Core Vision Investments Case Study: Zoho CRM

At a glance

One pipeline for every application

Diligence files organised and access-controlled

Committee decisions on record

Portfolio performance in one dashboard

The challenge

What Core Vision Investments needed to fix

Core Vision is a Saudi venture capital and investment group that backs technology startups. Its team screens applications, runs diligence, takes deals to committee and then tracks each portfolio company over time.

Deal flow in inboxesStartup applications arrived through many channels with no single pipeline.
Diligence documentsSensitive diligence files needed secure, organised storage per deal.
Committee approvalsInvestment decisions needed a clear, recorded approval step.
Portfolio reportingMilestones, cap tables and finance had to be consolidated per company.

Team meeting around a boardroom table during a presentation. Photo credit

Before and after

What changed for the team

BeforeAfter

Startup applications arrived through many channels with no single pipeline

Every application lands in one Zoho CRM investment pipeline

Sensitive diligence files needed secure, organised storage for each deal

Each deal has an access-controlled data room in Zoho WorkDrive

Investment decisions needed a clear, recorded approval step

Committee decisions are recorded through a Zoho Creator approval workflow

Milestones, cap tables and finance needed consolidating for each company

Portfolio KPIs, milestones and finance come together in one dashboard

How it works

The business process, step by step

01
Application
Startups apply through an online application form that creates a record directly in the Zoho CRM investment pipeline. Sourced companies are added by the investment team, so every opportunity starts in the same place.
02
Screening and diligence
The investment team scores each application in Zoho CRM and moves promising ones into diligence. Diligence files are kept in a secure Zoho WorkDrive data room set up for that deal, with controlled access.
03
Committee approval
Deals going to committee run through an approval workflow built in Zoho Creator. The investment decision is recorded as part of that workflow, so there is a clear record of what was approved.
04
Onboarding
Once a deal is agreed, term documents are signed and stored securely, and the startup is set up in the Zoho Creator portfolio register, while founder and co-investor contacts stay in Zoho CRM.
05
Milestones
The portfolio register in Zoho Creator tracks each company's milestones and cap table. Company KPIs are pulled in through a controlled API, so figures arrive in a consistent way for every portfolio company.
06
Consolidation
Investment and fund finance records are kept in Zoho Books, with bank feeds reconciled automatically. Zoho Analytics brings portfolio KPIs into dashboards so the group can review performance across companies in one view.

The solution

What we built for Core Vision Investments

Shyphan delivered the project on Zoho CRM, Zoho Creator, Zoho WorkDrive, Zoho Books and Zoho Analytics, covering a 6-step process with 4 integration points.

Investment pipeline from application to decision
Founder and co-investor contacts

Zoho CRM interface — Zoho CRM product screenshot, for illustration

Portfolio register with milestones and cap table
Committee approval workflow

Zoho Creator interface — Zoho Creator product screenshot, for illustration

Portfolio KPI dashboards

Zoho Analytics interface — Zoho Analytics product screenshot, for illustration

Secure diligence data rooms per deal

Investment and fund finance records

Who uses it

Investment team

Screen and score applications, manage the pipeline in Zoho CRM and run diligence in WorkDrive data rooms.

Investment committee

Review deals put forward for decision and record each investment decision through the approval workflow in Zoho Creator.

Portfolio team

Maintain the portfolio register, track milestones and cap tables, and monitor KPIs pulled in from each company.

Finance

Keep investment and fund finance records in Zoho Books and reconcile transactions from the connected bank feeds.

Architecture

How the systems connect

InputsApplication formBank feedsPortfolio KPI API

Delivered by Shyphan

OutputsE-signatureSecure document storagePortfolio dashboards

Integrations

Application form to CRM
Applications land directly in the pipeline.
E-signature and secure documents
Term documents signed and stored securely.
Bank feeds to Books
Finance data reconciled automatically.
Portfolio KPI ingestion
Company KPIs pulled in through a controlled API.

Reports and dashboards

Investment pipeline

Applications by stage, from first submission through screening and diligence to committee decision.

Portfolio KPIs

Key performance indicators for each portfolio company, pulled in through the controlled API and shown together.

Milestone tracker

Progress of each portfolio company against the milestones recorded in the Zoho Creator portfolio register.

Fund finance summary

Investment and fund finance figures from Zoho Books, reconciled against the connected bank feeds.

The results

What the system does now

One pipeline for every application
Diligence files organised and access-controlled
Committee decisions on record
Portfolio performance in one dashboard

Delivery

Five phases, discovery to support

01
Discovery
Process mapping, documents and data reviewed with each team.
02
Design
Target flow agreed across 5 apps and 4 integration points.
03
Build
Apps configured, custom logic built and integrations connected.
04
Test and train
User acceptance testing with real scenarios and role-based training.
05
Go-live and support
Cut-over, hypercare and ongoing improvements.

Local rules built in

ZATCA e-invoicing

Fatoora-format tax invoices with XML and QR, cleared or reported as required.

15% VAT

Standard, zero-rated and exempt supplies mapped, with return-ready reports.

Saudi PDPL

Personal data kept to what the process needs, with role-based access.

Arabic and English

Bilingual documents where customers and authorities expect them.

FAQ

Questions about this project

How are diligence documents kept secure?

Each deal has its own data room in Zoho WorkDrive, where diligence files are stored and organised. Access is controlled per deal, so sensitive documents are only available to the people working on that opportunity.

How is a committee decision recorded?

Deals that reach committee go through an approval workflow built in Zoho Creator. The decision is captured as part of the workflow and stays on record against the deal, giving the group a clear history of what was approved.

How does portfolio company data reach the dashboards?

Portfolio company KPIs are pulled in through a controlled API and held alongside milestones and cap tables in the Zoho Creator portfolio register. Zoho Analytics then presents these figures in portfolio KPI dashboards, with fund finance held in Zoho Books.

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Core Vision Investments

What Core Vision Investments needed to fix

What changed for the team

The business process, step by step

Application

Screening and diligence

Committee approval

Onboarding

Milestones

Consolidation