Startups operate in an ecosystem defined by innovation, agility, and constant disruption, but also fraught with legal, regulatory, and financial risks. As India emerges as one of the world’s leading startup hubs, navigating the legal landscape has become increasingly critical for early-stage and growth-stage ventures seeking to scale responsibly, secure investor confidence, and maintain regulatory alignment. At KNM & Partners, we provide strategic, sector-aware legal advisory tailored for startups at every stage of their lifecycle – from incorporation to scaling, fundraising, and successful exits.
The Firm’s Startup Advisory Practice is rooted in its deep understanding of the unique challenges faced by founders and entrepreneurial teams, who must balance rapid growth, operational constraints, evolving investor expectations, and complex compliance obligations. The Firm partners with startups, incubators, angel networks, venture capital funds, and family offices, providing holistic, commercially astute, and litigation-ready legal support that anticipates challenges and mitigates risks proactively.
The Firm’s multidisciplinary approach combines the firm’s core strengths in corporate advisory, dispute resolution, taxation, and regulatory advisory. This enables us to deliver seamless, actionable counsel on a range of matters including entity structuring, investment negotiations, shareholder arrangements, employment disputes, tax efficiency, and compliance with India’s expanding regulatory ecosystem. The Firm also supports startups in handling sensitive disputes – whether involving co-founders, employees, vendors, or investors – while ensuring that their legal frameworks remain scalable, investor-aligned, and compliant with both domestic and cross-border laws.
With experience advising clients across industries such as fintech, SaaS, logistics, edtech, healthtech, consumer brands, gaming, and sustainability, the Firm brings sector-specific insights to every engagement – helping startups not only solve immediate legal challenges but also build long-term resilience and governance best practices.
Related Practice Areas
Competencies
- Incorporation of companies, LLPs, subsidiaries, and holding companies with optimal capital and tax structures.
- Drafting founders’ agreements, co-founder vesting schedules, IP assignment agreements, and ESOP frameworks.
- Transactional support and negotiation of term sheets, shareholder agreements, convertible instruments, and SAFE/CCD notes for seed to Series A/B/C rounds.
- Structuring joint ventures, commercial alliances, and cross-border collaborations.
- Advising on co-founder exits, board control conflicts, and equity dilution disputes.
- Handling commercial disputes with vendors, partners, and customers, including pre-litigation strategy and representation before courts and arbitral forums.
- IP infringement, brand misuse, data protection, and breach of licensing disputes.
- Advisory on tax implications of capital raising, exits, ESOPs, and cross-border share transfers.
- Structuring founder remuneration and sweat equity to optimize personal and corporate tax exposure.
- Advisory on GST, TDS, withholding tax, and sector-specific indirect tax matters.
- Assistance in responding to tax assessments, notices, and regulatory inquiries.
- Advisory on RBI/FEMA compliance, FDI-linked conditions, and cross-border investment strategies.
- Drafting of platform terms & conditions, privacy policies, refund and cancellation frameworks, and internal codes of conduct.
- Legal audits, due diligence, and compliance health checks prior to funding rounds, IPO preparation, or board-level changes.
- Ongoing secretarial, statutory, and regulatory compliance support under Companies Act, SEBI, and startup-focused exemptions.
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