inCitu Pitch Deck Teardown: Using Augmented Reality

Introduction and Vision

The inCitu pitch deck, dated July 2022, presents a solution for the friction-filled world of urban planning. The cover slide (Slide 1) establishes a clear identity: "Augmented Reality-powered Cities Future." By defining the term "in situ" as "in its natural place," the company immediately signals its core value proposition—allowing stakeholders to see proposed buildings exactly where they are intended to stand. The visual language is clean, utilizing a mix of architectural illustration and modern typography to appeal to both tech investors and real estate professionals.

The Problem: The NIMBY Friction

Slide 2, titled "The Problem," uses a political cartoon to illustrate the "Not In My Back Yard" (NIMBY) phenomenon. The company identifies four key pain points: major distrust leading to opposition, classic participants having a strong interest in stopping development, projects being delayed or rejected, and the resulting unaffordability of urban centers. This slide is effective because it frames a technical solution (AR) as a social and economic remedy for a well-known systemic bottleneck in the real estate industry.

The Value Proposition: Time and Cost Savings

Slide 3, "Multi-Phase Savings," is the most data-heavy slide in the deck. It maps out a typical four-year planning timeline for New York City. It highlights that the "Community Engagement and Public Review" phase is a primary source of delay. By implementing "Smart engagement," inCitu claims developers can save $750,000 in costs and move the "Plan Approved" milestone forward by 15 months. The tagline at the bottom, "inCitu makes MORE PEOPLE become YIMBY's," directly positions the product as a tool for political and social engineering in favor of development.

Go-To-Market and Strategy

On Slide 4, the company outlines its focus on "Large-Scale Developments." They explicitly state they work with the largest real estate developers in the country. The slide features a rendering of 175 Park Avenue, a 1,575-foot-tall design in Manhattan, as a case study. The strategy is described as "Bottom Up," aiming to build trust and create confidence by incorporating hyper-local knowledge. This indicates a B2B2C model where the developer pays for the service to facilitate smoother public relations and entitlement processes.

Traction and Roadmap

Slide 5 provides a chronological "Business Roadmap" from 2019 to 2022. Key highlights include:

2019: AR Community-led planning in Red Hook, Brooklyn. · July 2020: Selection for a 2-year EIR Program for Schmidt Futures. · May 2021: Midtown Manhattan Pilot with Community Board 5 and PAU Studio. · Q3+Q4 2021: First revenue, first city-partnership, and a venture-led pre-seed round. · 2022 Q1: Partnership with Snap Inc. and winning the Smart 50 Awards.

The roadmap concludes with a mention of a "Q2 2022: Seed Round," though the specific amount sought is not listed on this slide.

Product-Market Fit and Demographics

Slide 6, "Critical Product-Market Fit: Diversifying Participation," uses four pie charts to show who is using the app. The data, based on 56 responders, suggests that inCitu reaches a different crowd than traditional town hall meetings. Key metrics include 44.4% of users in the 26-35 age bracket and a staggering 72.2% of users being renters. This is a powerful argument for developers and city officials who are often criticized for only listening to older, wealthier homeowners.

The Macro Environment: Why Now?

Slide 7 addresses the "Why Now?" question through three lenses. First, "Political Momentum," citing $350M in ARPA funds allocated for inclusive recovery. Second, "Technology is here," noting that the AR market is projected to reach $340.16B by 2028 with a 43.8% CAGR. Third, "Climate Change & Public Health," arguing that stagnated planning literally costs lives. This slide attempts to tie a niche prop-tech tool to massive global trends and government spending priorities.

What Works in the inCitu Deck

Clear ROI Calculation: Slide 3 does an excellent job of quantifying the value of the product. In real estate, time is money, and claiming a 15-month acceleration is a compelling hook for any developer dealing with carrying costs and interest rates.

Demographic Shift: The data on Slide 6 is a unique selling point. Most prop-tech decks focus on the developer's side of the dashboard. By showing that they can actually move the needle on community participation—and specifically engage renters and younger citizens—inCitu offers a solution to a political problem that money alone usually can't solve.

Strategic Partnerships: Mentioning Schmidt Futures and Snap Inc. on the roadmap (Slide 5) provides significant third-party validation. These are not typical real estate names, suggesting the company has broader tech and social impact appeal.

What is Missing from the inCitu Deck

The Team Slide: In the provided selection of slides, there is no mention of the founders or their backgrounds. For a company operating at the intersection of urban planning, AR technology, and municipal government, the pedigree of the team is vital. Investors would want to see expertise in architecture, city government, or high-end software engineering.

Business Model Specifics: While the deck mentions "first revenue" on Slide 5, it doesn't explain how they charge. Is it a per-project fee? A SaaS subscription for developers? A licensing fee for cities? Without this, the $750k savings mentioned on Slide 3 lacks a corresponding cost-of-service context.

The Ask: Slide 5 mentions a Seed Round in Q2 2022, but the deck does not state how much they are raising, the valuation, or the intended use of funds. A standard pitch deck should clearly define what the capital will achieve (e.g., "Raising $2M to expand to 5 new cities").

Competitive Landscape: There is no mention of other visualization tools or traditional architectural rendering firms. Investors need to know why a developer would choose an interactive AR app over a high-quality 3D video walkthrough or a physical scale model.

Founder Takeaways

Quantify the 'Soft' Problems: inCitu takes a soft problem (community distrust) and turns it into a hard metric (15 months of delay). Founders in regulated industries should follow this lead by mapping their solution onto a standard industry timeline to show exactly where they shave off time and cost.

Use Data to Prove Inclusivity: If your startup claims to be "democratizing" or "inclusive," you must prove it with data. Slide 6 is a masterclass in using small-sample data (56 responders) to tell a large, convincing story about demographic shifts that investors care about.

Leverage Macro Trends: The "Why Now" slide (Slide 7) is well-constructed because it doesn't just rely on tech trends. By citing specific government funding (ARPA), the founders show they understand the capital flows of their target market (municipalities and developers).