admin
I haven’t seen a whole lot of agriculture tech startups submit their pitch decks for this sequence, so I used to be delighted to get one from Phospholutions, which just closed a $10 million round, bringing its complete funds raised to $32 million.
The crew initially mentioned they used the deck to lift a Sequence B spherical, which confused me, however upon studying the press data extra fastidiously, it appears they made a mistake. I might normally let individuals get away with this sort of stuff, however this deck is riddled with points that might have been averted by merely paying extra consideration to element.
We’re in search of extra distinctive pitch decks to tear down, so if you wish to submit your personal, here’s how you can do that.
Slides on this deck
Components of Phospholutions’ deck are fairly closely redacted, which makes it onerous to get the complete image, however there’s nonetheless lots to get into.
- Cowl slide
- Downside slide
- Market context slide
- Industrial alternative slide
- Resolution slide
- Advantages slide
- Product slide
- Sustainability advantages slide
- Competitors slide
- Worth proposition slide
- Aggressive value comparability slide
- Margins slide (redacted)
- Go-to-market slide
- Funding historical past slide
- Quick-term aims slide (redacted)
- 5-year forecast (redacted)
- Sequence B use of proceeds (redacted)
- Workforce slide
- Present traders slide
- Abstract slide
- Closing slide
Three issues to like
Phospholutions’ pitch deck is a charming showcase of innovation and strategic perception, embodying the essence of an efficient pitch. It’s a harmonious mix of compelling storytelling, clear worth propositions and persuasive knowledge factors that collectively create a compelling narrative.
To P or to not P
[Side 2] Readability proper out the gate. Picture Credit: Phospholutions
I really like how the title will get proper to the guts of issues. “World P Use is Inefficient & Unsustainable” is all we needed to say, actually.
Buyers who’re conversant in ag tech most likely know this properly — the market has a couple of incumbents which have executed properly through the years, and if Phospholutions has an revolutionary tackle this drawback, it’ll be an apparent funding to say sure to.
I just like the simplicity of the graphics. I like that the corporate hints on the impression of the issues (“decreasing profitability for farmers” and “inefficient use degrades our waterways”) along with mentioning the issues themselves. All superb storytelling factors.
The underside line, “Growers want extra dependable options . . .” suggests a solution-oriented method and communicates what must be executed. On condition that it is a pitch deck, it’s apparent what’s about to occur subsequent.
There’s fairly a bit of information on this slide, however I like how every level leads logically to the following, making a narrative move that helps lead the attention and prompts the reader to remain engaged. It’s additionally scannable, so you’ll be able to shortly take up the content material, too. Very intelligent.
A few small quibbles: I do know that P stands for phosphorus, however the author in me retains stumbling over abbreviations that aren’t defined. Additionally there’s no scarcity of room on this slide, so whereas after all GHG stands for greenhouse gases, you’ll be able to afford to spell it out. And “~1.7MT CO2 eq / MT P2O5” is a whole lot of alphabet soup to throw on an early slide.
I’ll get off my soapbox now, however consideration to element issues!
Contextualizing the close to and medium time period
I hardly ever see startups do that, which is a disgrace, as a result of it helps construct narratives very properly:
[Slide 3] “What occurs if we don’t deal with this drawback.” Picture Credit: Phospholutions
The market alternative slide continues the place the issue slide leaves off. Once more, there’s a lot of textual content right here, nevertheless it works. The details are made with graphics, and issues are additional damaged down and backed by claims with just a bit trace of disaster.
Segmenting the content material into the “As we speak,” “Quick Time period,” and “Lengthy Time period” buckets lets the reader perceive how the market dynamics will change over time. It’s good storytelling, nevertheless it additionally does one thing extra necessary: It means that the founders have an eye fixed on the long run and are skating towards the place the puck goes slightly than the place it’s. Buyers prefer to see founders who’ve an eye fixed on the long run.
The opposite storytelling win right here is that whereas it’s not express on this slide, it units the stage for taking motion: Motion that Phospholutions is positioned to offer, after all.
Actual impression
The deck spends a bit an excessive amount of time on the product, for my part. However the flip facet is that it will get a whole lot of issues extraordinarily proper. This slide, particularly, does a whole lot of the heavy lifting:
[Slide 7] Backed by knowledge. Yummy. Picture Credit: Phospholutions
Phospholutions’ RhizoSorb is costlier than the options and the deck addresses that in two methods: by exhibiting that the product is more practical, and subsequently, it’s important to use much less to get superior yields. The deck spends a whole lot of time on this level. I’m assuming that’s the results of the crew getting a whole lot of pushback on the pricing.
The factor I like about this set of slides, nonetheless, is that it actually goes deep into the confirmed efficacy. If an investor asks for extra data, there is a lot of it.
In the remainder of this teardown, we’ll check out three issues Phospholutions might have improved or executed in a different way, together with its full pitch deck!
