My NDA with the VCs I've worked for is such that I can not give you the names of the companies that I did tdd for without asking them and I don't see how it really would matter which companies they are, but the deals were on the order of tens of millions of euros, so a little larger than your average seed investment.

The principles are much the same at that level but the procedures are far more formal and in depth than at the lower levels of investment. Due diligence for a larger company can take several weeks, at the start-up level there is usually not a whole lot in terms of financial and legal, later those are actually the bigger portion of the time.

There usually is quite a bit of time pressure.

When taken as a percentage of the value of the deal due diligence can cost quite a bit in early stage investments, so it can be a partner or the CFO/CTO of a company 'friendly' to the VC (or one they've already invested in) that will have a thorough look.

Later, as the amounts go up and there is a lot more money available to have this work done by outsiders, also because it usually is too much work to do as a favour.

The VC world is a very tightly interwoven one, lots of partners have a stake in more than one company, some may even have an angel fund of their own. So when you pitch to a VC and you don't get a deal there is still a small chance that one of the VCs partners will do an investment out of their own pocket, outside of the main fund.

And sometimes that's the way to get an investment for a 'stage mismatch', where a VC is interested in you but your current situation does not match their preferred profile. They can then do a smaller investment through one of the partners, it gives them the inside view for relatively little money and it is a way to hedge their bets. By the time you're ready for a larger round they'll have their foot in the door and will be preferred candidate.