10 Apr 2025
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Mike Boland
AWE Talks: 10 Tips for Pitching Investors
AWE USA 2024
Welcome back to AWE Talks, our series that revisits the best AWE conference sessions. With AWE USA 2025 just around the corner, we're getting the juices flowing with the most impactful and evergreen talks of the past year.
We continue the action this week with a look at best practices in pitching VCs on your XR startup. What are top considerations and mistakes to avoid? Battle-tested Healium tells us how they raised funds against all odds.
See the summarized takeaways below, along with the full session video. Stay tuned for more video highlights each week and check out the full library of conference sessions on AWE’s YouTube Channel.
Speakers
Sarah Hill, Healium
Speakers
Sarah Hill, Healium
Key Takeaways & Analysis
– It's no secret that we're in a challenged funding environment for XR startups
– The hangover from the Covid software boom has made venture funding scarce.
– XR meanwhile has its own cycle to worry about – the fallout from metaverse mania.
– Altogether, the leverage and balance of power has shifted from startups to investors.
– Despite this, Healium has successfully raised venture funding, and learned a lot from it.
– One piece of advice at the onset is to decide if you even need venture funding.
– There are other options, such as bootstrapping... it all depends on your unit economics.
– If you go the VC route, do your homework. Align yourself with the right investor thesis.
– In other words, don't waste time cold-calling VCs who aren't focused on your sector.
– Also don't rule out family offices, as they have some advantages in the current environment.
– Once you find the right targets, make sure you're prepared. Have a professional pitch deck.
– That includes having all of your unit economics laid out – everything from CAC to EBITDA.
– If you don't know what those terms mean, you should have a CFO, even if they're fractional.
– Also be on the lookout for predatory VCs or bad actors. There are several signs to look for.
– For example, don't let VCs split up their funding checks into tranches at the last minute.
– It's also important to learn how to process and treat rejections from VCs.
– That includes mental conditioning (it can be mentally tough), and turn it into valuable learnings.
– Also stay in touch with VCs that rejected you. NOs can sometimes turn into YESs at a later date.
– That just scratches the surface of the many do's and don'ts, with more color in the video below...
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