V 1.0 - 2025 - www.headline.com
Series A Pitch Deck Template
for AI Apps
2
AI has changed how companies are built and evaluated.��The old SaaS fundraising frameworks don’t cut it anymore: AI has brought that era of software to a close.��So here’s a new playbook. We made it thinking of AI app founders who are raising Series A rounds in the coming months. But it can just as easily serve as a foundation those at earlier stages or at mature ones, as well as for businesses with different models.��In our blog, you will fill also find a slide by slide voiceover to guide you through it.��We have made it in Google Slides so that you can easily make a copy and make it your own, or use it as a mental framework for a better Figma design.��We hope it will help you successfully pitch your startup to us at Headline, or to whomever you choose as your partners!
Jonathan Userovici
Astrid Moullé-Berteaux
V 1.0 - 2024 - www.headline.com
3
GLOSSARY
ARR
Annual Recurring Revenue
ICP
Ideal Customer Profile
KPI
Key Performance Indicator
ACV
Average Customer Value
ROI
Return On Investment
GTM
Go-to-market
LLM
Large Language Model
YoY
Year on Year
CAC
Customer Acquisition Cost
NDR
Net Dollar Retention
DAU
Daily Active User
WAU
Weekly Active User
MAU
Monthly Active User
SEO
Search Engine Optimization
In blue, we will give formulas and commentary �when necessary.
In orange, you will find guidelines to complete the section / slide with some insights and best practices.
Company Statement
(in one sentence)
Month & Year - Series A Round
5
Value Proposition
Describe in one sentence the type of product, the customer, and the market.
Unique Positioning
Explain why you will win in your market and the moats/barriers to entry you are building (e.g., technical barriers, best-in-class team, specific go-to-market strategy, proprietary datasets, etc.).
Key Customers
In your main ICP
KPIs
Current ARR
In other sectors
XXX
Number of clients
XXX
ARR growth
XXX
Other KPI*
XXX
Gross margin
XXX
Other KPI*
XXX
* E.g: Payback time, profitability, ACV, rule of 40, etc. Choose the most relevant KPI for you business.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
LOGO
LOGO
LOGO
LOGO
LOGO
LOGO
LOGO
LOGO
LOGO
LOGO
Month & Year - Series A Round
6
Name Surname
Co-Founder & CEO
Name Surname
Co-Founder & CTO
Ex co-founder at X, scaled revenue from A to B
Achievements in tech worth mentioning
CEO
Key profile
Key profile
CTO
Key profile
Key profile
Management Team
Name Surname
Head of Product
5y Product Designer at X
Name Surname
Head of Sales
8y CSO at Y
Total team
Our team includes X engineers, Y product managers, and Z Sales
Advisors
Name, Position
Name, Position
AI edges (if any)
Publications & patents
Contribution to projects
Ecosystem bounds
TEAM
PREVIOUS’
COMPANY LOGO
PREVIOUS’
COMPANY LOGO
PREVIOUS’
COMPANY LOGO
PREVIOUS’
COMPANY LOGO
Month & Year - Series A Round
7
Problem Statement
Current Situation
Supporting Data
Describe the critical challenges that customers are facing in your industry (e.g:, time-consuming tasks, low-quality output, compliance risks, etc.).
Underline why the current approaches are problematic (e.g: inefficient, costly, outdated, etc) and why it leads to negatives outcomes.
Illustrate your statements with reputable sources and statistics (e.g: according to X, Y% of companies struggle with Z, costing them $A annually).
PAIN POINT
Month & Year - Series A Round
8
Key Output 1
Key Output 2
Key Output 3
Describe the critical challenges that the customers are facing in your industry (e.g: time-consuming task, low quality output, compliance risks, etc).
Underline why the current approaches are problematic (e.g: inefficient, costly, outdated, etc) and why it leads to negatives outcomes.
Illustrate your statements with reputable sources and statistics (e.g: according to X, Y% of companies struggle with Z, costing them $A annually).
Value Proposition
State clearly the type of application you are building (e.g: copilot, agent, service as a software, etc.), the end user and the market.
SOLUTION
Month & Year - Series A Round
9
PRODUCT DEMO
Month & Year - Series A Round
10
Current Product
Feature 1
Feature 2
Feature 3
Feature 4
Feature 5
Feature 6
Q1 - 2025
Q2 - 2025
Q3/Q4 - 2025
From 2026
Key Functionality 1
Feature 1
Feature 2
Feature 3
Feature 4
Feature 5
Feature 6
Key Functionality 2
PRODUCT FEATURES & ROADMAP
Month & Year - Series A Round
11
E.g: Technology*
1
E.g: Market*
2
E.g: Data*
3
Explain to which extent the advent of LLMs have changed how you can address your market from a go-to-market, a product or a data standpoint.
You can emphasize the maturity level of your customer base, or why the incumbents are legacy players and mention several successful new-gen players coming in your category.
Elaborate on how the sources or the types of data available have changed over time or how you can now better exploit this data to feed your product.
* E.g: Can also be competition, adoption, regulation, clients, culture, etc.
WHY NOW
Month & Year - Series A Round
12
Use case 1
Use case 2
Use case 3
“Quote”
ROI Explained
“Quote”
ROI Explained
“Quote”
ROI Explained
USE CASE & ROI
LOGO
LOGO
LOGO
Month & Year - Series A Round
13
VALUE CHAIN & WORKFLOWS
Explain how your product impacts the value chain, redefines the workflows and brings new processes for your end-users. It can imply more revenues, better quality or cost savings for your client.
BEFORE YOUR PRODUCT
WITH YOUR PRODUCT
3 days
10 days
4 days
5 days
X hours
Y days
Z hours
X days
Step 1*
Step 2*
Step 3*
Step 4*
Step 1*
Step 2*
Step 3*
Step 4*
* E.g: These are the different tasks that constitute the workflows you’re disrupting, it can be expressed in time metrics (in hours, days, months) or in number of actions
Month & Year - Series A Round
14
Short term
Mid term
Long term
Here, we always look at the real obtainable market for your company, no need to mention the trillion of dollars global market that includes your topic but focus rather on what you really tackles. We also love backups for this slide.
Current Addressed Market $Z m
Mid-term Addressable Market $Y bn
Long-term Addressable Market $X bn
Mention any expansion (product, ICP, geo) that justifies the widening of the market.
Mention any expansion (product, ICP, geo) that justifies the widening of the market. Do not forget service companies as market opportunities to target if you are replacing a labor / service budget already.
MARKET SIZE
LOGO
LOGO
LOGO
LOGO
LOGO
LOGO
Month & Year - Series A Round
15
Top line
DAU or WAU / MAU
DAU or WAU Monthly Growth
Other*
Other*
€ ACV
€ CAC
% NDR
Months of Payback
€ X ARR
Gross margin
€ Y ARR
YoY Growth
Unit economics
Adoption
* E.g: Can also be competition, adoption, regulation, clients, culture, etc.
TRACTION OVERVIEW (KPIs)
FLAGSHIP CLIENT LOGO
FLAGSHIP CLIENT LOGO
FLAGSHIP CLIENT LOGO
FLAGSHIP CLIENT LOGO
FLAGSHIP CLIENT LOGO
FLAGSHIP CLIENT LOGO
Month & Year - Series A Round
16
E.g: Outbound Sales*
Detail here your different ICP and for each ICP, specify the buyer persona, the end-user(s) and the range of ACV expected.
E.g: Strategic Partnerships*
Specify how your product is indirectly distributed through strategic partnerships (e.g: indirect distribution, resellers, marketplaces, technologic alliances, etc.)
E.g: Community Building*
Mention the efforts you’re doing on building a community around your product (e.g: marketing contents, conferences, research papers, Discord channel, Product Hunt, GitHub, events, etc.)
Represent the industry breakdown via a pie chart with # of clients and % of ARR per industry.
Represent the industry breakdown via a pie chart with # of clients and % of ARR per country.
* E.g: Can also be switched to paid marketing, SEO, referrals, etc. depending on your go-to-market strategy
Geographical Breakdown
Industries addressed
CUSTOMERS & GO-TO-MARKET
Month & Year - Series A Round
ARR Growth Chart
This is the simplest but most expected growth chart you have to display to investors. You can include projections but make sure to make it clear.
Do not hesitate to emphasize the important endogenous or exogenous elements (e.g: beginning of commercialization, new ICP, new GTM motion, product pivot, new regulation, new feature, new large client, new country launched, seasonality, exogenous event, etc.).
Comments
ARR & GROWTH
Month & Year - Series A Round
18
Retention Cohort
Choose to display the retention cohort on the revenue rather than the logos (or display both). This will give investors the NDR of your business over time, which is a key indicator to understand the stickiness and the upsell potential of your client base. It provides a clear picture of your business’s ability to generate sustainable growth without relying solely on new customer acquisition.
Signup Date | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 |
Jan 2024 | 100% | 100% | 102% | 105% | 110% | 110% | 118% | 120% | 120% | 122% | 125% | 130% |
Feb 2024 | 100% | 101% | 101% | 110% | 112% | 112% | 125% | 127% | 128% | 128% | 131% | |
Mar 2024 | 100% | 101% | 105% | 106% | 110% | 115% | 115% | 120% | 121% | 129% | | |
Apr 2024 | 100% | 101% | 107% | 108% | 110% | 118% | 124% | 126% | 130% | | | |
May 2024 | 100% | 105% | 110% | 110% | 114% | 120% | 120% | 128% | | | | |
Jun 2024 | 100% | 103% | 109% | 111% | 114% | 122% | 124% | | | | | |
Jul 2024 | 100% | 105% | 110% | 112% | 113% | 120% | | | | | | |
Aug 2024 | 100% | 106% | 111% | 113% | 117% | | | | | | | |
Sep 2024 | 100% | 108% | 112% | 114% | | | | | | | | |
Oct 2024 | 100% | 110% | 115% | | | | | | | | | |
Nov 2024 | 100% | 112% | | | | | | | | | | |
Dec 2024 | 100% | | | | | | | | | | | |
MONTHLY COHORTS
Month & Year - Series A Round
19
Net New ARR Growth Chart
Net New ARR (signed) = ARR from new customers signed
Similarly to the previous graph on the ARR, mention the the elements that could explain a particular growth or drop in the Net New ARR (new big client, seasonality, increase of sales employees, change of go-to-market motion, etc.).
Comments
Net New ARR is a great metric to display to assess the velocity of your new deals signed and understand the effectiveness of your go-to-market. It also helps to refine the projection of the top-line over time.
SALES ACCELERATION
Month & Year - Series A Round
20
Revenue Change Month Over Month Chart
Expansion Revenue = Increase in revenue from existing customers upselling (upgrading, buying additional products or expanding their usage)
Net New ARR is a great metric to display to assess the velocity of your new deals signed and understand the effectiveness of your go-to-market. It also helps to refine the projection of the top-line over time.
New Revenue = Revenue from new customers subscribing to your product or service
Churn Revenue = Amount of revenue lost when customers cancel their subscriptions or stop using your service.
Contraction Revenue = Decrease in revenue from existing customers downgrading their subscriptions or reducing their usage
NET REVENUE PER MONTH
Month & Year - Series A Round
21
Usage chart
Usage is one of the key parameter that can explain retention / churn and helps to understand if your product is efficient, easy to use, sticky, high-touch, etc.
Number of active users
Usage chart
Add another main product north star KPI (e.g: number of weekly queries per active user for example).
Number of queries
USAGE COSTS
Month & Year - Series A Round
22
Public data
Data source 1
Data source 2
Data source 3
Data source 4
Private data
P
P
AI Infrastructure Stack
Data Ingestion Pipelines
Data Lake
LLM(s)
AI Infrastructure Stack
AI Agents
Platform & Copilot
*P - Proprietary Technology
AI ARCHITECTURE
Month & Year - Series A Round
23
Pricing Model
Margin Structure
Upsell Potential
Pricing models have evolved for AI-native businesses. It’s crucial to explain how you can capture the maximum of the value generated usually by selling the work instead of selling a tool (e.g: outcome-based or usage-based business models).
The margin structure is likely to be impacted by the specific AI architecture of your business (e.g: data preparation, inference costs, training costs, etc.) or by the level of service required to properly use the tool. Explain how you can improve it over time.
We love to understand the potential of upselling of your product. Explain the different strategies you have (e.g: land & expand strategy, new modules added, price increase, new integrations, etc.).
BUSINESS MODEL
Month & Year - Series A Round
24
E.g: Incumbents
E.g: AI-native
The Y-axis varies depending on the nature of your business, often includes (top / bottom): autonomous / high-maintenance, scalable / resource-intensive, data-driven / archaic, etc.
COMPETITIVE LANDSCAPE
Month & Year - Series A Round
25
| Legacy Players | Direct Competitors | Adjacent Players | | |||||
| | | | | | | | | |
Year HQ�FTE | | | | | | | | | |
Funding Investors | | | | | | | | | |
ICP | | | | | | | | | |
Traction | | | | | | | | | |
Competitive Advantage Over Them | | | | | | | | | |
COMPETITION DEEPDIVE
LOGO
LOGO
LOGO
LOGO
LOGO
LOGO
LOGO
LOGO
Month & Year - Series A Round
26
E.g: Team Expertise*
1
E.g: Unique Wedge*
2
E.g: Proprietary Data*
3
A team with deep expertise in AI research and applied machine learning ensures cutting-edge innovation and accelerates the ability to solve complex problems uniquely and effectively.
A specialized and differentiated approach to addressing market gaps, such as a novel algorithm or niche focus, creates defensibility and sets the company apart from competitors.
Exclusive access to high-quality, domain-specific datasets enhances model accuracy, scalability, and creates a barrier for competitors relying on public or less optimized data sources.
* E.g: Can also be integrations, workflows,, pricing, etc.
E.g: Flexible Architecture*
4
Modular and adaptable AI infrastructure enables rapid iteration, seamless integration, and future-proofing against evolving technologies or market needs.
E.g: Compliance*
5
Proactively designed systems that adhere to regulatory and ethical standards build trust, reduce risk, and position the company as a reliable partner in highly regulated industries.
AI SPECIFIC COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGES
Month & Year - Series A Round
27
Timeline
Now
International expansion | | | |
ARR | E.g: €1m | E.g: €2m | E.g: €3-4m |
Gross Margin | E.g: 75% | E.g: 80% | E.g: 85% |
Product Release | E.g: API | E.g: Enterprise platform | E.g: Voice agents |
M+6 post Series A
Y+1 post Series A
HIGH-LEVEL BP & KEY MILESTONES
Month & Year - Series A Round
28
Now raising
18 months objectives
€Xm
E.g: Team*
1
Explain which departments you will strengthen with specific profiles to recruit.
E.g: Product*
2
Describe your product vision, detailing the new features that will be developed and, more specifically, the work on AI.
E.g: International*
3
Describe the markets you want to address and why they are relevant, with factual elements (competition, trends, macro data, AI maturity).
FUNDRAISING
Month & Year - Series A Round
29
Your Name
Phone
EPILOGUE
Month & Year - Series A Round
30
The appendix can include:
APPENDIX
One Step Further with Deepdive
It’s critical for founders to have a perfect understanding of their metrics. At Headline, we offer the option to access the best visuals for their metrics through our platform, Deepdive. In the following slides, you’ll find examples of visuals that can be included in your fundraising template. First, these visuals will help investors better understand and assess the specificities of your business through your metrics. Second, they will demonstrate to investors that you are a highly data-driven founder. It’s free and confidential - we won’t be able to see any data you do not specifically share with us.
Month & Year - Series A Round
32
Revenue chart
Customer chart
BONUS: DEEPDIVE WITH HEADLINE
Month & Year - Series A Round
33
Retention chart E.g: NDR in %
Retention chart E.g: Customer retention
The most common view of the NDR is the table displayed in the slide 16. Below is the visual application of the NDR over time.
The most common view of the NDR is the table displayed in the slide 16. Below is the visual application of the NDR over time.
Revenue retention
Customer retention
BONUS: DEEPDIVE WITH HEADLINE
Month & Year - Series A Round
34
Cumulative Gross Profit Over CAC
The cumulative gross profit over CAC is another way of understanding your payback time per cohort. Above 1, you consider that the cohort is breakeven, meaning that the cost you have spent to acquire a cohort of customer has been reimbursed by the revenue generated by this cohort. If a cohort reaches 1 when the X-axis is 10, it means that the payback time for this cohort is 10 months. You can compare cohorts and understand the dynamic of your acquisition. Payback times are impacted by the CAC, the ACV and the gross margin.
BONUS: DEEPDIVE WITH HEADLINE
At Headline, we partner with founders from Seed to IPO. We are on the ground with offices in San Francisco, New York, Paris, London, Berlin, São Paulo and Tokyo.
Assisted by proprietary technologies and deep local networks, we partner with ambitious teams willing to build generational companies & global category leaders. If you’re building innovative solutions in the AI app space and beyond, or have any questions, we’d love to hear from you — just reach out to astrid@headline.com or jon@headline.com to contact the authors of this deck, or to another Headline team member.
Helping founders win, bigger