Technical Due Diligence Made Easy: What Investors Are Looking For

Aleksa Vukotic

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The Founder's Guide to Technical Due Diligence

Technical due diligence is one of those terms that might sound a bit intimidating – but it doesn’t have to be. In fact, it’s a great opportunity to showcase the incredible tech foundation you’ve built.

If you're raising capital, especially from VCs, angels, or private equity firms, chances are you’ll go through technical due diligence (Tech DD) at some point. The good news? Knowing what to expect means you can prepare ahead of time and even use the process to your advantage.

So, what exactly does Tech DD involve? What will investors be looking for? And how can you position your tech, team, and product to shine?

Let’s break it all down.

What is technical due diligence?

Technical due diligence (Tech DD) is an investor-led deep dive into the inner workings of your product and tech organisation. It’s how investors assess the strength, scalability, and future potential of your technology. In other words, they’re making sure your startup can do what it says it can – and that it can keep doing it as you scale.

Done well, Tech DD isn’t about catching you out or poking holes. It’s about identifying risks and opportunities, and building mutual confidence between founders and investors. Think of it like a pre-flight check: no one’s grounding the plane – they’re just making sure everything’s good to go.

At EHE Venture Studio, we’ve built and scaled many startups ourselves, so we know what it’s like on both sides of the table. That’s why our approach to Tech DD is hands-on, collaborative, and designed to help founders, not just assess them.

Here’s what you can expect from a Tech DD process – and how to prepare.

1. Core tech: what’s under the bonnet?

This is usually the first thing we look at. It’s like lifting the bonnet on a car to inspect the engine. We’re asking: is this tech real, robust, and ready for the road ahead?

Here’s what we’ll typically explore:

Fit for purpose

Does the tech work in the real world? Not just in theory or demo environments. We're checking that it solves the core problem it's meant to – and does so reliably.

USP, IP, and defensibility

What makes your tech stand out? Is your intellectual property protected? Could a competitor easily replicate what you’ve built?

Complexity and tech debt

All startups carry some tech debt – it’s normal. But is it manageable? We’ll look at what corners may have been cut early on, and how that might impact future development.

Scalability

Can the tech handle more users, data, or markets? If growth comes quickly, can the infrastructure grow with it?

Cybersecurity

Are your security practices solid? We’re looking for industry-standard protections around user data, system access, and threat prevention.

Being transparent about where things are now – and your plan to improve – goes a long way here.

2. Leadership: who’s building and scaling the tech?

Great tech needs great people behind it. That’s why we spend time understanding your leadership team and how your wider engineering org is set up.

We typically assess:

CTO, Head of Engineering, Head of Product: What’s the leadership experience like? Is there a clear vision and strong collaboration across tech and product?
Team structure: How is your engineering team organised? Do roles and responsibilities make sense? Are communication lines clear?
Hiring plans: What’s your plan for scaling the team? Are you able to attract and retain top talent?
Onboarding and tooling: Can new hires get up to speed quickly? Are the dev tools helping or hindering productivity?
Culture and learning: Do you have a strong, inclusive culture that supports continuous learning and development?

3. Product: the strategic layer

want to understand how your product is evolving, and whether the direction makes sense.

We’ll ask questions like:

Do you have a clear roadmap? What’s coming next, and how does that align with market needs?
How are product decisions made? Is there collaboration across teams and feedback loops with customers?
What features drive the most value? Are you prioritising based on what really matters to users and the business?
Are your timelines realistic? Can your team consistently deliver on what’s planned?

A thoughtful product process tells us you’re building with purpose, not just shipping features for the sake of it.

4. Delivery: how you build and ship

The best product ideas don’t mean much without execution. So we take a close look at how your team actually builds, ships, and maintains software.

Key focus areas include:

Delivery process: How do features move from idea to deployment? Is the process efficient and repeatable?
Estimations, iteration, and releases: Are you setting realistic expectations and hitting release goals? How do you handle feedback loops?
Transparency: Is progress clearly communicated across the team and with stakeholders?
Maintenance vs. innovation: Are you striking the right balance between fixing bugs and building new things?
Automation maturity: Are you using automation to streamline testing, deployments, and other tasks?

This all helps investors understand whether your team can keep up with growth and continue to deliver at a high standard.

We flex to your startup’s context

It’s worth saying: every startup is different. Whether you're building in AI, Deep Tech, EdTech, or SaaS, we tailor our approach to the specific product, market, and stage you're in.

We’ve run technical due diligence for everything from EV charging platforms to marketplace solutions – and we adapt accordingly. Our core themes stay the same, but we’ll always consider your unique customer needs, commercial model, and growth goals.

Final Thoughts🔗

At our tech venture studio, we’re not just ticking boxes or playing gotcha. We’re founders ourselves – and we’re here to help you build something exceptional.

We work closely with founders to strengthen their tech foundations, identify areas for growth, and give investors confidence in your business. Technical due diligence is a checkpoint, not a judgment day – and with the right preparation, it can be a powerful moment in your fundraising journey.

Whether you’re gearing up for a funding round or just want to get ahead, we’re happy to chat and share our approach.

Get in touch if you’d like to run a pre-DD health check, walk through our checklist, or just bounce ideas around.

Let’s build something great – together.