Treelife Resources

When a founder walks into their first investor meeting and says they have 14 months of runway, the first question a VCFO on the other side of the table asks is: calculated on what basis? In more than half the engagements we have run with pre-raise startups, the real number…

Salary structure design is one of the highest-leverage decisions a startup makes at the payroll setup stage. Get it wrong and you are over-deducting TDS for every employee, every month, for the entire financial year, which means unhappy offer letters, refund chasing in July, and a payroll audit trail that…

The deadline for Form DPT-3 for FY 2025-26 is 30 June 2026. If your company has any outstanding director loans, inter-company loans, customer advances, or promoter borrowings as on 31 March 2026, you must disclose them in this return, whether or not those amounts qualify as deposits under the Companies…

Most founders treat payroll as a back-office task and give it to their CA. That works at three employees. By the time you have 15 people on payroll, you are managing a monthly compliance calendar spanning TDS under Section 192 of the Income Tax Act 1961 (and its successor the…

Startup valuation in India sits at the intersection of deal economics, regulatory compliance, and tax law. Most founders think of valuation as a negotiation. Regulators think of it as a price floor. That gap creates real legal risk for companies raising money from foreign investors, issuing shares to employees, or…

Sweat equity shares are one of the most misused instruments in the Indian equity toolkit. Companies reach for them when cash is tight and a founder, co-founder, or key technical hire has contributed intellectual property, know-how, or value that cannot be adequately priced in a salary. The legal framework under…

After multiple funding rounds, the average Indian Series B founder holds somewhere between 25% and 40% of their company on a fully diluted basis. That number is rarely a conscious choice. It is the accumulated result of each round’s dilution, and founders often discover it only when the cap table…

Closing a company is one of the few decisions a founder makes where getting the mechanics wrong costs more than getting them right. IBC voluntary liquidation in India is the structured, legally final route for a solvent company to wind up its affairs, formally settle all obligations, and distribute surplus…

Founders who have decided to wind down face one question that almost no article answers directly: once creditors are settled and there is cash left, is it better to distribute that surplus via a formal dividend or via a share capital reduction under section 66 of the Companies Act 2013?…

The liquidation preference clause in a Shareholders Agreement (SHA) is probably the single most consequential sentence your lawyer will ask you to approve. Sign a founder-unfriendly version and you can own 60% of a company, sell it for ₹100 crore, and receive far less than ₹60 crore. Treelife has advised…

India’s Cabinet approved an amendment to Press Note 3 (PN3) of 2020 in March 2026, and it is generating significant attention across the investment and startup community. Headlines have rushed to label it a sweeping FDI liberalisation. The reality is considerably more targeted. This report breaks down exactly what changed,…

The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) recently announced a major overhaul to the regulatory framework for Angel Funds under the Alternative Investment Funds (AIF) Regulations, 2012. This new framework, introduced in 2025, aims to enhance transparency, improve operational clarity, and encourage investor participation. In this article, we’ll explore…

In a significant move to invigorate India’s startup ecosystem, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI), during its board meeting on June 19, 2025, approved substantial changes to the Angel Fund Framework. These revisions are designed to unlock more capital for early-stage companies while simultaneously ensuring enhanced investor suitability…

The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has officially unveiled revised certification requirements for key investment personnel of Alternative Investment Fund (AIF) managers. This crucial update, detailed in SEBI circular F. No. SEBI/LAD-NRO/GN/2025/249 dated June 25, 2025, aims to enhance professional standards and ensure a higher level of expertise…

In a significant stride towards enhancing the appeal and accessibility of India’s International Financial Services Centre (IFSC) at GIFT City, the International Financial Services Centres Authority (IFSCA) has approved a groundbreaking “Platform Play” model for Fund Management Entities (FMEs). This pivotal decision was made during the 24th IFSCA Authority Meeting…