Use of Funds Slide: The 5 Elements Investors Want to See

56% of pitch decks have a weak or missing use-of-funds slide.

In our experience reviewing 600+ decks, this is one of the clearest signals investors use to judge founders. Not because of the numbers themselves, but because of what those numbers reveal.

A use of funds slide shows how you think about capital.

It answers questions investors rarely ask directly:

• Do you understand what actually drives growth?

• Are you realistic about cost and timing?

• Do you know what this round needs to achieve?

Most founders treat this slide as a breakdown. Investors treat it as a strategy.

This guide shows:

• What a use of funds slide actually communicates

• The 5 elements investors expect to see

• How to build it step by step

• How allocation changes by stage

• Real examples and mistakes

What Is a Use of Funds Slide?

A use-of-funds slide is a pitch deck slide that explains how the capital you are raising will be allocated across key business functions and the outcomes that capital is expected to produce.

It translates funding into execution.

Definition

A use-of-funds slide shows how a startup plans to spend the capital it is raising, typically across categories such as product, hiring, marketing, and operations, with each category tied to specific milestones or outcomes.

What investors are actually evaluating

Investors are not checking your math.

They are evaluating alignment:

• Does your spending reflect your stage?

• Does it match your business model?

• Does it logically lead to the next milestone?

Key insight:

A strong use-of-funds slide is not about allocation. It is about credibility.

The 5 Elements Every Use of Funds Slide Needs

A use-of-funds slide investors trust always includes five elements. Missing even one weakens the entire story.

1. Total Raise Amount

This anchors the slide.

Example:

• Raising $2M seed round

Investors immediately assess:

• Is this amount realistic?

• Is it too small to reach the next milestone?

• Is it too large for your stage?

A mismatch here creates doubt before they even read the rest.

2. Allocation Breakdown

This shows where the money goes.

Typical categories:

• Product / Engineering

• Sales and Marketing

• Operations

But investors look deeper:

• Are you over-investing in product?

• Are you under-investing in distribution?

• Are you hiring too early?

Your allocation reflects your priorities.

3. Milestone-Linked Outcomes

This is where most decks fail.

Every category should connect to a result.

Example:

• $700K product → launch v2.0

• $600K GTM → acquire first 1,000 users

Without this, your slide is just a budget.

4. Timeline Overlay

Investors think in time.

They want to know:

• How long this capital lasts

• What happens quarter by quarter

Typical expectation:

• 12-18 months runway

• Clear milestone progression

5. Traction or Proof Layer

Even minimal traction strengthens credibility.

Examples:

• Current revenue

• Growth rate

• Early user adoption

This ties directly to your financial narrative.

Key insight:

Investors do not fund categories. They fund outcomes tied to time.

How to Create Your Use of Funds Slide (Step-by-Step)

Most founders start with categories. Strong founders start with milestones.

Step 1: Define the Outcome of This Round

Before allocating anything, answer:

What must be true at the end of this round?

Examples:

• Reach $50K MRR

• Launch product v2

• Achieve product-market fit

This defines everything that follows.

Step 2: Work Back to Capital Required

Now estimate:

• Team size needed

• Time required

• Cost structure

This defines your raise amount.

Mistake:

• Picking a round size first and forcing logic after

Step 3: Map Spending to Strategy

Each category must serve the milestone.

Example:

• Product spend → feature completion

• GTM spend → customer acquisition

This connects directly to your go-to-market logic.

Step 4: Assign Percentages and Amounts

Break into 3-5 categories.

Avoid:

• Perfect splits (33/33/33)

• Over-segmentation

Investors expect asymmetry.

Step 5: Translate Into a Slide

Now simplify:

• One chart

• 3-4 categories

• Clear numbers

What NOT to include

• Valuation

• Deal terms

• Financial projections

These belong elsewhere.

Use of Funds by Funding Stage

A use-of-funds slide that ignores the stage is one of the fastest ways to lose credibility.

Typical Allocation by Stage

How investors interpret this

Pre-seed

• Focus: building product

• Risk: over-investing in marketing

Seed

• Focus: validating growth

• Risk: scaling too early

Series A

• Focus: scaling revenue

• Risk: under-investing in sales

Important nuance

Not all companies follow the same pattern.

Examples:

• SaaS → more GTM earlier

• Hardware → heavier product spend

• Deep tech → longer R&D cycle

Key insight:

If your allocation does not match your stage, investors question your judgment.

Real Examples of Use of Funds Slides That Worked

Example 1: WasteHero

WasteHero tied every euro directly to a milestone on a three-year ARR roadmap - €5M, €10M, then €15M - so investors could see exactly what the €8M raise would buy and when it would pay off.

What they showed:

• Three-year timeline with ARR targets at each stage

• Budget split across sales (40%), product (30%), and implementation (30%)

• Projected 5-10x returns framed around SaaS multiples and contract growth

Why it worked:

• Milestones turned the ask into a logical progression, not just a number

• Equal weighting across sales, product and support showed a balanced growth plan

• The return framing answered the "what's in it for me" question on the same slide

Investor signal: capital linked to specific ARR gates - investors could hold the team accountable at each stage.

Example 2: Flux

Flux showed granular line-item allocation across seven categories for a $24.5M raise, with nearly half going to pilot production - signalling that this was a hardware company that understood its cost structure.

What they showed:

• $12M (49%) to optimised pilot production setup

• $5M to engineering and DVT development

• Remaining $7.5M split across IP acquisition, concept development, marketing, and service network

Why it worked:

• Specificity at this level signals financial maturity - vague buckets would have raised red flags

• Front-loading production cost showed the founders understood the biggest risk and were addressing it first

• The donut chart made seven categories digestible without losing the detail

Investor signal: a hardware raise with this level of cost breakdown tells investors the team has built something before.

Example 3: Vikk AI

Vikk AI did something most decks skip: they explained the goal of the round, not just the spend. The slide showed where the $3M SAFE would go, but also what winning looked like - Tier-1 logos, LLM licenses, 500K-1M users, and a path to Series A.

What they showed:

• $700K pre-seed already closed, now raising $3M SAFE

• Four spend categories: user acquisition (40%), data infrastructure (30%), sales (20%), product (10%)

• "Why we win" panel covering data moat and multi-channel monetisation

Why it worked:

• Showing a closed pre-seed round removed execution risk from the ask

• The round goal section answered "what does success look like" - rare and memorable

• Pairing spend allocation with competitive advantage in one slide did the job of two

Ask Slide vs Use of Funds Slide

These are often confused.

Ask Slide

Shows:

• Amount

• Terms

Use of Funds Slide

Shows:

• Allocation

• Strategy

When to combine

• Early-stage decks

• Simpler narratives

When to separate

• Larger rounds

• Complex allocation

Key insight:

Ask answers “how much.” Use of funds answers “why.”

Common Mistakes That Kill a Use of Funds Slide

The most common mistakes on a use-of-funds slide are being too vague, asking for the wrong amount, and failing to connect spending to milestones.

1. Being too vague

   Fix: add outcomes

   
   

2. Wrong funding amount

   Fix: tie to milestone

   
   

3. Including valuation

   Fix: remove

   
   

4. Perfect splits

   Fix: reflect reality

   
   

5. No milestone linkage

   Fix: connect spending to results

   
   

6. Overdesigning

   Fix: simplify

Conclusion

A strong use of funds slide answers one question:

What will this money actually do?

If the answer is clear, investors move forward.If not, they hesitate.

If you are not sure your slide is investor-ready, RunwayTeam helps founders build decks that close rounds.

FAQ

What is a use of funds slide?

A use-of-funds slide shows how a startup plans to allocate the capital it is raising. It breaks spending into categories such as product, marketing, hiring, and operations, and connects each category to milestones.

What should I include?

Include total raise amount, allocation breakdown, milestone-linked outcomes, timeline, and supporting traction.

How specific should it be?

Be specific enough to show logic. Investors should clearly see what each dollar achieves.

Ask vs use of funds?

Ask = amount. Use of funds = allocation.

Should I include valuation?

No. Keep valuation out to preserve flexibility.

Typical seed allocation?

35-40% product, 25-30% GTM, and the rest of the operations.

How do investors evaluate it?

They assess alignment between spending and milestones, realism, and discipline.

Can I use a pie chart?

Yes. Keep it simple and readable.