Strategic Legal & AI Governance Advisory
From your first funding round to your IPO, Seed to IPO Governance provides the strategic legal, commercial, and AI compliance infrastructure that founders need and investors demand.
About
Most startups are founded by brilliant scientists and engineers. People who build extraordinary things but who have never negotiated a commercial contract, structured a board, or navigated a regulatory audit. That gap does not just slow growth. It kills deals, loses investors, and derails exits.
Seed to IPO Governance was built to close that gap. Founded by a Barrister with C-Suite, Director-level experience across pharma R&D, diagnostics, and AI governance at businesses including Roche, AstraZeneca, LumiraDx, Clifford Chance and Norton Rose Fulbright, we bring the calibre of a Magic Circle firm without the overhead.
What We Do
Risk classification, conformity assessments, governance frameworks, and regulatory strategy for AI-driven businesses. Built for the EU AI Act and the next wave of global regulation.
Contracts, licensing, SaaS agreements, partnerships, and supplier negotiations. Commercial counsel that protects your position and accelerates your deals.
Privacy programmes, DPIAs, data sharing agreements, and cross-border transfer compliance. From startup baseline to enterprise-grade data governance.
Sector-specific regulatory navigation across pharma, diagnostics, medtech, and digital health, including FDA, MHRA, and clinical data governance.
Board composition, governance structures, information rights, and investor due diligence preparation. Get your house in order before they look.
Embedded governance advisory across your portfolio. Stage-appropriate compliance frameworks delivered as a retained service, protecting your assets at every round.
Founder Mentoring
Scientists. Engineers. Visionaries. You built something extraordinary. Now you need to fund it, protect it, and scale it. That is where we come in, not as lawyers, but as advisors who have sat in your seat and know what it takes to get from idea to IPO.
How to command a room, tell your story, and make investors believe, from seed decks to centre stage.
Venture capital, family offices, grants, angels, understanding which money is right for you and how to ask for it.
Cap tables, equity splits, holding structures, option pools. Get your foundations right before they become expensive mistakes.
Contracts, negotiation, term sheets, partnerships. The commercial literacy that turns great products into great businesses.
How It Works
A focused 45-minute conversation about your business, your stage, and where governance is your biggest risk or opportunity.
We map your current position across legal, compliance, AI governance, and board structure, and identify the gaps that matter most.
A bespoke advisory engagement, retained monthly, project-based, or intensive sprint, built around your stage and priorities.
As you grow, we grow with you. From seed to Series B to IPO, one trusted advisor who knows your business at every milestone.
What Clients Say
Elizabeth completely transformed our data governance framework ahead of our Series B. She understood our business, our investors, and our regulatory exposure from day one.
Exceptional commercial instincts combined with deep healthcare regulatory knowledge. A rare combination that made a material difference to how we approached our next funding round.
Resources
Guide
The EU AI Act: What Founders Need to Know in 2026
A plain-English guide to the EU AI Act, risk categories, compliance obligations, and what every AI-driven startup must address before their next funding round.
Read the guide →Coming Soon
The US Data Security Rule: A Guide for UK Businesses
Most UK founders have never heard of it. This guide explains what it is, who it affects, and what to do if your business handles US sensitive personal data.
Register interest →Coming Soon
Governance Health Check: The 10 Questions Every Investor Will Ask
Before your next fundraise, make sure you can answer these ten governance questions. Find out where your gaps are before your investors do.
Register interest →Whether you are a first-time founder preparing your seed round, a VC protecting your portfolio, or a scaling company facing your first regulatory audit, let us talk about what governance can unlock for you.
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