20 pitch deck examples from successful companies around the world

You gotta wonder how many brilliant ideas through history went nowhere.

Seriously. It’s hard to believe that all the public innovations we know about today represent all the ideas ever hatched. How many do you reckon slipped through the cracks?

We’ve written this article in an effort to ensure your ideas don’t fade to dust. We’ve dedicated it to the powerful pitch deck. We’ve dug up the early-stage pitch decks of 20 of today’s most innovative companies, to inspire you to give your ideas the pitching power they need to thrive.

Year:2011 Amount:$600,000 Investors:500 Startups, Biz Stone, Digital Garage, Dan Martell, Andy Est. value:$1.275 billion (December 2018)

First pitchdeck:Intercom's first pitch deck⁠(opens in a new tab or window) from Eoghan McCabe⁠(opens in a new tab or window)

Intercom describes itself as “a fundamentally new way for internet businesses to communicate with customers, personally, at scale.”

Founded in 2011, it’s used by some of the most well-known Internet companies on the planet, including Moz, Yahoo!, and Shopify and delivers scalable live chat, marketing automation, and customer support programs.

Grab your audience's attention with this bold, geometric presentation template, Red Shapes Bauhaus Revisited Creative Presentation⁠(opens in a new tab or window).

Year:2009 Amount:$600,000 Investors:Sequoia Capital Est. value:$35 billion (March 2019)

First pitchdeck:Airbnb Pitch Deck From 2008⁠(opens in a new tab or window) from Ryan Gum⁠(opens in a new tab or window)

Behind Uber, Airbnb is the second most valuable privately owned startup company in the U.S., worth somewhere in the vicinity of $35 billion.

Launched as a disrupter to the behemoth hotel industry, it’s so far making good on its promise to democratize travel, allowing virtually anyone on the planet to host their home as a bed and breakfast.

Showcase your product with a playful flair with the Pale Blue and Violet Donut Memphis Cool Presentation⁠(opens in a new tab or window) template.

Year:2011 Amount:$500,000 Investors:Dharmesh Shah (Hubspot), Hiten Shah, and others. Est. value:$5 million (2018)

First pitchdeck:The slide deck we used to raise half a million dollars⁠(opens in a new tab or window) from Buffer⁠(opens in a new tab or window).

Self-proclaimed a “smarter way to share on social media”, Buffer hit the ground running in 2010 in the bedroom of current CEO Joel Gascoigne, in 2010.

Now in its sixth year, it’s established itself as one of the key players in social media management and automation, allowing social media marketers and others to plan and schedule their social posts from one central console.

Be artistic and professional when you use the Pink Woman Papercraft / Collage Business Presentation⁠(opens in a new tab or window) template for your pitch.

Year:2016 Amount:$10,000,000 Investors:Stewart Butterfield, Social Capital, Eoghan McCabe Est. value:$66 million (Jan 2018)

First pitchdeck:Front series A deck⁠(opens in a new tab or window) from Mathilde Collin⁠(opens in a new tab or window)

New to the world of tech, Front was only launched in 2016 but it landed with a bang and with the financial backing of Stewart Butterfield, founder of Flickr and Slack (current CEO).

Put simply, Front is email inbox management and collaboration software, which pairs nicely with the Slack objective of transforming email.

A serious template that packs a punch. Try the Violet Brown Profit And Loss Statements Presentation⁠(opens in a new tab or window) template.

Year:2014 Amount:$65,000,000 Investors:Andreessen Horowitz Est. value:$865 million (October, 2015)

First pitchdeck:Mixpanel - Our pitch deck that we used to raise $65M⁠(opens in a new tab or window) from Suhail Doshi⁠(opens in a new tab or window)

Mixpanel is one of the leading players in web and mobile analytics, cresting the wave of data-driven marketing and product development.

Designed to track and report upon user interactions with web and mobile-based applications, it was launched in 2009 and has a long honor roll of investors.

Everyone knows you mean business when you show your pitch with the Black Urban Photo Marketing Report Presentation⁠(opens in a new tab or window) template.

Year:2005

Amount:$3,500,000

Investors:Sequoia Capital, ARTIS Ventures

Est. value:$160 billion (May 2018)

First pitchdeck:YouTube pitch deck⁠(opens in a new tab or window) from Alexander Jarvis⁠(opens in a new tab or window)

When Google acquired YouTube back in 2006, the $1.5 billion price tag raised a few eyebrows. But with its current valuation estimated to be somewhere around 50x that, it seems to have been a no brainer.

Not much needs to be said about what services the company provides, so… we won’t.

Simple and easy, the Coral Plant Classy Vintage Typefaces Simple Presentation⁠(opens in a new tab or window) template doesn't overwhelm and gets the data across.

Year:2014 Amount:$6,500,000 Investors:Foundry Group Est. value:$42 million (March, 2016)

First pitchdeck:Mattermark 2nd (Final) Series A Deck⁠(opens in a new tab or window) from Danielle Morrill⁠(opens in a new tab or window)

Mattermark is business intelligence software that crawls vast amounts of unstructured company data from the Internet and delivers it in a structured form, as company profiles, to its business users.

It allows businesses to conduct informative research into other companies in their industry, or across industries, to better inform their own growth and direction.

Be bright! Get the look with the Pink and Violet Simple Hot Neons Gradients Creative Presentation⁠(opens in a new tab or window) template.

Year:2012 Amount:$18,000,000 Investors:Ignition Partners, Foundry Group Est. value:$130 million (January, 2016)

First pitchdeck:SEOmoz Pitch Deck July 2011⁠(opens in a new tab or window) from Rand Fishkin⁠(opens in a new tab or window)

Moz is the golden child of the search world. Co-founded by the one-and-only Rand Fishkin way back in 2004, Moz started off a consulting firm but transformed into a software as a service enterprise when the founders realized the opportunity to scale their marketing offerings.

Present your pitch with a classic and minimal look with the White and Black Business Plan Presentation⁠(opens in a new tab or window) template.

Year:2014 Amount:$2,100,000 Investors:Atlas Venture Est. value:Unknown

First pitchdeck:The investor presentation we used to raise 2 million dollars⁠(opens in a new tab or window) from Mikael Cho⁠(opens in a new tab or window)

Ooomf is the kind of idea you wish you had. It’s a marketplace kind of like the old oDesk (now Upwork) or Elance that pairs software developers with clients.

The key difference between Ooomf and those others is that it does its best to pair developers with projects based on their suitability and whether their skills match the requirements of the projects (a difficult task for some non-technical clients to do on their own).

They know you mean business when they see your pitch with the Green Bigger Bolder Better Professional Presentation⁠(opens in a new tab or window) template.

Year:2015 Amount:$10,000,000 Investors:Atlas Venture Est. value:Unknown

First pitchdeck:Crew pitch deck series-a⁠(opens in a new tab or window) from Alexander Jarvis⁠(opens in a new tab or window) To dispel any confusion, Ooomf rebranded to become Crew back in 2014. This pitch deck was delivered after the rebrand, in 2015, and allowed the company to secure a massive new investment into its growth.

Images can take your presentations to another level. Pick one that is relevant to your brand or business. Personalize the Blue Music Business Presentation⁠(opens in a new tab or window) template for your pitch.

Year:2004 Amount:$10,000,000 Investors:Greylock Partners Est. value:$26 billion (June, 2016)

First pitchdeck:Linkedin Series B Pitch Deck⁠(opens in a new tab or window) from Joseph Hsieh⁠(opens in a new tab or window)

In an interesting move in June of this year, Microsoft announced it would be acquiring the professional networking site for $26 billion.

Again, we don’t think much needs to be said here—you’re bound to know what LinkedIn is even if you don’t have a personal account—but we found this deck super interesting given the year it was delivered and the amount of the investment secured.

Colors and shapes can help create an atmosphere for your design. Try the Pink and White Geometric Gradient Memphis Creative Presentation⁠(opens in a new tab or window) template.

Year:2009 Amount:$1,350,000 Investors:O’Reilly AlphaTech Ventures, SV Angel (and others) Est. value:$26 billion (June, 2016)

First pitchdeck:Foursquare's 1st Pitch Deck⁠(opens in a new tab or window) from Rami Al-Karmi⁠(opens in a new tab or window)

Foursquare was founded back in 2009 and after a couple of quiet years really made a bang.

Designed to connect individuals and groups of people with suitable retailers in their vicinity, this deck secured the founding group a nice bundle of cash to kickstart it (an astute investment, given the company’s now reportedly worth almost $26 billion).

Choose a soothing theme for your presentation—like the Green Modern Creative Presentation⁠(opens in a new tab or window) template—so your audience is engaged.

Year:2014 Amount:$355,000,000 Investors:Benchmark, Goldman Sachs, T. Rowe Price (and others) Est. value:$16 billion (March, 2016)

First pitchdeck:WeWork pitch deck⁠(opens in a new tab or window) from Alexander Jarvis⁠(opens in a new tab or window) Launched in 2010, WeWork changes the way entrepreneurs and small business work. With dedicated, custom-built offices located all over the world, the company offers premium co-working experiences on monthly plans.

Get the look with the Black and White Building Architecture Presentation⁠(opens in a new tab or window) template.

Year:2012 Amount:$300,000 Investors:500 Startups, Gonzalo Ruiz, Plug and Play and Walter Kobylanski Est. value:Unknown

First pitchdeck:TouristEye - Personalizing The Travel Experience - 500 Startups⁠(opens in a new tab or window) from 500 Startups⁠(opens in a new tab or window)

“Plan your trip in seconds.” That’s the tagline for the touristeye, a web and mobile vacation planner that was acquired by Lonely Planet in 2013.

Predominately built for mobile, according to Tech Crunch, TouristEye allows users “to create a mobile-first app for building itineraries and collecting things to do while traveling in new cities.”

Adding a dash of color to a dark themed presentation can help make it more engaging and visually pleasing. Check out the Orange Lines Listing Presentation⁠(opens in a new tab or window) template.

Year:2012 Amount:Unknown Investors:Unknown Est. value:Unknown

First pitchdeck:task.ly pitch deck⁠(opens in a new tab or window) from Dmitry Gorshkov⁠(opens in a new tab or window)

Created as a task-management program back in 2009, unfortunately, task.ly is no longer in operation, but it’s interesting nonetheless to see the pitchdeck they used to raise funds in their initial seed.

Present confidently and efficiently with the Urban Retail Presentation⁠(opens in a new tab or window) template.

Year:2013 Amount:$16,500,000 Investors:Andreessen Horowitz Est. value:Unknown

First pitchdeck:Dwolla Startup Pitch Deck⁠(opens in a new tab or window) from Joseph Hsieh⁠(opens in a new tab or window)

Dwolla is an API that allows mainly financial institutions and applications to “facilitate bank transfers, manage customers, and instantly verify bank accounts”.

A $16.5 million funding round back in 2013 has made the company a leader in the $20 billion-plus fintech industry.

Pitchdecks can be both informative and entertaining. Get the look with the Colorful Abstract Painting Wide Presentation⁠(opens in a new tab or window) template.

Year:2007 Amount:$2,500,000 Investors:SV Angel, First Round, Marc Andreessen, and others Est. value:$1.2 billion (2014)

First pitchdeck:Appnexus Pitch Deck⁠(opens in a new tab or window) from Alexander Jarvis⁠(opens in a new tab or window) Appnexus is an advertising technology company, founded a decade ago, which enables advertisers to “acquire, engage and monetize their audiences.”

According to Wikipedia⁠(opens in a new tab or window), at its peak Appnexues transacts 45 billion ad buys every day.

White and Pink Minimal Floral Brand Guideline Presentation⁠(opens in a new tab or window)

Year:2013 Amount:$1,000,000 Investors:Chris Sacca, InnoSpring Seed Fund, 500 Startups, and others Est. value:Unknown

First pitchdeck:Chewse Pitch Deck⁠(opens in a new tab or window) from Benjamin Evans⁠(opens in a new tab or window)

“Meal Programs With Heart.” That’s the tagline for Chewse, which was founded in 2013 and is riding the wave of the customized, easy meal deliver industry.

What sets Chewse apart from a lot of the well-known companies in its wheelhouse is that it’s b2b, not b2c, meaning it services offices and businesses.

Get the look with the Biodiversity Presentation⁠(opens in a new tab or window) template.

Year:2009 Amount:$14,000,000 Investors:DAG Ventures Est. value:Unknown

First pitchdeck:Mint.com Pre-Launch Pitch Deck⁠(opens in a new tab or window) from Hiten Shah⁠(opens in a new tab or window)

Unlike Dwolla, which occupies the b2b fintech market, Mint occupies the world of personal fintech and “makes managing your personal finances a cinch.”

Mint provides budget management capabilities, credit score checks, investment tracking and advice, and financial security solutions.

Your expertise will shine through with the Cream and Teal Flower School Presentation⁠(opens in a new tab or window) template.

Year:2011 Amount:$545,000 Investors:Unknown Est. value:Unknown

First pitchdeck:Kibin⁠(opens in a new tab or window) from 500 Startups⁠(opens in a new tab or window)

Kibin may not be soaring to the heights of some of the other companies mentioned in this article (it’s no YouTube), but it still plays an important role in the world we live in.

When you think Kibin, think a manual version of Grammarly, with the team offering human essay editing services, essay examples, and thesis builders.

Wow your audience with your pitchdeck with the Orange and Cream Music Business Presentation⁠(opens in a new tab or window) template.

Hopefully, we’ve inspired you to take your ideas and turn them into something the whole world can enjoy. Remember, if you haven’t already, go back and click any of the pitch decks⁠(opens in a new tab or window) that can be customized in Canva to get your next idea rolling.

Check out Slide Carnival’s library of startup presentation templates⁠(opens in a new tab or window). Customize them to create compelling PowerPoint pitch decks and eye-catching Google Slides presentations and edit them in Canva. Slide Carnival's versatile templates make it easy to turn your creative vision into the perfect pitch deck.