Slide 1 — The Problem
Open with the pain. Investors need to feel the problem before they care about your solution. Be specific and make it real.
Describe the pain in one or two sentences. Avoid jargon. Would a non-expert understand and feel this problem?
Small businesses in Saudi Arabia lose an average of 12 hours per week managing invoices and payments manually across WhatsApp, Excel, and paper receipts — causing late payments, cash flow gaps, and accounting errors that cost them thousands per year.
Name the specific person or business type. Include a rough number if you can — how many people face this?
Over 800,000 micro and small businesses in the GCC with 1–20 employees who do not use formal accounting software — predominantly in retail, food, services, and contracting.
What workarounds exist today? Why are they inadequate? This sets up your solution perfectly.
They rely on WhatsApp voice notes, handwritten notebooks, and basic Excel sheets. Existing solutions like QuickBooks are too complex, English-only, and designed for Western markets with different tax and invoicing requirements.
Slide 2 — The Solution
Show your answer to the problem. Keep it crisp. The best solutions sound almost obvious in hindsight.
The "elevator pitch" of your product. Avoid tech buzzwords. If your grandmother can't understand it, simplify it.
Hisab is an Arabic-first mobile invoicing and cash flow app that lets small business owners create, send, and track invoices in under 60 seconds — with automatic payment reminders and a real-time dashboard.
Walk through the user experience in 3 simple steps. Think: "First they do X, then Y, then Z." Keep each step to one sentence.
1. Business owner creates an invoice in Arabic in 30 seconds by selecting items from a pre-built catalog. 2. Invoice is sent via WhatsApp or SMS with a payment link. 3. Owner receives payment notification and the dashboard updates automatically — no manual entry needed.
Your unique edge. This could be design, language, price, integrations, or a core technology advantage. Be honest — if it's not truly different, investors will find out.
Built specifically for Arabic-speaking markets with RTL design, ZATCA VAT compliance baked in, and WhatsApp-native sharing — features that global tools don't offer and that local competitors have not yet combined.
Slide 3 — Market Opportunity
Show investors the size of the prize. Use TAM, SAM, and SOM. Numbers must be defensible — don't just multiply the world population by $10.
The total global market for the problem you're solving. Include the dollar value and source. TAM should be large but realistic.
Global SMB accounting software market: $15.6B in 2024, growing at 8.5% CAGR (Source: Grand View Research). MENA digital payments market: $3.2B growing to $7.6B by 2028.
The portion of TAM you can realistically reach with your current product and distribution. Narrow by geography, segment, or channel.
GCC small business invoicing and cash management segment: ~800,000 businesses spending an average of $600/year on financial tools = $480M SAM.
What you can realistically capture in 3–5 years. Based on your growth plan, team, and funding. Typically 1–5% of SAM for early-stage.
Target: 40,000 paying businesses by Year 3 at $30/month average = $14.4M ARR. This represents ~8% of the Saudi SMB segment which is our primary launch market.
What macro trends are making this a "why now" moment? Regulation changes, technology shifts, behavior changes?
Saudi Vision 2030 is pushing SMB digitization; ZATCA e-invoicing mandate now requires all businesses to issue digital invoices; smartphone penetration in KSA is 97%; fintech investment in MENA hit $2.5B in 2023.
Slide 4 — Product
Show what you've built. Investors want to see a real product, not just a concept. Describe the key features and the current stage of development.
Focus on the features that directly solve the problem — not every feature you've ever thought of. Each feature should map to a user pain point.
1. Instant Arabic invoice creation with item catalog and tax auto-calculation. 2. WhatsApp & SMS payment links with Mada/Visa/KNET support. 3. Smart payment reminders sent automatically at 3, 7, and 14 days overdue. 4. Real-time cash flow dashboard with receivables aging report.
Be honest: idea, prototype, MVP, beta, live product, scaling? If live, when did you launch?
Live product — launched in beta in March 2024. Currently v1.4 with iOS and Android apps available on the App Store and Google Play. Web dashboard launched in June 2024.
Do you have any IP, patents, proprietary data, or technical moat? If not, describe what makes your product hard to replicate quickly.
Proprietary ZATCA compliance engine that auto-generates QR-coded e-invoices in the required XML format — a technical capability that has taken us 8 months to build and certify with ZATCA directly.
What are the 2–3 most important features or milestones you plan to ship next? Connect them to growth or retention goals.
Q1: Payroll module for micro businesses. Q2: Bank reconciliation integration with Saudi banks. Q3: AI-powered cash flow forecasting. Q4: UAE expansion with UAE VAT compliance.
Slide 5 — Traction
This is often the most important slide for early-stage investors. Show evidence that the market wants what you're building. Numbers beat words every time.
Include the most impressive numbers you have: MAU, paying customers, ARR, MoM growth, transaction volume, retention rate. Be specific with dates.
3,200 registered businesses as of October 2024. 820 paying customers ($29/mo average). $285K ARR. 18% MoM revenue growth over last 6 months. 87% monthly retention. $2.1M in invoices processed through the platform.
Name any recognizable customers, enterprise pilots, or strategic partnerships. Even one strong logo builds credibility.
Pilot with Noon Food for their vendor invoicing (500+ vendors onboarded). Partnership with Riyad Bank to offer Hisab as a co-branded product to their SMB banking customers. Featured in Arab News and Forbes Middle East.
Any third-party validation helps. YC, Flat6Labs, KAUST BIC, MIT Enterprise Forum, awards, grants, or media coverage all signal legitimacy.
Flat6Labs Cairo alumni (Cohort 14). Winner, Saudi Fintech Award 2024 — Best SMB Solution. $150K grant from SMEA (Small & Medium Enterprises General Authority). 12 NPS score of 72.
Slide 6 — Team
Investors bet on people first, ideas second. Show why your team is uniquely qualified to win this market. Highlight relevant experience, domain expertise, and any unfair advantages.
For each founder: name, title, and the 1–2 most relevant experiences that make them right for this specific company. Include any prior exits, domain expertise, or unfair access.
Ahmed Al-Rashid (CEO) — 8 years at Riyad Bank in SMB lending; previously built and sold a POS startup to Foodics for $3.2M. Sara Hassan (CTO) — ex-STC Pay senior engineer, led the Mada integration team; MS Computer Science, KAUST. Omar Nasser (CPO) — ran product at Lean Technologies for 3 years, directly serving 200+ fintechs.
Only include advisors who are genuinely engaged and add credibility. One strong name beats five weak ones.
Dr. Khaled Al-Falih (former Saudi Energy Minister) — strategic advisor for government relations. Maya Naber (ex-Careem VP Finance) — financial operations advisor. Ahmad Takrouri (Foodics CEO) — product and GTM advisor.
Being honest about gaps shows maturity. Mention the role and what you're looking for. It also signals how the funding will be used.
Looking to hire a VP Sales with SMB fintech experience and existing GCC bank channel relationships, and a Head of Marketing with Arabic content and performance marketing expertise.
Slide 7 — Business Model
Show how you make money. Investors need to understand the mechanics clearly — how value is created, captured, and grown over time.
Describe your revenue model: subscription, transaction fee, freemium, marketplace, licensing, etc. Be specific about what the customer pays for and when.
SaaS subscription at $29/month (Starter) and $79/month (Growth). Annual plans at 20% discount. Free tier limited to 5 invoices/month to drive acquisition. No setup fees.
Why is your price point appropriate for this customer? What does each tier include? Is your pricing based on value, usage, or competition?
Starter ($29/mo): unlimited invoices, basic dashboard, 1 user. Growth ($79/mo): multi-user, payroll, bank reconciliation, priority support. Pricing is 40% below regional competitors while offering Arabic-first features they don't have.
CAC = what it costs to acquire one customer. LTV = total revenue from one customer over their lifetime. LTV:CAC should ideally be 3:1 or higher.
CAC: $45 (blended). LTV: $720 (24-month avg retention at $30 ARPU). LTV:CAC = 16:1. Payback period: 1.5 months. Gross margin: 82%.
How do you acquire customers at scale? What channels drive growth — organic, paid, partnerships, referrals? What is your most efficient acquisition channel?
60% organic (App Store search + WhatsApp referrals). 25% bank partner co-marketing (Riyad Bank, Al Rajhi). 15% paid (Instagram/TikTok targeting SMB owners). Viral loop: customers share invoices via WhatsApp, exposing the brand to their clients.
Slide 8 — The Ask
Be precise. Investors respect founders who know exactly what they need and why. Vague asks signal unpreparedness.
State the amount and instrument (SAFE, convertible note, equity round). Include valuation cap or pre-money valuation if applicable.
Raising $1.2M Seed round on a SAFE with a $6M valuation cap. $400K already committed from two angels. Targeting close by end of Q1 2025.
Break it down as percentages or amounts by category: product, team, marketing, operations. Show you've thought this through carefully.
40% Engineering (3 new hires: backend, mobile, data). 30% Sales & Marketing (performance marketing + 2 sales hires). 20% Operations & Compliance (ZATCA phase 2, UAE licensing). 10% G&A and working capital. Runway: 18 months.
What specific, measurable goals will this round get you to? These should set up your next fundraise.
By end of 18 months: $1.2M ARR (4x current), 5,000 paying customers, UAE market launch, payroll module live, and Series A readiness at $6M ARR run rate.
Where does this company go if everything works? Leave investors excited about the size of the opportunity.
The financial operating system for every Arabic-speaking small business — from invoicing today to lending, payroll, and corporate cards within 5 years. A $500M ARR business serving 500,000 businesses across 22 Arab countries.