The Evolution of Due Diligence: Why Smart Data Rooms Matter
Due diligence has evolved from physical rooms with paper documents (1990s) → email attachments (2000s) → cloud folders (2010s) → AI-powered smart data rooms (2025). Each evolution cut time and improved efficiency.
Today, Peony represents the latest evolution: AI-automated organization (95% faster setup), page-level analytics (know exactly what investors care about), and professional branding (signal operational maturity). This isn't incremental—it's a fundamental shift in how due diligence works.
Here's the evolution and why smart data rooms now dominate.
Era 1: Physical Data Rooms (1980s-2000s)
Literal rooms where investors reviewed paper documents under supervision. Extremely slow, expensive, limited access.
Time: Weeks to months | Cost: $50K+ per deal | Efficiency: Very low
Era 2: First Virtual Data Rooms (2000s-2015)
Digital files replaced paper but still manual organization, basic security, limited insights.
Time: Days to weeks | Cost: $5K-20K per deal | Efficiency: Moderate improvement
Era 3: Cloud-Based Folders (2015-2022)
Google Drive, Dropbox folders—easy sharing but consumer-grade security, zero analytics, no organization help.
Time: Hours to days | Cost: $10-100/month | Efficiency: Better but unprofessional
Era 4: Smart Data Rooms (2023-2025)
AI-powered platforms with automated organization, engagement analytics, professional branding.
Time: Minutes to hours | Cost: $40-500/month | Efficiency: 10x improvement
Peony leads this era.
What Changed
Automation: AI eliminates 20-40 hours of manual work Intelligence: Analytics reveal investor behavior patterns Speed: Immediate access vs multi-day delays Professionalism: Branded experiences vs generic folders Security: Enterprise-grade built-in vs bolt-on
Why Smart Data Rooms Win
Efficiency: 50% faster due diligence Insights: Know who's interested vs just looking Quality: Professional presentation signals maturity Outcomes: 20-30% higher success rates
For M&A, fundraising, and investment banking, smart data rooms are now standard.
Conclusion
Due diligence evolved from slow, manual, opaque processes to fast, automated, intelligent ones. Smart data rooms like Peony represent current best practice.