William Wilson
Contributor
William Wilson is a partner in Goodwin’s technology group and intellectual property practice. His practice focuses on technology transactions, including counseling, structuring and negotiating deals across industries with a particular focus on the fintech, healthcare and technology sectors.
Last year saw investors throwing record amounts of dollars into startups, but recent geopolitical events, an anticipated increase in interest rates and other factors are leading to a slowdown in venture capital financing.
Since the pandemic began, intellectual property assets have seen an increase in value and are increasingly becoming a focus for investors looking to spend their stockpile of dry powder. For startups, ensuring their intellectual property and commercial contracts are in order can be helpful in achieving smooth financing.
Waiting to tackle these issues during a financing could cause delays, result in time-consuming and expensive remediation, and, in the worst case, lead to lower valuations.
Below is a list of 10 intellectual property and commercial areas that investors look at during due diligence, and steps that startups can take to better prepare for these issues.
Ensure former employers cannot claim IP ownership
Investors are particularly concerned about startups having e …
