How much you're raising, what for, and what this round will achieve.
Last updated: 2025-10-08
What is the ask slide?
The ask slide is where you stop storytelling and start doing business. It's the part of the pitch where you make a clear request: how much money you're raising, what you'll do with it, and what that will achieve.
This is the signal investors use to assess whether your plan is focused, reasonable, and aligned with your stage.
What investors look for
Pitchkit evaluates your ask slide using four key criteria:
Clear funding amount - Be specific about how much you are raising (or already raised).
Specific use of funds - How will the money be spent: acquisition, team, product, runway?
Funding terms - Are you raising on a SAFE, equity round, or something else?
Key milestones - What will this funding help you achieve: product, traction, revenue, next round?
If your ask is vague, scattered, or missing core details, investors will assume you're not ready to raise.
Good vs. bad examples
✅Strong
"Raising €800K SAFE to scale GTM and ship v2. Runway: 18 months. Targets: €25K MRR, 150 customers, seed round Q2 next year."
"Pre-seed €500K equity, mostly committed. Hiring 3 engineers, finalizing pilot with 3 industrial partners."
❌Weak
"Looking to raise something between €500K and €1.5M, depending on interest."
"Need money to build the MVP and maybe market later."
"Open to discuss structure. Haven't thought about milestones yet."
Vagueness kills momentum. Precision builds trust.
Common mistakes
No milestone linkage: What will you achieve with the raise?
Over- or under-raising: €2M on a napkin pitch = instant red flag.
No terms clarity: Investors want to know if it's SAFE, priced, or convertible.
Best practices
Use round logic: Tie amount to what this round should achieve (e.g. pre-seed = MVP + first users).
Explain use of funds in plain terms: Not just "grow the team." Be specific: 2 engineers, 1 growth hire.
Set milestone targets: Product shipped, MRR hit, retention validated, whatever drives the next round or profitability.
Think of your ask as a contract preview. It should read like you know what you're doing.
How Pitchkit helps
Pitchkit's ask slide builder walks you through:
Clarifying your raise logic and size
Structuring a compelling use-of-funds plan
Writing milestone targets investors care about
It also flags fuzzy language, oversized asks, and missing signals, so your deck doesn't fall flat.