How to Create a Pitch Deck for an App [Mobile App Pitch Deck]
- Ink Narrates | The Presentation Design Agency
- Aug 14
- 7 min read
When we were creating a mobile app pitch deck for our client Rebecca, she asked us a question that made our Creative Director smile.
She said,
“What’s the one thing investors really want to see in a pitch deck?”
Without skipping a beat, he replied,
“How your app will make them money.”
As a presentation design agency, we work on many mobile app pitch decks throughout the year and in the process we’ve noticed one common challenge: founders often try to say too much without saying the one thing that matters most.
So in this blog, we’ll show you how to build a pitch deck that grabs attention, tells your story, and gets investors to lean in.
In case you didn't know, we specialize in only one thing: making presentations. We can help you by designing your slides and writing your content too.
Why Investors Judge You by Your Mobile App Pitch Deck First
Building an app is the easy part. Getting someone to fund it is the real game. The app store is flooded with millions of apps, most of which never cross a thousand downloads. Investors know this. That’s why they’re not buying into just your product, they’re buying into your plan to make it stand out in an ocean of icons.
A mobile app pitch deck isn’t just a presentation, it’s the proof that you’ve thought beyond the code. It’s where you show that you understand your target users so well you can almost predict their behavior. That you’ve mapped out how to acquire them, how to keep them, and how to turn that engagement into revenue.
We’ve seen promising app founders lose investor interest simply because their pitch deck felt like a product tour instead of a business case. A deck filled with screenshots and feature lists might impress your dev team, but it doesn’t tell investors how this app becomes the next big thing.
Your mobile app pitch deck is where you turn a download button into a dollar sign in the investor’s mind. That’s the story they need to see before they even think about writing a check.
How to Create a Pitch Deck for an App that Gets Investors Leaning In
Let’s be honest. Most app pitch decks look the same. A title slide with a fancy logo, a “problem” slide that could apply to fifty other apps, a bunch of screenshots, and a closing slide that says “Join us on our journey.” Investors see hundreds of these every year. You don’t want yours to be one more pretty slideshow that gets forgotten in their inbox.
A mobile app pitch deck should do one thing extremely well — sell the business behind the app. You’re not trying to win a design award here. You’re trying to convince someone that if they put their money into your app, it will multiply.
Here’s how we structure a mobile app pitch deck so it actually makes investors care.
1. Start with a Hook, Not a History Lesson
If the first thing you tell an investor is when you founded your company and who your co-founder’s cousin’s roommate is, you’ve already lost them. The first slide should be about them — their attention span, their curiosity, their reason to keep listening.
For a mobile app, the hook can be:
A hard-hitting stat that defines the market opportunity.
A short scenario showing a real pain point your app solves.
A question that makes them instantly picture the problem.
Example: Instead of “We started AppX in 2022 to revolutionize event planning,” say “72% of event attendees hate the ticketing process — we’re cutting that to 3 taps.”
That’s a hook. It’s specific, measurable, and immediately makes them want to know how.
2. Define the Problem Like You Own It
Every investor has heard “there’s a gap in the market” a thousand times. What makes you different is how deeply you understand that gap. For mobile apps, that means showing:
The current pain points users face.
Why existing solutions fail.
How big the audience is for this solution.
Here’s where you want to be visual. Use user quotes, quick screenshots of competitors, or even a short storyboard showing the frustration. Just remember — this is about their pain, not your product’s features yet.
3. Show Your Solution, But Keep it Simple
Now you introduce your app. The trick? Don’t turn it into a full product demo. Keep it high level:
One main sentence describing what your app does.
Three to four screenshots showing the most important features.
A focus on the benefits, not just the functionality.
If your app has a unique algorithm, integration, or user experience, mention it — but only if you can explain it in under 20 seconds without jargon.
Example: Instead of “Our app uses a proprietary ML-based clustering algorithm to optimize event recommendations,” say “Our app learns what you like and suggests events you’ll actually want to attend — no spam.”
4. Prove There’s a Market Worth Chasing
This is where most app founders get fluffy. They say “the market for fitness apps is worth $80 billion” and think it’s impressive. It’s not. Investors care about the specific market you’re targeting, not the entire global category.
Break it down:
Total Addressable Market (TAM) — the big number.
Serviceable Available Market (SAM) — the slice you can realistically target.
Serviceable Obtainable Market (SOM) — what you can get in the first 1–3 years.
For a mobile app pitch deck, this shows you’ve done your homework. Throw in credible sources and make the numbers look clean.
5. Show Your Business Model Clearly
If this slide is vague, you’re done. Investors want to know exactly how the app makes money and how soon. Lay it out:
Is it subscription-based?
Is it freemium with in-app purchases?
Is it ad-supported?
Is there a commission model?
Use actual numbers. “We’ll charge $5/month” is better than “We’ll have a subscription option.” If you’ve run a pilot or have early user data, show conversion rates or average revenue per user.
6. Map Out Your Go-to-Market Strategy
Here’s where most founders get lost. They either say “we’ll use social media ads” or they list twenty random tactics without focus. Investors want to see a plan that actually makes sense for a mobile app.
That means:
How you’ll acquire your first 1,000 users.
How you’ll keep them coming back.
How you’ll scale from there.
If you have partnerships, influencer deals, or app store optimization strategies, mention them. This slide should prove you can turn downloads into daily active users (DAU) and DAUs into paying customers.
7. Show Traction if You Have It
Nothing speaks louder than results. If your app is already live, this is where you show your metrics:
Number of downloads.
Monthly active users.
Retention rates.
Revenue so far.
Even if you’re pre-launch, you can show beta sign-ups, pilot results, or case studies from test markets. For mobile apps, retention is gold. If you can prove people keep using your app after 30 days, investors listen.
8. Highlight Your Competitive Advantage
The investor is thinking, “Why you and not someone else?” Don’t dodge that. Address it head-on:
What makes your app different from existing solutions?
Is it your technology? Your distribution channel? Your brand positioning?
Can it be easily copied? If not, why?
This is not a slide to throw shade at competitors. It’s about positioning. Show a clear chart or visual comparing your app to others on the things that matter most to your users.
9. Introduce Your Team the Right Way
Founders love to put long bios on this slide. Don’t. For a mobile app pitch deck, keep it to:
Names, photos, and titles.
One short sentence on why each person is the right fit for this role.
If your CTO has scaled apps before, say it. If your marketing lead has driven millions of installs for another app, lead with it. Investors back people more than they back products, so make them trust you.
10. Show the Financial Projections and Funding Ask
Here’s the money slide — literally. This is where you tell them:
How much you’re raising.
What you’ll use it for.
Your 3–5 year projections.
For mobile apps, break it down into development, marketing, team expansion, and other core areas. Keep the numbers realistic. Hockey-stick growth charts with no basis in data will kill credibility.
11. End with a Strong Closing Slide
Don’t fade out with “Thank you.” Your last slide should leave them with a clear reason to continue the conversation. That could be a memorable tagline, a big vision statement, or a single stat that captures the potential.
Example: “Our goal — 10 million engaged users by year three, and we’re already 5% of the way there.”
A Few Hard Truths We’ve Learned Building Mobile App Pitch Decks
If you can’t explain your app to a stranger in 15 seconds, you’re not ready.
Your UI is not your unique selling point — your business model is.
One strong data point beats ten vague claims.
Every slide should make them want the next one.
Your pitch deck is not your product manual — it’s the trailer, not the movie.
We’ve built enough mobile app pitch decks to know that what works is clarity, not complexity. If you can tell a tight, believable story about why this app will win, you’re ahead of 90% of founders who walk into that room.
Why Hire Us to Build your Presentation?
If you're reading this, you're probably working on a presentation right now. You could do it all yourself. But the reality is - that’s not going to give you the high-impact presentation you need. It’s a lot of guesswork, a lot of trial and error. And at the end of the day, you’ll be left with a presentation that’s “good enough,” not one that gets results. On the other hand, we’ve spent years crafting thousands of presentations, mastering both storytelling and design. Let us handle this for you, so you can focus on what you do best.