Marketplace pitch deck
A marketplace is two businesses that only work together. Investors want to see that buyers find what they want, that sellers make enough to stay, and that the platform keeps a fair share without pushing either side off it.
The numbers
Gross merchandise value is the headline of most marketplace decks, and the number investors trust least on its own. These four make it believable.
Gross merchandise value is the total value of transactions on the platform. It is not your revenue; revenue is what you keep[1].
On the slide: side by side every month or quarter, with the gap explained.
The share of GMV the marketplace keeps, from commissions, fees and ads[2]. A take rate that is too high pushes sellers to deal off the platform.
On the slide: by category, and what sellers get for it: payments, demand, insurance, tools.
How easily a listing finds a buyer, or a buyer finds what they searched for. It is the clearest sign a marketplace is working in a city or category.
On the slide: by city or category, with the time to first sale or booking.
Buyers who come back without being paid for again, and sellers who stay and grow. A marketplace with one side churning needs constant spending to stand still.
On the slide: buyer and seller cohorts on the same slide.
The same fictional marketplace, last 30 days. Each step is a place to improve liquidity: more supply, better matching or faster replies.
Leakage
The biggest risk to a marketplace is that buyers and sellers meet once on your platform and then deal directly. Investors will ask what stops them.
Good answers give both sides something they lose by leaving: payments and protection such as escrow, guarantees or insurance; tools such as scheduling, invoicing or inventory for sellers; reputation through reviews that only count on the platform; and new demand sellers cannot get alone.
Show the repeat rate of buyer-seller pairs. If the same buyer keeps booking the same seller through you, the platform is adding value. If repeat pairs vanish, they may be leaving together.
In the meeting
Slide by slide
The order follows the structure most investors expect, from Sequoia's original business plan outline[3] to Y Combinator's seed deck advice[4]. The notes are what changes for marketplace.
Red flags
Investors give a deck a few minutes. DocSend found average review time fell to under three minutes in 2022[5]. These are the slides that use those minutes badly.
Astitva writes your investor story free from a short brief, in this order, then designs each slide in your own brand for 5 credits. A 12-slide deck is 60 credits.
No card needed. Packs from ₹299 or $3, no subscription.
Twelve slides in investor order with GMV and net revenue shown together, take rate by category, liquidity by city or category, repeat on both sides, contribution per transaction and an answer to why users stay on the platform.
GMV is the total value of transactions on the marketplace. Revenue is what the marketplace keeps, which is GMV multiplied by the take rate.
How easily transactions happen: the share of listings that sell, or searches that end in a purchase, within a set time. It is usually measured by city or category.
Yes. Astitva writes the investor story free from a short brief and designs each slide in your brand for 5 credits. New accounts get 50 free credits.
Next: how to brand a marketplace startup · all pitch deck guides
Figures from these sources were current when this guide was written. Rules and benchmarks change, so check the latest version before you rely on one.