Chapter 4: The Fundraising process : Preparation phase - preparing pitch and investor decks
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A well-prepared fundraising process increases your overall chances of success. During the preparation phase of the fundraising process, three documents must be created. A clear and structured pitch deck and an investor deck that helps investors in understanding your business, as well as a teaser document that helps investors to quickly scan through your company’s profile to see if there’s a potential fit for investment. In this blog post, we'll go over the essential components of a good pitch deck and an investor deck.
Pitch deck and investor deck
The pitch deck and investor deck are presentations that tell your company's story. Both documents serve as your company's resume and are typically the first pieces of documentation that provide investors with information about your company. Investors can decide whether to schedule a follow-up meeting with you based on the information and presentation in these documents.
A pitch deck and an investor deck have so many similarities that they are frequently confused, but they actually serve different purposes. Table 1 describes some of the differences.
Table 1: Differences between an investor deck and a pitch deck
| Investor deck | Pitch deck | |
|---|---|---|
| Description | Also known as the ‘send-out deck’. It is a more detailed presentation that focuses on information investors need to make an investment decision about your business. | This is a short presentation (and often a concise version of the investor deck) that focuses on selling the vision of your company to, or capturing the attention of a target audience through your story. |
| Audience | For investors only | Diverse audience that could include investors, potential customers, partners, etc. |
| Purpose | For investment considerations only | Multipurpose: investmenst, marketing, sales, partnership considerations |
| Delivery | Designed to be read by itself and often sent via email or other electronic means.
|
Supports in-person presentations and cannot be read by itself. Often used when presenting at events or one-to-one meetings with relevant stakeholders.
|
| Size | Range 15-30 slides, makes provision for additional information via appendices | Range 10-15 slides as there is often a limited time to present your company in person (usually 3-5 minutes) |
| Style / Structure | Contains key facts and provides details using texts and illustrations about aspects of your company | Contains more visual elements and has very little text in comparison to the investor deck |
Following the creation of a pitch deck and an investor deck, it is common practice to create a teaser document (a one-pager or 1-2 slides) that summarises key information about your company. The teaser document is used to attract investors into wanting to know more about your company. This document is extremely useful because investors frequently have to review hundreds of investor decks in a short period of time. Therefore having this document can help you stay ahead of competing company profiles.
PwC Pro Tip
- It is worthwhile to create a teaser document which includes the most relevant information. This allows investors to first assess whether your company is in line with their investment criteria and if your company sparks their enthusiasm. It also allows you to keep more confidential information for investors who show true interest.
What information should good pitch and investor decks have?
While the pitch deck and the investor deck might differ in size, structure, mode of delivery, and so on, they should both tell the same story about your company. If you want to keep your target audience interested in your company, there are a few critical pieces of information that should always be included or reflected in both documents. See Table 2 for more details.
Table 2: Key topics in a pitch and investor deck
| Topic | Example of questions that need to be answered |
|---|---|
| The problem |
|
| The solution / product / service |
|
Traction |
|
| The market |
|
| Growth / marketing / sales strategy |
|
| Competition |
|
| Team |
|
| Financials and business model |
|
| Your ask |
|
| Appendix |
|
Even though the topics suggested above cover the major areas of your company, it is important to weave them into a story that your target audience can relate to.
PwC Pro Tip
- There should be a balance between visuals and text in your investor and pitch decks. You don't want either of your presentations to be overcrowded with too much text or to have too little text.
- You should always reflect on the need for adaptations of your pitch and investor decks taking into account target audience.
- The team slide is often one of the most impactful slides, as it signals to the investors if you have the ability to execute. Make sure it stands out!
Our UK colleagues also wrote about the perfect pitch deck, you can find their insights here.
In the next blog post we’ll focus on how to prepare a financial model.
For more information on how PwC can support you in your fundraising, and how we support startups and scaleups in general visit our website.
Download the full PwC's fundraising whitepepaper here
The fundraising process
Overview
Preparation phase
Preparing a financial model
Contact us
International Tax Partner, Platforms and Market Positioning Lead, PwC Belgium
Tel: +32 476 87 52 24
