Feel Therapeutics is working to move mental health care in a more scientific direction. The company makes wearable devices, mobile apps, and clinician dashboards to collect physiological, digital, and clinical data. The company recently raised $3.5 million in funding and shared their pitch deck with me, so let's take a closer look. Let's see what the company did well with the funding and where they need to pay more attention.
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Slides in this deck
The company raised $3.5 million with a terse, 11-slide presentation, which the company says is as planned except for a few customers.
Cover slide Impact of problem slide Problem slide Technology slide Solution slide Traction slide (Business metrics) Traction slide (White papers and publications) Monet/Patent slide Team slide Funding request and use slide Closing/Contact slide
Three things that make Feel's pitch deck so appealing
Feel Therapeutics' deck is quite original and has a twist that you rarely see, and the company does a good job of telling its overall story.
Why don’t we measure mental health?
In the age of the quantified self, where a variety of devices track every aspect of our health, Feel Therapeutics makes an excellent point: “Why aren't we tracking our mental health?”
[Slide 3] There are plenty of tools for blood, but few for mental health. Image courtesy of Feel Therapeutics
I think this is a great way to start a conversation. “We track everything so thoroughly, why not this?” is a great way to get my attention.
Great overview
When startups build complete platforms and systems that integrate different aspects of their company, things can often get a little complicated. I was really impressed with how Feel Therapeutics managed to pull all the pieces of their company together on one slide.
[Slide 5] One simple slide explains how it all works. If you can kick off the conversation with a clear overview, the rest of the conversation will be more productive. Image credit: Feel Therapeutics
This illustrates a very useful general storytelling point: starting with a 60,000-foot view and working your way up to detailed information is a smart move in a funding presentation, especially if your business is complex. In this case, Feel Therapeutics starts with a high-level overview to give investors a general sense of the startup.
Starting with the big picture sets the stage and provides important context so investors can follow along when you dive into the details. This method helps keep investors engaged and deepen their understanding, as diving straight into the minutiae can leave them feeling overwhelmed or confused. The key is to create a “hook” that allows you to add details later. This makes your storytelling more interactive, allowing investors to focus on the parts they don't understand and skip over the parts that make intuitive sense.
As you progress through your presentation, gradually adding more specific details allows you to build on what investors already know. This incremental approach ensures you don't give away too much information all at once, and each new piece of information adds depth and color to your story, keeping investors interested. This gradual build-up of detail makes your presentation more coherent, with each piece naturally building into the previous, creating a smooth flow that communicates the complexity of your startup to investors.
So, does it work?
[Slide 6] Traction! Image credit: Feel Therapeutics
This slide does a good job of showing hard numbers, which are essential to show traction. It's impressive that the company highlights the fact that it has 2,700 patients across nine countries, providing a sufficient sample size to show the effectiveness of the product. Overall, these numbers show great progress and I think they will capture investors' attention by proving that the company's research is broad and diverse in scope.
However, there are a few things to note about this slide: It's important to avoid medical terminology that may confuse or alienate some investors. I had to Google the medical terms, which is crazy. There is plenty of space on the slide to explain everything. Terms like MDD (Major Depressive Disorder), GAD (Generalized Anxiety Disorder), and “Central Nervous System Therapeutic Area” may not be immediately understandable to everyone. Simplifying or explaining these terms can make your slide more accessible and appealing to a wider audience.
Another thing to note is that traction is even more compelling when shown over time. Including a timeline or progress graph can strengthen your story and show growth and momentum. Additionally, while patient volume is a solid indicator of traction, revenue is the ultimate proof of business viability.
There is no mention of financial performance on this slide, which raises questions about the company's financial health. Including revenue figures and/or financial projections would provide a more complete picture of traction and business potential. Granted, I know that medical testing is not really a business-critical process, but it would be good to know what the price sensitivity is in this area.
Three things Feel Therapeutics could have improved
The 11-slide presentation is understandably lacking a lot of what investors want to see, and there are some areas where it could have been improved.
I entered my deck into the AI-based tool to see what the AI bot thought about it. You can see the full feedback here, but the most important part is the summary.
A lot of information is missing/incomplete there. Image credit: Haje Kamps / Pitch Guide
The company is losing out to the competition, which is probably its biggest mistake. There is also no coherent go-to-market or operational plan. I understand that the product is still early in the cycle, but they should at least mention the business model and pricing they have in mind, along with a profile of their target customers. I would have liked to see unit economics as well. What would happen if you manufactured this product at scale?
Interesting questions and how the funds will be used
[Slide 10] Pre-Series A? Let's call it a bridge round like everyone else. Image credit: Feel Therapeutics
The Feel Therapeutics team includes the investment terms in their “Request and Use of Funds” slide, which is a bit unconventional. Typically, terms are omitted because funding terms are negotiable and often depend on discussions with potential investors. But in this particular scenario, it makes sense, since they've already secured a lead investor and are just about to close a funding round. Keep in mind, though, that this is not the norm, and there's a good reason for it: negotiation is key in the investment world.
As for the “Use of Proceeds” section, it's pretty vague and ambiguous, and reads like a half-baked idea someone scribbled on a napkin. Come on Feel Therapeutics, you can do better! Investors want specifics, not vague promises. Give us the lowdown on how you're going to use the funds. This is particularly confusing, as it seems like the company combined milestones (launched as Drug+, FDA approval) with other company milestones. There's no timeline attached to the milestones, perhaps trying to suggest this isn't high risk.
In an ideal scenario, “Use of funds” should be organized as a SMART goal: Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, and Time-bound. Specific means clear and unambiguous. Measurable means you can track your progress and know if you've achieved your goal. Attainable means it's realistic (not a pipe dream). Relevant means it aligns with broader business goals. Time-bound means it has a deadline. For example, instead of “FDA approval,” your SMART goal would be “FDA approval under 510K by December 2025.” See the difference? One sounds like a solid plan, the other sounds like wishful thinking.
Why are SMART goals helpful in situations like this? Because it makes it look like you actually know what you're doing. Investors will see that you have a clear roadmap and aren't just throwing money at random initiatives in the hope that something will work. It builds confidence and shows that you have a well-thought-out plan for effectively leveraging your funds. So, refine these goals and give investors something concrete they can get excited about.
This team's slide confusion
[Slide 9] Who designed this slide? Image credit: Feel Therapeutics
The Feel Therapeutics team put together a team slide that looks good (but isn't pretty) at first glance, but let's take a closer look at the details to see if it makes sense. First, help investors understand why this team is the right team to lead this company. There are big names and titles lined up, but why are they the best fit to lead this startup to success?
The “Industry Experts” and “Psychiatric Experts” sections are impressive at first glance, but are these individuals advisors? Are they part of the core team? To what extent are they involved in Feel Therapeutics' day-to-day operations? If they're just big names loosely connected to the company, that's less compelling than their active involvement in strategic decisions and execution. Clarifying their roles and contributions will help investors better understand how these experts add to the company's capabilities.
Team members' publications and citations are also listed there, but these metrics feel like vanity statistics. Sure, they look good on paper, but do they translate to actual business success? Investors want to see how your team's expertise delivers tangible results for the company, not just academic accolades. Instead of focusing on these numbers, it's more effective to highlight specific accomplishments and experiences that are directly related to the company's goals and market challenges. Show how this team's unique combination of skills and experiences uniquely positions them to tackle the problems Feel Therapeutics is trying to solve.
What has your fundraising journey been like?
Something else to talk about is the company's funding history – sure, the company is currently raising $3.5 million, but it seems like they've already raised quite a bit.
The company has raised $30 million to date, according to PitchBook. Image credit: PitchBook screenshot
The company appears to have raised a lot of money in many rounds (I count eight different funding rounds) but has yet to see any decent growth. Of course, this is not uncommon in the medical device industry, but I would like to know what went wrong here and what the company did to get back on track so they don't have to raise yet another bridge round within a year.
What the PitchBook data tells me more than anything is that this company needs to deliver results soon, and I'll also be doing a thorough dig into the company's cap table to see who owns what, and whether the founders are still fully committed to seeing the business through the next phase.
Complete presentation material
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