In the rapidly evolving field of medical innovation, effectively presenting your ideas is crucial to attracting investment and strategic support. A well-structured pitch deck serves as a compelling narrative that highlights your technological advances, clinical relevance, and potential market impact. It is an opportunity to engage investors, showing how your solution addresses real-world healthcare challenges and how their involvement can help bring it to patients. Here are key strategies to create a pitch deck that leaves a lasting impression.
What Makes A Great Story?
Business in medical innovation is about relationships, and the ability to connect on a human level is everything.
“If you ask professional investors, they’ll tell you they have to review hundreds of healthcare and medtech ideas each month,” explains Alan Jones, evangelist at Australian startup accelerator BlueChilli.
“And the most efficient way for investors to do so is to compare each proposal on consistent metrics, which correspond to the main sections of a standard pitch deck. That way, they can quickly shortlist the top opportunities and invite the most promising teams to present.”
“For those confident that their innovation will naturally rise to the top, this may be enough. But for everyone else, it’s important to do more than just make it easy to score well. You need to reach investors on an emotional level, conveying the real-world impact of your product and the patient outcomes it enables.”
Bosco Tan, co-founder of the budgeting app Pocketbook, agrees. “There’s the user experience story and the company trajectory story. The key is to thread these together succinctly in a way that intrigues investors. They respond first with their hearts, then with their minds. If your presentation feels dry or overly technical, you’ve missed the first chance to engage.”
What Should A Pitch Deck Look Like?
A pitch deck in medical innovation should generally be no longer than 10–15 slides. Some suggest 7–10 pages or less. Design-wise, clarity, visual appeal and brevity are critical.
Introduce yourself, outline the problem and your solution, explain why now is the right time, and highlight what makes your technology different. Address the competitive landscape, monetisation strategy, and provide a clear 12-month financial forecast.
Second only to the financials: highlight your team and advisors. Even the most promising innovations can fail without great people behind them. Investors ultimately back capable teams, not just ideas.
A 2015 Harvard Business School study of over 200 pitch decks found investors spend an average of just under four minutes reviewing a deck. The most important slides are those that communicate:
- What you do and how it works
- Verification or endorsements from testing or independent sources
- Your unique selling proposition and how your innovation stands out
- Market segment, patient need, and market size
- Competitive landscape and your position
- Monetisation strategy and timeline
- Funding required and time to market
- Team backgrounds and resources needed
- Customer acquisition plan and rollout strategy
- Revenue projections and financial transparency
Financials: Accuracy Is Key
When pursuing initial funding, investors want to understand customer acquisition costs, retention rates, and projected returns.
“Be specific in your ask,” advises Djordje Dikic, co-founder of Palette. “Know exactly what you want to achieve and the capital required. The proposal must withstand close investor scrutiny — no fluff.”
“Getting to the point means clearly communicating three things,” says Anna Reeves, CEO and executive producer of That Startup Show:
- That your product is something people truly want and will pay for, backed by validation or testing
- That your numbers are realistic and credible
- That you have the passion and purpose to make it happen
