5 IT Blind Spots That Can Derail Your Biotech’s Early Stage Investment

Flying Blind into Series A

For most biotech founders, the Series A raise is the first time the spotlight really turns on. Investors aren’t just evaluating your science anymore—they’re evaluating the business wrapped around it. They want to know: Does this company have what it takes to scale without falling apart?

Here’s the problem: in many young biotechs, IT is a black box. Founders will tell me, almost word for word, “I have no idea what’s going on in IT—I just hope nothing blows up.” Often times, this is framed as ‘Keeping the lights on’.

That uncertainty may feel survivable at seed stage, but at Series A it becomes a liability. The good news is, most of the risks aren’t about technology itself. They’re about blind spots—things you don’t see coming until someone (an investor, a regulator, or worse, a hacker) points them out.

Here are several of the most common IT blind spots I see in early-stage biotech, and why they matter when you’re raising serious money.

Blind Spot #1: Compliance Creep

Founders often assume compliance can wait. “We’ll worry about HIPAA, SOX, GxP, GDPR, or FDA Part 11 once we’re in the clinic.”

The reality is that investors are already asking: How are you protecting patient data and intellectual property? If the answer is vague—or worse, “we haven’t thought about it”—that’s a hit to credibility.

Compliance isn’t about building bureaucracy early. It’s about showing investors you understand the road ahead. The right policies and practices today give them confidence you won’t run into expensive delays tomorrow.

Many of the following things need to be done inevitably:

-          Data mapping and Records of Processing Activities (ROPA)

-          Policies including Security, Data Retention, and Business Continuity and Disaster Recovery (BCDR) Policies

-          Security including access logs, monitoring and reporting

-          Change Management

-          Vendor security audits

Given the above, why not have much of that in place and reap the benefits of transparency from an early stage. When the whole team can see the status of the data, less time is spent scrambling.

Blind Spot #2: Invisible Cyber Risks

“We’re too small to be a target” is unfortunately no longer a strategy for security.

Early biotechs are attractive targets for IP theft, phishing, and ransomware. A single breach, especially during fundraising, is a nightmare scenario: loss of investor trust, potential regulatory reporting, and weeks of distraction from the science. This goes doubly so when a company has raised public financing.

Security isn’t just protection—it’s trust capital. Clients of mine have been asked to do audits that range from custom ones to NIST and SOC II for investors before capital changes hands. This is only becoming more common with increased scrutiny around investment.

Blind Spot #3: Cloud Chaos

The cloud is a blessing for startups—cheap, flexible, and fast. But in many biotechs, it’s set up in a hurry: multiple vendors, no visibility into costs, and unclear ownership of data.

When investors see this, they don’t think “nimble.” They think “out of control.”

Cloud transparency isn’t about locking things down—it’s about showing you know where your data lives, how much it costs you, and how you’ll scale it responsibly. Elements that can really benefit from early intervention include

-          Tagging and metadata

-          Logging and analytics

-          Security and governance

-          Cost control

Blind Spot #4: Shadow IT and Contracts

Here’s a scenario I see all the time: a research lead procures a new instrument with a software subscription. Someone in operations buys a project management tool. A contractor spins up their own file-sharing system.

Individually, none of these decisions are catastrophic. But together, they create a maze of hidden contracts, scattered data, and security holes.

When investors dig in, they want to see discipline. Shadow IT looks like chaos. Even simple practices—centralized contract review, consistent vendor oversight—signal maturity.

Blind Spot #5: No Clear IT Leader

This is the most common, and the most damaging, blind spot. In many startups, IT leadership is nobody’s actual job. Founders juggle, MSPs handle tickets, but no one is steering IT strategically.

Here’s what that looks like:

• Growth without strategy → New systems get bolted on as the company scales. Contracts pile up. Technical debt quietly mounts.

• No single point of accountability → Problems fall between the cracks.

• No roadmap → IT decisions are reactive, not aligned with business milestones.

Investors don’t expect you to have enterprise-grade IT at Series A. But they do expect intentionality. They want to know there’s a grown-up in the room; someone who understands the risks, speaks plain English about them, and has a plan.

Clarity Builds Confidence

Blind spots aren’t about servers, cables, or lines of code. They’re about clarity.

At Series A, you don’t need perfect IT. You need to show you see the risks, understand them, and have a path forward. That’s what gives investors confidence.

My work with biotech founders is about shining a light into those blind spots—turning “I have no idea what’s going on” into “I know what’s going on, and I know we’re ready.”

When you can walk into an investor meeting with that level of clarity, IT stops being a liability. It becomes an asset—proof that your company is mature, transparent and ready to grow.