community.
Ed Griffiths, Corporate partner in DLA Piper’s Technology sector, said: “Successful start-ups need the right infrastructure – the brightest minds and best ideas supported by venture capital, education and business focussed professional advisers. We see this free start-up pack as a key contribution to the Tech City infrastructure, as well as other start-ups across the UK, and part of our commitment to contribute to the success of the businesses of the future.
“It may sound clichéd but we really believe that no start-up should be left behind. We have seen start-ups stumble too often because they did not have the correct structures in place from the outset. This can result in them having to devote scarce resources to fix legal problems that could have easily been avoided if they had taken a more legally informed approach from the outset. The legal framework is only one element to a successful start-up company, but it’s an important one to get right to create the solid foundation a viable high growth company needs.”
