Pitch, the presentation software with a focus on collaborative working, announced its public launch today, stepping into the tech space as the up-and-coming rival to Microsoft Powerpoint.
While the Berlin-based startup has been reaching out to companies behind the scenes since it began in 2018, today marks the first day that it is available to a global audience. This comes in the form of both a free version and a Pro plan; the latter offering advanced privacy settings, customisable permission over who can edit templates, and the chance to upload video, for the sum of £10 ($10) per user, per month.
The company claims to have attracted more than 25,000 teams, across 134 countries, during the invite-only beta phase, including Intercom and IntentHQ in the UK.
A new take on creating pitch decks
Pitch—created by the founders of Wunderlust, which was acquired by Microsoft in 2015—markets itself on the fact that most business software has developed at a rapid pace over past decades, while the tools available for pitching have somewhat lagged behind. Their chief competitor, Microsoft Powerpoint, was developed in 1987.
The software has several features that are intended to make collaborative working easier. Firstly, the presentation can be worked on by a team simultaneously, with a clear system for delegating and tracking progress on work, speeding up the process of creating a pitch deck and making it more of a team effort. Secondly, Pitch incorporates real-time video chat into the process, meaning team members can discuss their ideas while they work.
It also boasts easy-to-brand templates and an intuitive editing experience, and can be used both online and offline, as well as across different operators including web, Windows, or macOS apps.
More than $50 million backing
Since its founding in 2018, Pitch has secured more than $50 million (£38.63M) in early investment from backers such as Kevin Systrom and Mike Krieger, the founders of Instagram; Eric Yuan, the CEO and Co-Founder of Zoom; and venture capital firms including Index Ventures, Thrive Capital, BlueYard, and The Slack Fund.
When asked about how the corona pandemic has impacted Pitch, CEO and Co-Founder of Pitch Christian Reber told TechRound: “Obviously no one could have seen this coming when we started building Pitch. If anything, the pandemic has made it even clearer that we are on the right path. Modern teams don’t sit in one office, in one location — we certainly don’t at Pitch. They need fast and collaborative tools to get their work done remotely without compromising on speed or beauty. And that’s Pitch.”
Looking forward, Christian is hopeful for the future. “Building presentation software from the ground up is no easy feat. Since starting out, we’ve worked to balance laying the foundation with pushing the envelope for what modern presentation software can and should do. Over the next year, we’ll continue that approach while we work to support every device you create on, help you connect any type of idea through more media and data integrations, and introduce features that will make it easy to optimise your work without having to upload your decks to yet another piece of software.”
