10 Investment Proposal Template to Use [+ Quick Guide] (2024)

Having a exceptional product or idea is great. But it’s not enough to scale growth.

Research by Skynova revealed that about 47% of startups fail due to a lack of investors and financing, while 44% decline when they run out of cash. When these founders were asked what they would do differently, 43% said they would seek more investors to stay afloat.

Whether you run a startup or lead a large corporation, knowing how to craft a convincing investment proposal can boost your chances of getting funding or scaling up.

A well-crafted investment proposal demonstrates the viability of the investment and builds confidence, thereby increasing the likelihood of securing funding.

Not sure how to write a good investment proposal?

In this article, we will show you how to write a proposal that will help you secure funding. We’ve included 10 professionally designed investment proposal templates for you to customize and send right away.

Are you ready to scale up?

Let’s begin!

Table of Contents

• What Is an Investment Proposal?
• Business Plan vs Investment Proposal
• What Should an Investment Proposal Include?
• How to Write an Investment Proposal?
• 10 Investment Proposal Templates to Make Your Own

What Is an Investment Proposal?

An investment proposal is a document that showcases your business as a suitable opportunity for potential investors who have shown interest in your company. This document details crucial information such as your company’s objectives, market analysis, plan of action, budget and a clear return on investment (ROI) strategy.

Whether you’re trying to raise capital or fund an expansion, a detailed investment proposal is also a great tool for pitching to an investor and winning over. It convinces an investor that your business is viable and worth investing in.

After an investor pitch deck presentation, you can share an investment proposal with your client. It acts as a reminder and brings some of the information they might have missed during the session to their attention.

Business Plan vs Investment Proposal

While a business plan and an investment proposal may share certain components, their core differences lie in their purpose and audience.

A business plan is a detailed documentation of your business idea, target market, financial projections and growth strategy. Its purpose is to clarify your ideas and flesh out your concept. You can use your business plan to gain partners or seek a license.

Your investment proposal, however, aims to secure funding from potential investors. Every section here is written to convince them why investing in your company will be a good decision.

This infographic below summarizes the differences between a business plan and an investment proposal.

Made with Visme Infographic Maker

What Should an Investment Proposal Include?

Your investment proposal should include the following key components:

Cover Page

Your cover page should carry a clear title describing what your proposal entails. For example, “Digital Bank Investment Proposal.” You can also include your name and the receiver’s name as well.

Table of Contents

The table of contents helps your investor scan your document before reading it. Ensure you label and include the important sections of your investment proposal in the table of contents.

Executive Summary or About Us Page

Your executive summary should briefly highlight your business. It should give an overview of the solution your business offers to the market and your achievements thus far. You can also include your mission and vision statement to give your reader more insight into your company.

Market Analysis

The market analysis section should include a bird’s eye view of your target market, market value or market share and market trends.

This section should demonstrate an in-depth understanding of your market or audience. It should show your reader that you have done extensive research and have real data to back up your funding request. You should also showcase that you’ve conducted your competitive analysis and understand their strengths and weaknesses.

Business Model

Your business model should include details about the products or services offered, target customers, pricing strategy, distribution channels and cost structure. It should showcase how your company will operate, make money, and stay competitive and sustainable in the market.

Value Proposition and Plan of Action

Here, you should highlight the problem that your market is facing and how you plan to solve it. Discuss the solution you are introducing and your strategy to execute it. This section doesn't have to be so thorough, but it should give your reader an understanding of your plan or process for execution.

Budget and Revenue Model

In this section, you should break down how your business generates revenue or your plan for customer acquisition. Highlight your revenue model, whether it is a sales, subscription, freemium, transaction fee revenue model, or any other model.

You want to show your potential investor that you have a proven framework for profitability. Also, be transparent about how you will utilize the investment, as this will boost trust in your company.

Team’s Portfolio

In addition to your business's profitability, your potential investor will care about other things that can influence your company’s success. One of which is your team’s expertise and ability to carry out your plans and goals.

Depending on the theme of your proposal, you can showcase your management’s experience and the team behind the venture.

ROI or Exit Strategy

Great investors always look out for the safety of their principal or reasonable returns.

Knowing this, you can spotlight a return on investment or exit strategy, which could be an initial public offering (IPO), acquisition, merger, liquidation or shutdown. Also, highlight the various ways investors can receive a return on their investments.

Next Steps/Clear Call To Action (CTA)

Once you have all the important details in your investment proposal, close with a clear call to action (CTA). Your potential investor should know what to do or how to reach you to finalize the deal or set up a meeting for more details.

How to Write an Investment Proposal

Here’s a step-by-step guide to writing your investment proposal:

Perform Thorough Research

Before you begin writing your investment proposal, you need to have proper and relevant information at hand. Some key areas of research you will carry out include:

1. The investor you're writing to. For example, when researching an investor, you want to find out;

• What type of investors are they
• Their main field, niche or focus
• If they plan to venture into new territories
• What projects they’ve already funded
• What projects they've rejected, and why
• Any additional public information that might be useful (such as interviews, area of interest, etc.).

2. Market research and opportunity: You should conduct a thorough research on the following;

• Market Segmentation
• Competitor Analysis
• Customer needs
• SWOT analysis
• Market size and growth
• Your Value proposition
• Marketing channels

3. Budget and financial projections: You should consider the following key areas;

• Revenue projections
• Expense projections
• Capital expenditures
• Cash flow analysis
• Profit margins
• Debt and Financing

4. Marketing plan and strategies and lots more.

You must spend time on this step to get accurate data or estimations. Presenting accurate information can make a good impression and also accelerate your writing process.

Create an Outline

After your research, bring together all the information you've gathered and organize them into an outline. An outline will guide you as you write and ensure you don't forget any important aspect or detail.

Look through the section above on what your investment proposal should include and note the parts you want to add to yours.

Choose a Template

Writing a comprehensive investment proposal from scratch can be overwhelming. A premade template can help you save time and energy. And Visme has a vast library of professional templates you can tap into.

Just select one that matches your outline and vision. Then add and remove pages or swap any information you wish. All of Visme's templates are professionally designed and customizable, giving you a creative head start and making the entire process stress-free.

Hear what one of our users has to say about our templates:

Write your Executive Summary and Other Details

Now that you've chosen your template, it's time to fill in the sections with the information you've gathered from your research.

The executive summary of your investment proposal should be concise and informative. It should include a brief overview of the project, the problem it addresses, the proposed solution, market analysis, financial projections, and potential returns for investors.

Keep it focused. Highlighting the key points that would interest potential investors and provide a compelling case for why the investment offer is worthwhile.

Customize the Template to Fit Your Brand

You don't have to settle with the template's fonts or colors if you don't like them. You can personalize your investor proposal template to suit your brand.

Using Visme's brand design tool, all you need to do is upload your company's brand assets and apply them to all the documents you create.

If you don't have a branding kit for your business yet, click on "My Brand" left panel and set it up in just a few minutes. You can then apply your branding to the whole document with just one click.

Tailor Your Investment Proposal for Each Investor

If you have more than one potential investor, you may want to consider customizing your investment proposal for each of them.

Ensure you personalize their contact address or company name before you share it with them.

To make this easier, use Visme's dynamic field tool to update key details across your documents in one click. With this tool, you don't have to worry about going page by page to make important changes to your document.

Provide a Clear CTA

Before sending your investment proposal to your potential investor, review each section to ensure they include relevant details about your company and funding requests.

Provide a clear CTA so investors know the next step to take. Do you want them to schedule another call to talk? Or do you want them to go ahead and request an investment term sheet if they're interested?

Whatever the case, ensure it's feasible and easy to respond to.

Publish and Share Your Investment Proposal

You've done all the tough work. Now it's time to send out your investment proposal and expect great feedback.

Visme allows you to publish and share your investment proposal in different ways. You can download it as a presentation, a PDF document, or an embed link.

You can also share a private link with your potential investor to view it or publish it and share it with a group of people at once.

If you're pressed for time to create an investment proposal or any other document, Visme's AI document generator has you covered. Simply give it a text prompt, and it will craft a suitable draft with text, images and icons in a style that suits you.

Then, you can tailor every aspect of the document to your needs to create eye-catching professional documents in no time.

10 Investment Proposal Templates to Make Your Own

Here are 10 amazing templates you can customize right now!

Real Estate Investment Proposal Template

Use this template to attract interested and enthusiastic investors to your real estate properties.

Research forecast shows that by 2030, the global real estate market will grow to over $6.13 trillion at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 5.2%. As the demand for real estate increases, you need to position your company as a trusted business to invest in.

This investment proposal template highlights your company’s achievements through the About Us section, portfolio and testimonials from happy customers. Investors are always on the lookout for credible businesses, so these sections prove your authority in the industry and showcase your results thus far.

One thing that sets this template apart is how it utilizes Visme’s vast library of high-quality stock photos to add to the essence of your company’s brand and goals.

You can also tap into the infinite possibilities of Visme’s AI image generator. Simply type in your prompts and generate professional-quality photos and graphics for your proposal in minutes. The Visme AI image editor also comes in handy for polishing your images and giving them a professional look.

Business Investment Proposal

This business investment proposal template empowers entrepreneurs, startups and businesses to present their vision with precision and impact. From the dynamic executive summary to the detailed financial projections, every section of this business investment plan is strategically designed to showcase your potential.

The ultimate goal of a successful investor proposal is to present information in a digestible way without boring your audience. Utilize Visme's charts, graphs and maps to effectively present data such as market analyses, financial projections and more. If you need to streamline your design process even more, you can easily import your data from Google Sheets.

Partnership Investment Proposal

This carefully created template will walk you through each step of creating a powerful partnership proposition.

Prove that you've done your homework by outlining your competitive advantages and explaining how your business model will help stakeholders get their returns on investment.

To get feedback about your proposal from coworkers quickly, you can invite them to your Visme project using Visme’s collaborative features. This way, you can control their access and let them view, modify and comment on it.

Prime Real Estate Investment Proposal

This template is tailor-made for real estate enthusiasts, investors and developers seeking to unlock the potential of prime locations. Whether you're aiming to attract capital for a luxury residential project or a commercial venture, you can make your case with this template.

This investment proposal format will help you showcase your market analysis, projected returns, strategic vision and how the project will deliver impressive returns on investment.

Startup Investment Proposal

Whether you're seeking seed funding, angel investment, or venture capital, the sections provided help you convey the potential and uniqueness of your solution.

From the captivating introduction that captures your startup's mission and vision to the detailed market analysis, this startupinvestment proposal template equips you to make a persuasive case.

You can also highlight your competitive advantage, business model, financial projections and team expertise. This will provide investors with a clear understanding of the growth trajectory your startup envisions.

Take advantage of the animation and interactivity tools available in Visme, such as clickable menus to reveal larger data sets or hover effects to reveal additional information. This will allow you to create an immersive experience for your audience and also improve the value of your proposal.

Project Investment Proposal

Whether you're seeking funding for an infrastructure project, a community initiative, or a technological innovation, this template guides you through each step of the process. Showcase how your project addresses challenges and meets demands, positioning it as a worthy investment opportunity.

Don’t know what to write in the different sections of your investment proposal? You can take advantage of Visme’s AI writer to generate your first draft and help you craft a compelling story.

Restaurant Investment Proposal

If you're ready to entice investors with a taste of what your restaurant can achieve and secure the funding to make it a reality, leverage our investment proposal example.

Navigate through market analysis, your restaurant's competitive edge and the revenue potential that your culinary masterpiece promises. Showcase how your menu, ambiance and innovation set your establishment apart. This will help you position your restaurant as an appetizing investment opportunity.

Investment Proposal Template

If you want to provide a clear and convincing investment proposal to your potential investor, then this template is a goldmine!

It begins with your company’s story, vision and mission statement. This helps your reader understand the purpose of your company and what it hopes to achieve. Presenting this early on in your proposal template can help your reader relate to your story.

This investment plan template goes further to give a breakdown of your company’s target market, market share and profit and loss statement. This shows your potential investor that you have a lot of knowledge about your market. It also gives them the confidence that your company is profitable and a good investment.

The SWOT analysis is a unique angle in this investment proposal. Including this paints a more realistic picture of the internal and external factors that influence your company’s success.

App Development Investment Proposal Template

This template is dedicated to app-related ventures and assists you in presenting your app's potential to investors. It takes you from a compelling introduction about your app's purpose and user benefits to a thorough market analysis. Also, it allows you to highlight investor benefits and exit strategies.

You can convincingly express your app's promising future by showcasing your competitive advantage, revenue projections and risk assessment.

Visme offers advanced collaboration features, such as live editing, commenting, annotating and version control, to make the collaboration process as smooth as possible.

Invite other team members to join you in creating an investment proposal by emailing or sharing a link to collaborate with them on the project.

In addition, Visme also provides workflow management features that allow you to manage roles, tasks, progress, and corrections all in one place.

Basic Investment Proposal Template

The basic investment proposal template takes you on a cohesive journey through your proposal. Starting with an impactful executive summary, it smoothly transitions into a detailed market analysis, all wrapped in bold black, white and neon colors for a memorable impression.

Powerful data visualizations such as vertical bar graphs, line charts, and pie charts aid in simplifying complex market data.

With sections for financial projections and thorough SWOT analysis, it tells the full story of your proposal in an engaging and visually impressive manner.

Once your investment proposal gets accepted, you might be asked to present an in-depth presentation to potential investors. Check out the stock pitch templates from Visme's library to create a presentation to wow the investors and secure the deal.

Investment Proposal FAQs

Q. What to Avoid When Writing an Investment Proposal?

Here are some things to avoid when writing your investment proposal:

• Avoid writing hearsay or data that is not backed up. For example, don’t say there are 90% of individuals going through a problem if you don't have data to back it up.
• Avoid using too much industry terminology that may confuse your potential investor if they aren't too familiar with your industry. Aim for simpler words that still communicate your point.
• Avoid painting an unrealistic picture for your potential investors. Don’t tell them the grass is going to be green all year long. They know there are always ups and downs in business. A better approach will be to include a plan to mitigate risks.
• Avoid beating around the bush. Be confident in your funding request and break down how you plan to use the funds to grow or expand your business.

Q. What Makes a Good Investment Proposal?

A good investment proposal incorporates storytelling and establishes clear expectations, leaving no room for ambiguity. Data-driven projections and realistic timelines result in great investment proposals.

Your document should address the questions and concerns of any potential investor and position your company as an asset. Before you send your investment proposal to a potential investor, we suggest giving it to a colleague or partner to read and review.

You know you have a good investment proposal when their feedback includes words like credible, realistic, detailed, engaging, persuasive, or solid.

Q. How Do I Propose My Business to an Investor?

When you want to propose your business idea or concept to an investor, keep in mind a few things:

Nothing beats prior preparation. Understanding the interests of an investor can help you find a good way to approach them and pitch your idea.

Prioritize a warm approach with a well-crafted pitch that communicates your business’ value and potential. Having a pitch deck on hand that details your company’s products or services might be a good idea.

Be passionate about your business, yet concise. Investors feed off your energy and are intrigued by well-informed founders.

Lastly, aim to build relationships and rapport with a potential investor. Encourage a relaxed conversation and always be ready to answer their questions in more detail.

Q. How Do You Start a Proposal Example?

Your investment proposal should begin with an executive summary or introduction that highlights what your company does, its mission and values and solution offerings.

You can incorporate your company’s story or a quick glance at your journey. Make sure you begin on a strong note. Resonate with your potential investors and engage them from the beginning.

Q. What Do Investors Look for in an Investment Proposal?

When you submit your investment proposal to a potential investor, they will go through the complete document to get an overview of your business offering and funding expectations.

However, there may be sections that deserve closer attention than others. While Investors vary in their approach, most take a deep dive into your market opportunity, your revenue model, final projections and allocation of funds and an exit strategy.

Also, potential investors want to see if you’ve done proper research and can present it well.

They also look to see if you have what it takes to carry out the plans you’ve highlighted in your proposal.

Q. How Long Does It Take To Write a Business Proposal for Investors?

Your process from research to completion may vary depending on the availability of relevant data or investor-specific demands. It may take days or weeks to present a foolproof business proposal for investors.

However, this time can be reduced when you utilize proposal templates. These templates provide a clear structure, improve your efficiency and give you more time to personalize and perfect your investment proposal for each investor.

Q. What Is the Difference Between a Business Plan and an Investment Proposal?

A business plan is a comprehensive document that outlines a company's objectives and the strategies that will be used to accomplish them. It's a helpful guide for both people working within the company and those looking from the outside.

In comparison, an investment proposal is specifically created for potential investors. It's a document that shares important details about a business's request for funding, making it easier for investors to decide whether they want to invest.

To sum up, a business plan covers the broader scope of a company's objectives and goals, while an investment proposal is tailored to attract investors to fund the business.

Q. How Many Pages Should an Investment Proposal Be?

There's no strict page limit for an investment proposal. However, since investors are busy people, you should aim for brevity. A good rule of thumb is to aim for 10 to 15 pages. This allows you to provide enough detail of the investment opportunity without overwhelming the reader with unnecessary information.

When you write an investment proposal, make sure you focus on quality content and relevant data, not just the number of pages.

Q. What Is the Difference Between a Business Proposal and an Investment Proposal?

A business proposal is a document that pitches a product or service to a potential client, while an investment proposal outlines an investment opportunity for investors.

The goal of a business proposal is to win over the client by emphasizing how valuable and beneficial our product or service is. In comparison, an investment proposal aims to attract funding by showing investors the financial potential and expected returns of a business or project.

Easily Impress Investors & Clients with Visme

Knowing the capital or funding your company needs to expand is one thing. Being able to communicate this effectively to a potential investor is another.

With this guide, we’re confident in your ability to produce a well-rounded investment proposal that guarantees funding from potential investors.

Visme's capabilities and user-friendly interface make it ideal for developing excellent investment proposals whether you’re a professional designer or not. Your presentation will come to life with the help of millions of available graphics, icons, design elements and professional templates.

Beyond creating investment proposals, Visme allows you to create other assets, such as investor pitch decks, videos, sales enablement content and marketing assets.

If you’re ready to impress your investors, attract funding and scale growth, sign up with Visme today!