Growth Warrior Capital (GWC), an early stage venture capital firm investing in technology companies at the seed and Series A stages, today announced the launch of Elevo, an AI-powered pitch deck builder set to transform the fundraising and pitching process. The AI pitch deck assistant was previously tested by students and GWC’s portfolio companies, and racked up a waitlist of four months. Driven by successful pitches and crafted with insights from investors, Elevo is a free tool for first-time founders who may be intimidated by the fundraising process and seek pitch development guidance informed by expert investors. Elevo—which is an AWS Activate Provider—is the first product in GWC’s forthcoming suite of resources to support further growth and scalability for its founders, subsequently raising the standard of what VC firms provide to their portfolio companies and the broader ecosystem.
More than 5 million businesses were created in 2022, but only 4% of startups received venture capital funding. While funding has slowed down, investors spent $100 billion more in 2022 compared to 2020. The issue is not lack of capital but lack of accessible, educational technology to develop proper pitch materials and investor introductions. Elevo aims to create a seamless pipeline of viable pitch decks for investors by helping first-time founders build field-tested, viable tools to pitch their companies.
Founders using Elevo will answer a series of straightforward yet specific questions before instantaneously generating a pitch deck that succinctly synthesizes the company’s mission, goals, funding needs and future plans. Elevo is designed to increase the probability that a founder gets a first meeting with an investor. Removing the distracting branding and irrelevant metrics, the tool distills only the most crucial information to help founders better tell their story. Elevo simultaneously educates first-time, early-stage founders on how to master pitch deck building by providing hints, tips and suggestions throughout the experience via its “Elevate” feature. In addition to these features, Elevo also has a progress bar so founders know where they stand on their deck development, two pitch deck templates to choose from and an in-slide editor to make changes to their decks seamlessly as they are created. Once they are completed, the generated pitch decks are available for PDF download.
GWC understands the burden and deterrent technology costs can cause for a founder. In a joint effort with AWS, Elevo will provide $5K in AWS credits to qualified founders to boost their business infrastructure as part of Elevo’s exclusive program. To redeem the credits, founders must complete pitch decks via Elevo that get reviewed by at least 10 investors or GWC’s panel of experts. Founders utilizing Elevo to build their pitch decks also have the option to access its exclusive Elevo Beta, where they can test forthcoming features and connect with other founders.
“Our mission is not only to fund founders, but back them by reducing movable barriers so that more founders can build great companies,” said Promise Phelon, Founder and Managing Partner at Growth Warrior Capital. “Elevo is our way of giving back to the founder ecosystem and we’re proud to share our first-hand expertise stemming from raising our own funds and reviewing thousands of decks. Elevo is changing how founders allocate their time, money and energy so they can focus more on what’s most important—scaling their businesses—all while educating them on how to appeal to the competitive investment landscape efficiently and effectively.”
“Our AI solution helps founders address their fundraising needs quickly and creatively at no cost,” said Ashley Pilipiszyn, Venture Partner, AI at Growth Warrior Capital. “With a curated experience that accelerates the iterative feedback cycle, Elevo helps founders who don’t know where to start when it comes to compiling a pitch deck and enables them to enter an investor meeting with a compelling message. As AI will continue to be a strong catalyst in the tech sector in 2024, we’re leading the efforts in using it to revolutionize how founders get funding.”
Elevo is the first step in revolutionizing the fundraising process to define what information is necessary for investors, remove what is not and improve the quality of pitches so founders have the potential to more easily secure high-quality deals on a faster timetable. This news comes shortly after GWC hosted its inaugural Warrior Summit event, an Austin-based conference which platformed ambitious founders, CEOs, and venture capitalists to network and build relationships with reputable leaders in the space. The firm also recently announced an investment from Amazon Catalytic Capital, the appointment of Rachel Baruch, formerly of Anthos Capital, to join the team as Principal, and the promotion of Alexa Payton, formerly Chief of Staff, to Head of Investor Relations. GWC intends to release new updates and features for Elevo in the coming months to further redefine the investor-founder relationship.
To learn more about Growth Warrior Capital, please visit gwc.vc.
To build a pitch deck using Elevo, please visit growthwarriorcapital.com/elevo.
For visual assets, founder bios and headshots, please access the media kit here.
ABOUT GROWTH WARRIOR CAPITAL
Growth Warrior Capital (GWC) is a Seed and Series A venture capital firm founded by seasoned entrepreneur and operator Promise Phelon. Founded in 2021, the firm invests in dangerous technology companies led by diverse and female founders. With a proven track record of accelerating growth for its portfolio companies, GWC brings deep tech operator expertise and delivers outsized returns. For more information, please visit gwc.vc.
View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20231207960503/en/