Catching a Fraudulent Government Partnership Claim in Due Diligence

Onkar was running initial investment calls at Hashed Emergent when he noticed a mismatch between what a founder was claiming and the metrics they were presenting. The standard questions — product, founder-market fit, market size, GTM — had surfaced something that did not add up.

He gave the founder the benefit of the doubt first, pressing them on the discrepancy directly. They held firm on their claim. The specific claim was a government partnership, backed by a certificate the founder had presented during the call.

Onkar took it further. He cross-verified the certificate with government officials he knew in the relevant department. The officials confirmed the document was fabricated. He brought the finding back to his team with a clear comparison: what the founder had claimed versus what the verification showed.

The team acted on it and disqualified the startup from the process. They also gave Onkar feedback that going that far outside standard process was not the firm's preferred approach, a tension he understood: the finding was real, but the method raised questions about how the firm was perceived. He took the feedback and adjusted.