Method · Provenance

The Flaynn provenance grid

The Flaynn provenance grid shows where a piece of information in a startup dossier comes from: verified through consistency with a register source, declared by the company, in the submission form or in the uploaded document, and taken as is, or inferred by the Flaynn Intelligence analysis engine, never presented as a fact. Two reading signals complete it: missing and inconsistent.

By Sirven Flaynn Ouamba, founder and president of Flaynn

Published on 15 September 2026 · Updated on 5 November 2026 · Version 1.1

THE GRID IN FIVE MARKERS

VERIFIEDConsistent with a register source. Neither an audit nor a banking, legal, accounting or human check.

DECLAREDEntered in the submission form or written in the uploaded document, page cited, and taken as is, without cross-checking.

INFERREDProduced by the Flaynn Intelligence analysis engine: a reading to confirm, never a fact.

MISSINGData expected and not provided in the dossier.

INCONSISTENTTwo elements of the dossier contradict each other.

Definitions

Three provenance labels, two reading signals.

A provenance label says where a piece of information comes from. A reading signal says what is missing or what is not consistent. The examples are fictional.

Flaynn provenance grid: definition, scope and example of each marker
Marker	Definition	What it covers	What it does not cover	Fictional example
Verifiedprovenance	Consistent with a register source. Neither an audit nor a banking, legal, accounting or human check.	The legal identity of a company identified by the company number entered in the form (SIREN in France), when its name in the register contains the declared name: legal form, share capital, date of incorporation, insolvency proceedings. The filed revenue and its year.	An attached file, a bank export, a figure from the deck, the market, an alert calculated from the register, a company found by its name alone or by a SIREN picked up in the text of the dossier, a name in the register that does not contain the declared name.	2025 revenue of €84,000 filed with the register.
Declaredprovenance	Entered in the submission form or written in the uploaded document, page cited, and taken as is, without cross-checking.	The metrics and the funding round amount entered in the form, and the figures read in the uploaded document, with their page.	A figure estimated by the analysis engine, or spotted without a cited page, which is inferred. Any confirmation, even partial.	MRR of €12,000 entered in the form, or read on page 7 of the deck.
Inferredprovenance	Produced by the Flaynn Intelligence analysis engine: a reading to confirm, never a fact.	Summaries, risks, unknowns, call questions, traction signals, burn and runway estimates, figures spotted in the deck without a cited page, market reference points from external research.	An established fact, a prediction, investment advice.	MRR spotted in the deck without a cited page; runway estimated at 11 months.
Missingreading signal	Data expected and not provided in the dossier.	The numerical fields not provided and the unknowns raised by the reading.	Proof that the information does not exist, or a flaw in the project. Nothing is deduced from it and no other status changes.	Number of paying customers not provided.
Inconsistentreading signal	Two elements of the dossier contradict each other.	Each difference between the document and the form entry, with its page, and up to three differences raised by the analysis engine between the form, the deck and the supporting documents.	A proven error, or a ruling: Flaynn names the difference without saying which version is right.	Funding round of €600,000 in the form, €800,000 in the deck.

Verified

What « Verified » does not mean.

Verified means one thing only: the data is consistent with a register source. It does not mean:

that the accounts have been audited;
that a bank statement or a payment account has been consulted;
that a contract, the articles of association or a shareholders' agreement have been checked legally;
that a person has reviewed the data;
that the data is up to date: the register reflects the latest filing, whose year is shown;
that the data is favourable: a verified figure can be bad, which is why Verified is never shown in green.

A market item is never verified, even when sourced: it remains inferred.

Rules

How a status changes, and how it does not.

The status depends on where the information comes from, not on how plausible it is or on the supporting documents around it.

Information that is declared or inferred never becomes verified, even when read in an attachment.
An attachment feeds the analysis engine's reading: it can bring out an inconsistency, but not change the status of a figure.
A company identified by the company number entered in the form (SIREN in France), whose name in the register contains the declared name, has its legal identity and filed revenue reconciled with the register of its country: France, Belgium or Luxembourg. Where the company is found by its name alone, by a SIREN picked up in the text of the dossier or under another name, this data remains inferred, to be confirmed.
An alert calculated from register data, for example a low share capital, remains inferred: it is a reading, not a register fact.
A new analysis produces a new dated reading; it does not overwrite the previous one.

Investors

Preparing a call with the grid.

Before a call, the grid helps sort what is established, what is to be requested and what is to be discussed.

Start with the inconsistencies: each one becomes a question. Which of the two versions is right, and why they differ.
Pick out the figures that your reading rests on: revenue, growth, amount raised. If they are declared or inferred, the supporting document that would establish them is the first thing to ask for.
Treat what is inferred as a working hypothesis. A runway estimate or a market reference point is discussed with the founder, not quoted as a fact.
Turn each missing data point into a request, before the call rather than during it.
Start from the call questions in the reading and add your own. The decision remains entirely yours.

Flaynn Intelligence applies this grid to every dossier you import. The scoring across five pillars and the stage weighting are described in the pre-diligence methodology.

Founders

Founder: preparing your supporting documents.

Preparing your supporting documents does not change the status of your figures at Flaynn, and promises neither a better reading nor a funding round. It makes the dossier easier to read, and the differences visible before an investor finds them.

Align the form and the deck: funding round amount, headcount, dates, key figures. A difference becomes an inconsistency.
Give the company number (SIREN in France) when the form asks for it: the company's legal identity can then be reconciled with the register.
For each key figure, cite the supporting document that establishes it and attach it. The figure keeps its status at Flaynn, but the reader knows where to verify it.
Present an estimate as an estimate, with its method.

The Flaynn Atelier is free and open by personal invitation only.

Limits

What the grid does not say.

Provenance is applied to the blocks that carry one, not to every line. At most three inconsistencies are raised per deal: if none is flagged, that does not prove the dossier is consistent. The register contains only what has been filed with it: a recent company may have filed no accounts there. An inference can be wrong. The grid does not score a dossier.

Flaynn never recommends investing and gives no legal, accounting, tax, financial or investment advice.

Questions

Questions about the grid.

Does « Verified » mean that Flaynn has audited the company?

No. Verified means that a piece of information is consistent with a register source, for example the filed revenue. Flaynn carries out no accounting, banking, legal or tax audit, and no person checks the data. The register itself may be incomplete or lag behind the company's actual situation.

Why does an attachment not make a figure « verified »?

Because the status depends on where the information comes from, not on the attachment that goes with it. A figure read in the deck or in an attachment is declared, with its page: it is the company that writes it, and Flaynn does not cross-check it against any independent source. The attachment feeds the reading, can bring out an inconsistency, and above all lets the investor verify the figure themselves.

Is an inferred item less reliable than a declared item?

The two do not answer the same question. Declared says where the claim comes from: the company, in the submission form or in its document. Inferred says who produced it: the analysis engine, from the dossier and, for market reference points, from external research. An inferred item is a reading to discuss with the founder, never a fact.

Does every line of a reading carry a status?

No. Provenance is applied to the blocks that carry one: register data, summaries, questions, traction signals, traction and funding figures, market reference points. A block with no status is neither verified nor declared by default.

What should you do with an inconsistency?

Turn it into a question. An inconsistency names a difference between two elements of the dossier, for example a funding round amount that differs between the form and the deck. Each difference between the document and the form entry is shown with its page, and the analysis engine raises others, three at most per dossier. None says which of the two versions is right: that is for the call to settle.

Can a founder make a piece of information become verified?

Only register data can become verified, when the company is identified by the company number entered in the form (SIREN in France) and its name in the register contains the declared name. A company found by its name alone, or by a SIREN picked up in the deck, remains to be confirmed. A figure from the deck is never verified; attaching it with its supporting document does, however, make verification possible for the investor.

Does the grid say whether to invest?

Never. It distinguishes the nature of the information in a dossier. It replaces neither your own checks nor those of a professional. Flaynn gives no legal, accounting, tax, financial or investment advice.