The following is not specific to startup funding (which I have no experience with), but general advice when it comes to financial offers: Whenever someone promi

The following is not specific to startup funding (which I have no experience with), but general advice when it comes to financial offers: Whenever someone promises you a seemingly very large amount of money in exchange for a comparatively small up front fee (paid by you), there is a very high chance that something is fishy as this is a SOP for all kinds of fraud. If you still want to go ahead, ask for the fee to be deduced from the payment you will supposedly receive. If the offer is genuine this should not be a problem.