How to Make a Proptech Pitch Deck [A Guide]
- Ink Narrates | The Presentation Design Agency
- Jan 13
- 7 min read
Updated: 6 days ago
Heather, one of our clients, asked a sharp question while we were building her Proptech pitch deck:
“How do I make investors actually care about my idea in the first five slides?”
Our Creative Director replied, without blinking,
“You show them something that makes their job easier or their wallet fatter — ideally both.”
We’re a presentation design agency. We work on dozens of Proptech pitch decks every year — from seed-stage startups trying to disrupt legacy real estate systems to Series B players looking to scale data-led property operations. And in the middle of all these decks, we’ve noticed one problem that refuses to go away:
Most founders forget their pitch deck is not a product demo. It’s a sales story.
So in this guide, we’ll walk you through how to build a Proptech pitch deck that feels less like a brochure and more like an invitation to something investors actually want to be part of.
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 You Need to Rethink Your Proptech Pitch Deck
Proptech is crowded. Every founder is claiming to “disrupt real estate” or “digitize the built environment.”
The problem? Investors have heard it all before. They’ve seen decks that open with dramatic statements like “The real estate industry is broken” — then proceed to say nothing specific, nothing new, and nothing investable.
If you’re in Proptech, you’re already competing in one of the most complex and slow-moving industries on the planet. Real estate is resistant to change. Decision cycles are long. And convincing people to shift from legacy systems to your product isn't just about tech — it’s about trust.
Your pitch deck needs to make that trust obvious.
And here’s where most Proptech decks fall flat: they lean too hard into product specs, forget the human behavior side of real estate, and ignore what investors are actually looking for — signs of market readiness, commercial traction, and a team that knows how to sell to an industry that hates being sold to.
A good Proptech pitch deck doesn’t just explain what you’re building. It makes a compelling case for why now, why this team, and why this market is ready to adopt it.
We’re talking less jargon, more clarity. Less hand-waving, more proof.
Investors don’t need to be educated on how big the real estate market is. They need to be shown why your solution can actually wedge its way into it.
So now that we’ve addressed the why, let’s talk about the how.
How to Make a Proptech Pitch Deck
We’ve built pitch decks for Proptech startups targeting everything from smart leasing and energy optimization to AI-powered property valuations. Some raised millions. Some fizzled out. The difference wasn’t the idea. It was how that idea was framed.
Let’s break down how you should approach building your Proptech pitch deck — piece by piece.
1. Start with a real-world trigger, not a textbook problem
If your first slide says, “Real estate is a $3.8 trillion industry,” congratulations — you’ve just told investors something they already know. And worse, you’ve wasted prime real estate (pun intended) on a Google fact instead of showing why your idea matters now.
Start instead with a concrete trigger. A shift, a friction, a regulation, or a behavior that’s changed in the last few years. For example:
“Since COVID, 40% of commercial real estate leases are now short-term — yet tenant management systems are still designed for 10-year contracts.”
“Stricter ESG laws across Europe are forcing developers to rethink building performance — but no one’s offering them a plug-and-play way to do it.”
Start with that kind of specific tension. Make it real, make it current, and make it obvious why someone should care.
2. Frame your solution in plain English, not platform language
Your deck is not a product demo. It’s not the time to rattle off that your tool “leverages blockchain-backed smart contracts and federated AI layers to optimize asset liquidity.”
That may impress your product team, but it leaves investors cold.
Instead, explain the outcome.
“We help landlords automate rent collection and cut payment delays by 90% — no software training needed.”
“We give tenants a 3-click way to report building issues that actually get fixed.”
Proptech often lives in a gray area between B2B SaaS and real-world operations. So clarity matters. If someone needs a glossary to understand what you’re doing, your deck has already lost its edge.
3. Prove that people want it — not just that you can build it
Tech is easy. Adoption is hard. This is especially true in Proptech.
Investors have seen too many founders with beautiful tools no one in real estate actually uses. Your job is to show that the industry not only needs your product but is already moving toward it.
This can come in different forms:
A pilot with a mid-sized developer
A paid beta with five property managers
A signed LOI with a Proptech VC’s portfolio company
Even better? Show the pain of not using your product. What’s the manual workaround people are stuck with today? Show screenshots. Quote users. Make the problem unavoidable.
4. Build a market slide that shows you know where the money is
If your market slide just says “$3.8T real estate industry,” that’s lazy. Zoom in.
What’s your actual addressable market? Who’s paying for your product, and how much are they willing to spend?
If you’re selling to residential landlords with fewer than 10 units, you’re not in the same market as someone selling ESG compliance software to institutional developers. Be precise. Investors need to know that you know the game you're playing.
Bonus tip: show what budgets your product comes out of. If your product saves operational costs, say that. If it helps boost occupancy or retention, it ties to revenue. The more you align with their money logic, the easier it is for them to see ROI.
5. Explain your go-to-market like you’ve already tested it
No one believes a “bottom-up freemium model” for real estate unless you’ve already done it. Same goes for “direct sales to property owners” unless you show traction.
Explain how you're getting in the door. Who are your early adopters? What’s the sales cycle like? What kind of lead times are you seeing?
Even if you’re still pre-launch, show signals:
“We got 52 qualified leads from a booth at CREtech.”
“Our founder’s LinkedIn post brought in 100 demo requests from property managers.”
The goal is to make investors believe that not only is your market real, but you have a clear path to enter it.
6. Highlight your team with context, not just resumes
Proptech needs domain insight. It’s not enough to say, “We’re ex-Google engineers.” That’s great for building things. But have you sold into real estate? Do you know how procurement works in this space?
Use your team slide to close the trust gap:
“Our co-founder previously built tenant portals for Greystar.”
“Our CTO scaled a smart-building system used in 12M sq ft across the US.”
That kind of credibility is what makes investors lean in.
And if you don’t have deep real estate DNA in-house? Then show who’s advising you. Put recognizable names with relevant experience front and center.
7. Use your traction slide to build momentum, not just brag
This is one of the most misunderstood slides in any Proptech pitch deck. Founders often dump everything they’ve achieved into one list — pilot launches, media mentions, partnerships, growth charts — without weaving it into a story.
Your traction should tell investors one thing: this train is already moving.
Structure it like this:
A quick summary: “In the past 6 months, we’ve gone from idea to paying customers.”
Key milestones in order: Launched MVP > Got 3 beta clients > Converted 2 to paid > Doubled monthly usage
Visual proof: use charts if the numbers show a trend, or logos if the names are credible
Keep it honest. No fluff, no inflated metrics. Real traction, even small, beats big promises.
8. Keep your financials simple, grounded, and sane
No one expects your 5-year financial projections to be accurate. But they do expect them to make sense.
Stick to a 3-year projection. Show revenue, gross margin, and burn. More importantly, connect the dots between what you’re raising and what it unlocks:
“This round helps us get to $1M ARR by onboarding 200 buildings in 18 months.”
“With $1.5M, we can hire a sales lead, run pilots in 3 cities, and hit breakeven by year 3.”
You’re not just showing numbers. You’re showing that you know how to turn money into motion.
9. Your “Ask” slide is not just about the amount
The last slide of your deck is not where you casually mention you’re raising “$2M for growth.” It’s where you control the conversation.
Be specific.
How much are you raising?
What stage is the round in?
How much is already committed?
What will the money be used for?
And if you’re looking for more than just money — intros, real estate partners, strategic hires — say so.
Example:
“Raising $1.8M Seed (800K committed) to scale onboarding + close 15 new B2B clients. Also looking to connect with operators in the co-living space.”
The more clarity you bring, the faster investors can decide if you’re a fit for them.
Building a Proptech pitch deck that stands out isn't about design tricks or throwing more buzzwords onto a slide. It’s about showing that you understand the market’s friction, that your solution fits into how the industry actually works, and that you’ve already begun moving the pieces into place.
That’s where good storytelling meets real business sense. And in our experience, that's what gets funded.
Example of a Proptech Pitch Deck,
This is a standout example of a PropTech pitch deck done right. It blends sharp storytelling with clean, effective design from the first slide to the last.
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.