For startups of any size, fundraising is definitely a challenging process. This process is even harder for fintech startups because of the highly competitive environment they inhabit. That’s why a rock-solid pitch deck is critical to finding the right fintech angel investor.
While there is no one-size-fits-all format for investor decks, there is a common structure and best practices for decks aimed at raising capital. What is the difference between fintech pitch decks and others? What topics should be disclosed? How many slides should you include and in what order? In this article, we will guide you on how to create a successful fintech startup pitch deck presentation that gets you funded.
What makes fintech pitch decks unique?
Although there are many similarities in pitch decks for fintech startups and other businesses, there are some distinctions. Such startups commonly encounter a vast array of challenges, from regulatory constrictions to fundraising struggles.
Moreover, as competition is high and the investors are largely focused on financial benefits, convincing them requires a detailed financial plan, a long-term strategy, and validation of the idea.
Therefore, your pitch deck has to send a clear message that you are aware of all current market conditions and can deal with them. Among these special topics worth showcasing are:
- Unique value proposition and differentiation
The fintech space is becoming a crowded market. Your project has to have a strong, differentiated proposition to stand out.
- A clear roadmap to profitability
You need to show that you’ve developed an understandable long-term plan for your startup’s financial viability.
- Strong founding team
As angel investors invest in startups in their early stages, they’re risking a lot. A strong founding team leads a startup to success by inspiring confidence in potential investors. It’s crucial to present any previous collaborations amongst teammates, successful projects, and relevant industry experience.
What makes a perfect pitch deck?
“Until you can quickly and clearly articulate your one-sentence and one-paragraph description of why you are unique and why you can make lots of money for [investors], trees die unnecessarily.”
– Gary W. Patterson, growth expert and writer of Million Dollar Blind Spots: 20/20 Vision for Financial Growth.
Effective pitch decks are high-level, short, and catchy, efficiently telling potential investors where the company is today and where it’s planning to go. Surely the last thing you want is to bore potential funders with a never-ending speech. Be ready to give concise and convincing answers, like in this video.
What slides should you include in a fintech pitch deck?
Beware of endless, repetitive pitch deck presentations. Make sure you have clear titles and separate slides for each different topic but don’t get weighed down by unnecessary information. Fintech pitch decks should consist of the following 14 slides:
Slide #1: Cover
All this slide needs is the name of your startup, a catchy tagline, and a well-designed logo.
Slide #2: The Problem
The Problem slide is where you present the problem that your project resolves. What valuable and unique solution do you offer? How will your product or service make the lives of your clients better?
The best strategy for this slide is to connect your business to the emotional lives of real people or describe your own personal connection. Investors know that emotions resonate with people, motivating them to change whatever they’re doing and instead pay for your product or service.
As a fintech startup, you should present the problem most relevant to your solution. If you’re a B2B startup, think about throwing in some numbers that show off the true scale of the problem you’re fixing.
Slide #3: The Solution
Now that everybody knows what your project will address, it is time to present the solution itself. Impress your audience with mockups of your fintech product or provide some sample screenshots. Visuals help, as it is always hard to imagine how a fintech project actually works.
As a fintech founder, you should strive to show off the value proposition of your product in terms of money and time saved. The best solution slides we’ve seen in fintech startups’ pitch decks are the ones that can quickly and effectively communicate a sophisticated product in the simplest terms possible. It is often highly beneficial to demonstrate how your solution will easily implement into the potential client’s existing payment/reporting/accounting systems.
Slide #4: Market Opportunity
On this slide, you need to answer two important questions:
- How big is your potential market?
- How fast will your market grow?
You should include a high-level estimation of your market. If you find this part difficult, read our article “Calculating market size: from TAM to SOM”.
Slide #5: Competition
By providing an overview of your competitors, you’re letting your fintech investors know that you are aware of the industry’s current landscape and have taken the time to understand your rivals.
This slide should cover the following information:
- Who are your competitors? Are they local, regional, national, or global?
- Are there any product or service alternatives for your startup?
- Where do you position yourself in comparison to competitors?
Ideally, this would involve creating a table listing each competitor (or group of competitors) and its main features.
Slide #6: Business Model
This slide is crucial. Without a clear understanding of how you are going to generate revenue, no fintech investors will ever invest in your company.
Fintech industries are very diverse in nature, so the same business model might not work for both B2C and B2B startups. Are you planning a subscription – or a transaction-based revenue model? Take this opportunity to clearly explain your pricing strategy and revenue model.
Slide #7: Product
Here, you need to showcase your product from a technological perspective:
- Do you have a white-labeled solution or a proprietary backend or database?
- What is your intellectual property?
- How many full-time front-end and back-end developers do you have or need?
- How much have you already invested in your fintech project?
Slide #8: Marketing
This slide should explain how you are going to bring new visitors to your product, as well as give insight into how you will convert these visitors into paying customers.
Slide #9: Traction
The traction you generated over the last couple of months or years is an important metric of whether a fintech investor can expect your users to grow or not.
The more historical data you have, the more details you should present. In addition to showing how many users you already have, you can provide any other metrics that show how many people interact with your product – social media followers, for example.
To create your income statement, start by declaring your revenue, then add your income, and subtract your expenses on a monthly basis.
Other fintech metrics:
- Monthly active users
- Avg. time spent on the website
- CTR of newsletter/email ads
- Conversion rate
- Customer retention rate
- Lead-to-customer conversion rate
- Churn rate
Slide #10: Team
Investors put their money into great teams more than anything else. Use this slide to introduce all key members of your team (but not more than five). Provide additional information about why each member is a vital part of your path to success.
Slide #11: Roadmap
The roadmap slide tells investors where you are going and how your project is planned to grow in the future. You can either keep it high-level (e.g., your long-term strategy) or get more detailed (e.g., the funnel of the short-term product features).
Slide #12: Financial Plan
In addition to your Product and Team slides, the Financial Plan slide is tremendously essential. Unfortunately, it is not uncommon for a startup to disregard the importance of financial projections in its fintech pitch deck.
Do not expect investors to work out the financial plan for your startup if you haven’t. As a founder, you should have a clear idea of where you are going. The more advanced your startup is, the more details you should include here.
Slide #13: Funding Ask
Finally, we have reached the slide where you clearly claim your ask and reveal how much money you need.
It can be tremendously helpful to include a pie chart showing where you will spend that money over a given period (your runway).
Slide #14: Contact
This slide has two main goals:
- Open up the floor to questions from the audience to whom you are pitching
- Provide contacts (email and phone number) for investors who only have the PDF version of your pitch.
Summary
As the fundraising environment continues to intensify, fintech startups are challenged to make the most of every meeting and interaction with investors. This is best achieved through a well-designed pitch deck, demo, and research. Although the pitching process can be exhausting and demoralizing, it’s best to focus on what founders can control – being well prepared.