Attention VC Associates: How AI is Shaping the Future of Your Careers

The unfortunate truth for investors is that most inbound pitch decks are often irrelevant to their specific focus. Every venture capital (VC) firm, regardless of size, adheres to an investment thesis dictating their investment approach: market size, founder profile, targeted verticals, geographic areas, ownership stakes, funding round size, and check amounts. This framework is essential to how VC operates. If you send a pre-seed gaming monetization pitch to a growth-stage consumer tech fund, or a growth-stage developer tool presentation to an early-stage hardware investor, you are wasting everyone’s time.

Typically, the first line of defense against incoming decks consists of associates at a venture firm. However, DeckMatch suggests that this responsibility can now be partially handled by artificial intelligence (AI). The company has recently secured €1 million ($1.1 million) in funding to transition its technology from development to the deal flow arenas of VC firms worldwide.

“I believe much of the value generated comes from the categorical acceptance or rejection based on an investment thesis. This includes assessing market size and determining if the opportunity resonates with you as a VC. Is it offering something novel in the current landscape compared to other pitches?” explains Walid Mustapha, CTO at Oslo and co-founder of DeckMatch, in an interview. “Initially, we aim to provide 60% to 70% of the value an associate offers. Over time, we aspire to function as a true associate.”

DeckMatch's first phase involves converting the unstructured data within pitch decks into structured formats that align with VCs' specific filters. The firm has ambitious plans to go beyond the details provided in pitch decks by leveraging AI to estimate market size and growth, while also tapping into additional data sources for investment insights.

“If the deck represents one tile in the overall picture, what are the other tiles we can incorporate? The goal is to identify useful information from the web to form a complete image,” says Léo Gasteen, CEO of DeckMatch. “Our next step is to ensure this data seamlessly integrates into the CRM systems that VCs utilize. We’ve designed DeckMatch as an API-first solution.”

Currently, DeckMatch is in a closed beta phase with around 60 VC firms to validate its value proposition. The funding will be utilized to enhance its AI and machine learning capabilities, improve data analysis algorithms, and scale operations.

Starting with VC firms and pitch decks, the company has plans to innovate its technology for other sectors, such as recruitment and procurement.

“We envision a future where decision-making in venture capital and other fields becomes data-driven, freeing up more time for strategic, creative, and human-focused activities such as relationship building,” Gasteen explains. “The shift from manual processes to digital tools like Word and Excel has been the most transformative change in VC to date. Interestingly, VCs often champion change while appearing resistant to disruption in their own practices. We appreciate our early investors for backing us, which enables us to refine and scale our product effectively.”

The funding round was led by Alliance VC, with participation from Skyfall Ventures and various strategic angel investors.