A powerful pitch deck can be the difference between “We’ll be in touch” and “When can we wire the funds?” For startup founders, creating a compelling deck means blending storytelling, design, and data into one fluid narrative. But if you’re not a designer or presentation pro, don’t worry—there’s a growing ecosystem of tools built to help you craft investor-ready decks with clarity and polish.
Here are helpful digital tools (plus a strategic FAQ) that give startup founders a creative edge when building their next pitch deck.
1. Beautiful.ai: Design That Adapts to You
If you’ve ever struggled with slide layout, Beautiful.ai may be your new best friend. Its smart templates adjust automatically as you add content, helping you keep a consistent visual flow across your entire deck. This eliminates the guesswork of slide alignment and visual hierarchy.
The tool also includes data visualization widgets, brand theme controls, and collaboration features—making it great for early-stage teams without a dedicated designer. You can export to PowerPoint or present directly from the platform.
Tip: Use the “Timeline” and “Milestones” slide types to highlight traction and product evolution. These visual cues stick with investors far longer than bullet points.
2. Pitch: Real-Time Collaboration Meets Presentation Polish
Pitch has quickly become a favorite for startup teams building investor decks together. It combines sleek design tools with Notion-style collaboration—meaning team members can comment, co-edit, and version slides in real-time.
It also integrates with analytics and lets you track viewer engagement, which is a huge advantage when sending your deck via email. Pitch’s templates are modern and pitch-specific, saving you hours of formatting time.
Smart move: Use versioning features to create different decks for VC, angel, or accelerator audiences—each tailored to what they care about most.
3. Figma: Design Freedom Without PowerPoint Constraints
Figma is not your average slide tool—it’s a full design platform. But that’s exactly why startups use it to build standout pitch decks. If you want pixel-perfect control, custom animations, or product mockups integrated into your deck, Figma gives you full creative flexibility.
Many founders use Figma to design a deck layout, then export slides as images or PDFs. With templates available through the Figma community, you don’t have to start from scratch.
Pro tip: Collaborate with your UI/UX team to create a consistent visual identity across both your product and pitch materials.
4. SlidesCarnival: Template Goldmine for Fast Execution
Need something functional, attractive, and fast? SlidesCarnival offers hundreds of free pitch deck templates optimized for Google Slides and PowerPoint. What makes it useful isn’t just the volume of options, but the quality: most templates come with built-in icon sets, charts, and usage tips.
Startups on tight deadlines use SlidesCarnival to jumpstart the visual structure of their decks, then customize from there. It’s especially helpful for bootstrapped teams that need professional polish without the premium price tag.
Best use: Combine SlidesCarnival templates with tools like Pitch or Beautiful.ai to merge structure with polish.
5. Visme: Data Visualization Meets Presentation Builder
Visme blends design and data beautifully. It’s ideal for founders who want to go beyond bar charts and bring their metrics to life. You can create visual dashboards, animated slides, and fully branded pitch decks, all in-browser.
Its standout feature is the infographic builder (see the FAQ below), which makes it easy to distill complex numbers into engaging visuals investors can actually remember.
Use case: Build your TAM/SAM/SOM market size slide as a hybrid infographic to help non-technical investors grasp your market opportunity at a glance.
⚡FAQ: Infographic Design Tips for Compelling Pitch Decks
Great infographic design isn’t just decoration—it’s a storytelling tool. Founders often use infographics to communicate traction, team dynamics, business models, or market dynamics. Here are some common questions and answers for startup founders working on pitch deck visuals:
Q1: What kind of data works best in infographic format?
Infographics work best for summarizing high-impact metrics: market sizes, customer journey flows, revenue growth, or team structures. If the data tells a story with contrast or scale—like “growth over time” or “how we outperform competitors”—it’s a great candidate for infographic treatment.
Q2: How do I keep my infographic from looking cluttered?
Start by limiting each infographic to a single idea. Use clean icons, minimal text, and consistent spacing. Avoid using more than three colors unless it serves a specific function (like segmenting a customer base). Tools like Visme and Piktochart offer layout guidance that helps reduce visual noise.
Q3: What’s a good tool for beginners to design infographics?
If you want to create a professional-looking infographic quickly, Adobe Express is a solid choice. It includes editable templates, data widgets, and drag-and-drop visuals that are perfect for pitch decks. You can export to high-res formats suitable for slides or one-pagers.
Q4: Should my infographic match my brand design?
Absolutely. Use the same fonts, color palette, and logo treatments that appear in the rest of your deck. A cohesive visual identity signals professionalism and attention to detail. Many tools like Adobe Express and Visme let you set brand kits to apply styles consistently across your materials.
Q5: Can I animate infographics for live presentations?
Yes—tools like Visme and Figma allow you to add subtle animations to infographic elements. This can be effective for live investor pitches when you want to guide attention step-by-step. But keep it simple. Avoid anything too flashy that distracts from the message itself.
A compelling pitch deck isn’t just about what you say—it’s about how clearly and confidently you say it. These tools won’t just help you “look better”—they’ll help you think better, structure your story, and present your startup in a way that gets remembered. Whether you’re raising your first $50K or your next $5M, your deck deserves every advantage.
