What to Include In a Medical Device Investor Pitch

If your medical device company is at the point of looking for investors, your pitch deck is an important tool.

Attracting investors is often the final piece of the puzzle for getting your device to market and growing your company. Healthcare and MedTech in general are generating billions of dollars in investments, but you still have to work hard to attract those dollars to your company.

Part of attracting investors is putting together a solid pitch deck. You’ve usually got one shot to make the right impression with investors who are approached regularly, so what do you need to include to get their attention?

In this post, we’re covering the basics of a pitch deck for MedTech investors. Read on to find what you should include:

How to find medical device investors

Before you can pitch a potential investor, you obviously have to find them! Your networks have a huge role to play – one place to start is by looking for investors who specifically invest in the area you are developing for and find if you have any mutual connections. LinkedIn or other networking groups can be one way to get in front of the investor, but a warm introduction is even better if you can get it.

It’s important to know who you’re approaching so you can ensure that your device is the type of investment they prefer to look at before you make the approach. Some investors have a preferred stage and monetary range for their investments, so your best chance is to find those that invest in your stage and desired investment range.

We conducted a webinar recently with some seasoned MedTech investors, where they provided all sorts of advice on finding and getting in front of the right investors. You can watch that webinar here.

What to include in a medical device pitch deck

You’ve narrowed your potential investors down and you have the opportunity to pitch them. That means that your pitch deck now comes into play. Here are some of the most important aspects to include:

The problem you are solving (and for whom)

Every potential investor wants to know the business case for your new medical device. What is the key problem you are solving? How are you solving it? Who is the audience for your device?

You need to include your market research in your pitch deck to prove that you have a viable business case. Your research should answer critical questions for the investor and any interested parties, such as:

• Why is this medical device necessary?
• What is the unmet need this device will solve?
• How does it solve this better than or different from competing devices?
• Who is the end-user of the device?
• Who will purchase the device? (As this isn’t always the same person as the end-user)
• What is the size of the market?
• What is the state of your competition?

Weave a compelling story in

Weaving a story into your pitch can help to make it more compelling, as long as you’re still hitting the key practical points that investors need to know about. The area of medical devices can be quite emotive, especially as illness or injury can heavily impact the lives of your end-users. Everyone relates on some level because we all at the very least know someone who is affected by a medical condition.

Storytelling is a great device to capture imaginations and engage people on an emotional level. Within an investor pitch deck, sprinkle in elements of storytelling that help to tie your pitch together. Ideally, you’d base it on your end-user and the impacts on them.

Be clear on how your product solves the problem

What is the underlying innovation behind your product? How exactly will it solve the problem in a way that is better for your users? Show off the key magic behind your device. It might be that you’ve discovered an amazing new way to treat a chronic condition, or even that you’ve found a way to do it for significantly less cost than other solutions.

You need to be able to back up how your product is different with facts. Working prototypes are often a good way to get investor attention, even if it’s not an exact replica of your final product. Being able to show your device through visual aids is more compelling than simply describing them.

Include regulatory strategy

It’s not easy to get a new medical device onto the market. There are multiple regulatory hoops to jump through and it’s something you need to plan ahead for. Those who don’t have a clear regulatory strategy often find their path to market severely delayed when they have to make up for requirements that they missed early on.

For investors, it’s important to know that you’re aware of the requirements you need to meet and have a regulatory strategy in place. They’ll generally want to see a proposed timeline and will be looking for it to be realistic. Regulatory milestones can take some time, so make sure you’ve done your homework on them!

You should also be prepared to field questions with regard to your regulatory strategy. Seasoned MedTech investors are well aware that regulatory requirements can be one of the big roadblocks, especially for startups that don’t have prior experience in medical device regulations. You can expect that an astute investor may ask questions to clarify that you’ve covered all your bases.

(And if you need a strategy for connecting your device to the cloud while meeting requirements, be sure to take a look at Galen Data!).

Show your business model and marketing plan

What is your vision for the development of your startup? Investors want to know about your go-to-market strategy, your business model, and your marketing plan. How do you plan to grow your reach?

Pay attention to industry-specific milestones. For example in MedTech, that may include clinical trials and any other steps for regulatory clearance. How will you look after the interests of users and investors once the device is on the market? Post-market surveillance as well as plans for growing the company could be part of your pitch here.

How you will use investment money to create value

What exactly do you need investor money for? More specifically, how is that injection of funds going to create value? Depending on what phase you are in when you ask for investment, this is often about near-term milestones the funds will help your company to achieve.

If you try to show longer-term plans, such as projections to ramp up revenue two years out, this is often of less interest because it’s currently still a dream. You look more credible if you are clear about what the funds will help you achieve right now.

Sell your team

Show that you understand the MedTech market and have the right team behind you in terms of knowledge and innovation. Investors want to know that you have the expertise to get the job done. They’re looking for “why is this the right leadership team to take this forward?”

For many startups, this means bringing on trusted advisors who have the backing and experience to help see the device successfully to market. It’s often worth bringing those people onboard, not only to benefit from their invaluable advice but to show credibility to investors.

Final thoughts

This has been the basics of what to cover in an investor pitch for a medical device. It can also be helpful to research pitches that have been successful for other MedTech startups recently. This Business Insider post has a few recent examples.

When asked what makes a pitch compelling versus mediocre, a common answer from investors is that the best pitches have obviously done their homework on the investor they’re hoping to attract. They understand what is important to that investor and they incorporate that into their pitch.