In 2023, worldwide Investments are struggling with a significant 15% recession, he says Crunchbase, creating a challenging landscape for early-stage startups. The uphill battle is of course even tougher for deep-tech startups developing new, innovative solutions for upcoming markets.
Logically, their efforts require significant investment and the attendant risk further complicates the funding equation. According Dealroom, European funding of such companies saw a notable increase in 2021, possibly spurred by a sudden surge in interest in artificial intelligence. However, they then experienced a significant decline in 2022 and this downward trend continues in 2023.
My international deep tech recently secured a $40 million seed round from various negotiations with venture capital, business angels and various investment entities. Four techniques were instrumental in securing this funding for our venture.
Tell a story
One of the key elements in attracting potential investors is a familiar set of documents prepared for presentations. Among them, the pitch deck takes center stage, serving as the main tool to articulate the essence of your idea and see market dynamics.
Creating a concise and compelling pitch deck is a critical but well-known task, and many sources are ready to inspire. But in many cases, the complexity of your product can only be partially conveyed through it.
Unless you’re Elon Musk, proving that you can create something technically advanced on your own can be an uphill battle.
After repeatedly dealing with the same questions about our product, we introduced an additional form of storytelling called the “product book.” While a pitch deck is a concise document, a product book dives deeper into the intricacies of your product, offering a more complex explanation. The questions you’ll be asked will probably be different than ours, but the main points of the structure of this immersive guide still apply:
- Problem Statement: Clearly articulate the problem and why your revolutionary product is needed.
- Possible solution: Draw a picture of what the solution might look like without going into technical details.
- Why now: Explain why it was impossible to achieve the same goal before and what has changed to make it happen at this particular time.
- Competitors: Highlight why existing solutions in the market fall short, emphasizing your product’s unique value proposition.
- Ecosystem: Show insight by describing the ecosystem necessary for your product to work. For example, if you envision a computer of tomorrow, address the required operating system and compatible applications.
- Use cases: Explore the various spheres where your product can be applied.
- Optically: Present each application sequentially and live, leveraging all applications.
- Components: Explain how the solution is possible by looking at the key elements that make it possible.
