Prezent to Expand AI-Powered Slide Deck Tool Market with New $20M Funding
Generative AI startup Prezent has raised $20 million to develop and refine its AI models. The startup empowers users to build slide decks. According to TechCrunch, the latest funding will support expansion of the Prezent AI-powered slide deck tool in different use cases and new markets.
Bringing AI to Business Communication
AI application in generating decks in business presentations is one of the areas where the technology can make a difference. Ready-made models tend to be mediocre because they are not designed to understand industry-specific language and vocabulary. Prezent seeks to address this gap.
Founded in 2021, Prezent is based in Los Altos, California, it has a subsidiary in India’s Bengaluru city. The startup was founded by Rajat Mishra, who had worked with McKinsey and Cisco previously. Mishra admits that at a young age, he struggled with speech impediments. This challenge drove his passion for communication technology.
“The idea for Prezent was, wouldn’t it be cool if we could build an AI platform that democratizes business communication and makes everyone a great business communicator?” he said.
Prezent has developed an AI assistant known as Astrid. Users upload documents like PDFs, Excel files, links, and other communication assets to the Prezent platform to give Astrid context about the company.
Prezent’s AI slide design automatically uses the content to generate presentations. Users can include specific terms, team abbreviations, and any other preferences to customize their presentations.
Leveraging Open-Source AI Models
Prezent AI pitch deck creator utilizes open-source models to improve proprietary data to power its platform. According to Mishra, the startup’s proprietary data includes a dataset that has more than 2 million slide decks.
Prezent also develops AI models based on specific applications. For instance, the startup can develop models that recommend layouts that users can use for specific decks. Prezent offers businesses that have tight timelines and require minimum human effort to polish presentations an expedited service.
Prezent’s AI automation tool for slides converts draft documents into professional grade presentations by leveraging a mix of AI and human reviewers, who include designers and consultants. The service spruces drafts for users overnight. The startup plans to unveil APIs to enable users develop presentations directly from chatbots, search engines, apps, and other platforms.
Unlike OpenAI models , DeepSeek has made its AI models freely accessible on the internet. This allows for modification and redistribution, giving AI startups an opportunity to leverage the technology.
“DeepSeek recently showed us that AI companies don’t need these massive funding rounds to make a big impact any longer,” Mishra said.
Prezent has a workforce of close to 200 employees. Mishra says that 75% of this workforce is based in India and works remotely.
Growing Customer Base
Prezent has been growing its user base gradually over the years. The company already has various users in Europe and is seeking to expand its operations into Southeast Asia in quarter two of this year. Currently, Prezent says it serves about 150 Fortune 2000 companies in the US, mostly targeting companies in the tech and biopharma industries.
Prezent’s latest investment will enable the startup to pursue potential customers in the manufacturing and financial service sectors. The company will also use the all-equity investment to expand to new markets in Japan, Europe, and Singapore.
The new funding is an extension of the Series A funding round that the tech startup launched in 2022. Last year, Prezent reported annual revenues of more than $10 million. The new funding pushes Prezent’s valuation to over $100 million.
The funding round was led by Greycroft. Other investors who participated in the funding round include Zoom Ventures, WestWave, and Emergent Ventures. The funding round attracted new tech investors like Alumni Ventures, True Global Ventures, and Manulife Ventures.
