← Fundraising AI: Deck Builders | Investor Outreach

M13’s RECOMMENDATIONS FOR

AI deck builders

While marketed as end-to-end slide deck generators, more often these products are used to create deck outlines as a starting point. They are capable of quickly building a fairly sophisticated deck outline and design based on some simple text-based prompts, but we would caution against using their outputs 'as is'. At a startup, these builders can be used for a variety of deck design purposes, including fundraising, department updates, all hands meetings, sales decks, and more.

Updated 5/21/24 by MARY & ROB


Maturity: ●●●○○ Useful Point Solution

Startup Impact: ●●●○○ Medium

  • Less time spent building decks

  • Less money spent on designers (though these do not eliminate designers)

  • Better quality decks for teams inexperienced with building this type of content

Areas of Improvement:

  • Adherence to brand guidelines is still hit or miss

  • Output can still require significant tweaking to the point of no longer being useful

  • Final output is still inferior to what an expert designer would create

🔥 Our Top Picks:

Gamma

Best for professionals, students, and designers looking to create polished, aesthetic presentations.

  • Gamma has been our go-to tool in this space since 2023. When tested against other competitors, we found Gamma's UX and output quality to be slightly superior. Its streamlined user experience, sleek UI, and template library make it an excellent starting point for deck building. Notably, Gamma has expanded its feature set and enhanced editing capabilities over time, demonstrating a clear attention to detail when it comes to product improvements. These ongoing enhancements keep us excited for what's to come.

Tome

Best for professionals and entrepreneurs looking to try out a new type of “storytelling” tool.

  • While Tome shares similarities in process and feature sets with Gamma, it offers a slightly more AI-centric experience, generating both content and graphics with AI. It boasts advanced AI capabilities and content optimization, though its decks can have an "AI-generated" feel. We found Tome to be helpful for creating content quickly, whereas Gamma prioritizes the creation of aesthetically pleasing decks. Depending on the use case, both options offer valuable strengths and are worth exploring.

Plus Ai

Best integrated solution for Google Workspace users looking to create, edit, and access the latest AI features in Google Slides and Docs via an add-on/extension.

  • While Plus AI is in its early stages, it stands out as an optimal tool for utilizing AI directly across Google Workspace. With its add-on extension, users can generate or edit decks with AI features similar to those included in Gamma and Tome. Since this tool only integrates with Google, the platform can be limiting for some, but it can be extremely beneficial for those looking for a quick and streamlined solution in Google Slides and Docs.

Similar to a typical sales automation workflow, investor outreach can now largely be automated using off-the-shelf AI tools with relatively little effort from the founder side. This can make the tedious process of maintaining an email list and outreach processes a matter of a couple simple clicks. This is not only useful for initial outreach, but also for investor updates, asking advisors for help, and introductions to customers and partners. While the impact is limited and the product maturity in this space not fully developed, it is a valuable tool to at least look into if you're a founder and struggling with this problem.

AI investor outreach

Updated 5/21/24 by ROB & Zach


Maturity: ●●●○○ Useful Point Solution

Startup Impact: ●●○○○ Low

  • Good way to systematize investor communications and ensure timely outreach

  • Ensures best practices when communicating to investors

  • The best tools will provide dashboards and metrics so you can develop a data-based outreach approach

Areas of Improvement:

  • While useful, this function is rarely a company-wide time drain, and tools here are more meant to optimize founder time

  • May require cobbling together several tools to create an end-to-end solution

🔥 Top Trending Tools:

Flowlie

Best for founders trying to leverage their existing network for investor introductions.

  • Flowlie allows founders to bring all of their fundraise data into one place, combining the tech stack that founders typically use. Not only does Flowlie offer founders its AI-powered tooling assists in crafting outreach with industry-based terminology, it also helps founders to find the best paths to introduction based on their own individual networks.

Investor Hunter

Best for founders working on their first fundraise.

  • Investor Hunter provides a streamlined experience for founders looking to craft messaging about their fundraise and find investor targets aligned with their stage and vertical. Its personalized messaging is a good step for founders to stand out while conducting cold outreach. While the solution is lightweight, the matching is helpful for founders looking to build investor lists quickly.

Capitol Connector

Best for early founders looking to manage their fundraise in a CRM-like system.

  • Capitol Connector offers a CRM-like platform for founders to manage the full lifecycle of a fundraise. We've found the custom intro emails to be very effective, and Capitol Connector's site features case studies of founders raising $2M+ rounds with the platform. By offering founders a complete operating system to identify investors and craft and manage communications, founders can move smoothly through a fundraise while still focusing on business execution.

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