What is the primary problem Proper Finance addresses?

According to Slide 3, Proper addresses the issue of fintech outgrowing its infrastructure. Specifically, it highlights that financial data is scattered across complex systems, legacy banking protocols are unfit for modern developers, and data accuracy problems are growing as the sector fragments.

How does Proper describe its product architecture?

On Slide 7, the company presents an 'Integrated Proper Platform' consisting of a Financial Data Platform layer that sits above Banks, Networks, and Payment Providers. This platform feeds into three core modules: Reconciliation, Insights, and Workflows, all managed via a Unified Dashboard.

Who are the target customers for Proper Finance?

Slide 9 states that the market opportunity spans early-stage startups to 'household names in fintech.' The addressable sectors include banking, lending, payments, and securities companies.

What metrics or traction are shown in the deck?

The deck contains no specific metrics, user counts, revenue figures, or growth percentages. It relies entirely on qualitative descriptions of the problem and the high-level architecture of the solution.

Is there a team slide in the Proper Finance deck?

No. The 12-slide deck provided does not include a team slide, bios, or mentions of the founders' backgrounds, which is a significant omission for a Seed stage fundraising document.

Proper Finance Pitch Deck: All 12 Slides + Teardown

See all 12 slides of the Proper Finance pitch deck — a 2023 Seed deck — with a slide-by-slide teardown of what the deck does well and where it falls short.

Proper Finance utilized a highly minimalist 12-slide deck to secure a $4.3M Seed round in 2023. The presentation avoids the typical clutter of early-stage decks, opting instead for broad thematic statements and high-level architectural diagrams. By framing the problem as a systemic failure of legacy banking protocols to meet modern developer needs, Proper positions its reconciliation software not just as a tool, but as a foundational 'Financial Data Platform.' While the deck is notably light on specific metrics, team bios, and competitive analysis, it successfully communicates a clear value p…

Key takeaways

The deck uses a minimalist aesthetic with significant white space to emphasize core messaging (Slide 1).
The problem is defined as a mismatch between legacy banking protocols and modern developer requirements (Slide 3).
Proper positions its solution as a three-pillar value prop: speed, accuracy, and confidence (Slide 5).
A functional block diagram illustrates the platform as a middle layer between banks/networks and a unified dashboard (Slide 7).
The market opportunity is defined broadly, encompassing banking, lending, payments, and securities (Slide 9).
The deck omits a dedicated team slide, which is unusual for a Seed round raise (Slide 1-12).
No specific financial metrics, traction figures, or revenue targets are included in the 12-slide sequence.
The mission statement focuses on ecosystem health and innovation speed rather than specific product features (Slide 11).

The Minimalist Infrastructure Play

Proper Finance’s 12-slide deck is a study in restraint. In an era where fintech decks are often bloated with complex regulatory diagrams and dense unit economics, Proper opted for a high-level conceptual pitch. As reported by Business Insider, this deck helped secure $4.3M in Seed funding in 2023. The narrative focuses on the 'plumbing' of fintech—specifically, the reconciliation of data across disparate systems.

Slide 1: Title and Positioning

The deck opens with a clean title slide featuring the company name 'Proper' and the subtitle 'Modern financial data infrastructure for fintech.' The visual language is established immediately: minimalist, professional, and tech-forward. By using the term 'infrastructure' rather than 'tool' or 'app,' the company signals that it intends to be a foundational layer in the tech stack.

Slide 3: The Problem Statement

Slide 3 identifies a specific pain point: fintech is outgrowing its infrastructure. The slide lists three bullet points: financial data is scattered, legacy protocols are unfit for developers, and data accuracy problems are growing. This slide is effective because it connects a technical problem (data fragmentation) to a business risk (integrity issues). It frames the current state of the industry as unsustainable without a new layer of software.

Slide 5: The Solution Overview

Under the heading 'ABOUT PROPER,' Slide 5 defines the company as 'reconciliation software for modern fintechs.' It breaks the value proposition into three buckets: expediting financial operations, maintaining complete financial accuracy, and launching/scaling with confidence. The use of simple icons and brief text keeps the focus on the outcomes rather than the features.

Slide 7: The Integrated Platform

This is the most technical slide in the deck. It provides a block diagram of the 'Integrated Proper Platform.' It shows a bottom layer of data sources (Banks, Networks, Payment Providers) feeding into a 'Financial Data Platform.' Above this platform are three functional blocks: Reconciliation, Insights, and Workflows, all topped by a 'Unified Dashboard.' This slide is crucial because it explains how the product works without getting bogged down in API documentation or code snippets.

Slide 9: Market Opportunity

Slide 9 addresses the 'Opportunity.' It claims the market spans all company stages and sectors. The addressable market is listed as banking, lending, payments, and securities. While the slide mentions that early customers include 'household names in fintech,' it does not name them. This is a common tactic to build intrigue, though investors usually require specific names during due diligence.

Slide 11: Mission and Vision

The deck concludes its narrative with a mission statement on Slide 11: 'to accelerate the speed of innovation in fintech and improve the health of the financial services ecosystem.' The background uses a soft gradient, contrasting with the stark white of the previous slides, signaling a shift from the 'what' to the 'why.'

What Works in the Proper Finance Deck

Clarity of Purpose: The deck never wavers from its core message. It is about financial data integrity. By repeating terms like 'infrastructure' and 'accuracy,' the founders ensure that the investor understands exactly which category they are playing in.

Visual Hierarchy: The design is exceptionally clean. Each slide has a single clear takeaway. This prevents 'slide fatigue' and allows the presenter to control the pace of the conversation. The use of a consistent grid and limited color palette makes the company appear mature and organized.

Problem-Solution Fit: The transition from the 'scattered data' problem on Slide 3 to the 'integrated platform' solution on Slide 7 is logical and satisfying. It follows the classic storytelling arc of identifying a gap and then showing the bridge that closes it.

What Is Missing from the Proper Finance Deck

The Team: The most glaring omission is a team slide. In a Seed round, the 'who' is often as important as the 'what.' Investors want to know if the founders have experience at the 'household names' mentioned in the deck or if they have dealt with legacy banking protocols firsthand.

Traction and Metrics: There is no mention of revenue, growth, number of customers, or volume of transactions processed. While a Seed deck can sometimes rely on vision, having at least one slide dedicated to early momentum or pilot results would have strengthened the case.

Competition: The deck does not acknowledge the competitive landscape. Reconciliation is a crowded space with both legacy incumbents and other modern startups. Failing to position Proper against these alternatives leaves a significant question mark for the investor.

The Ask: The provided slides do not include a 'The Ask' slide detailing how much capital is being raised and how it will be deployed. While this is often removed from public versions of decks, its absence in a fundraising context is a missing piece of the strategic puzzle.

Founder Takeaways

Infrastructure Framing: If you are building a B2B tool, try framing it as 'infrastructure.' This suggests a higher level of necessity and stickiness than a 'platform' or 'software solution.' Proper does this effectively from Slide 1.

Use Diagrams to Simplify Complexity: Slide 7 is a great example of how to explain a complex multi-layered product. Instead of listing 50 features, group them into logical blocks that show the flow of data. This helps non-technical investors grasp the product's utility quickly.

Less is More: Proper proves that you don't need 30 slides to raise millions. If your value proposition is strong and the problem is obvious to those in the industry, a short, punchy deck can be more effective than a long, rambling one. Focus on the 'big ideas' and save the granular details for the data room.

Frequently asked questions

What is the primary problem Proper Finance addresses?: According to Slide 3, Proper addresses the issue of fintech outgrowing its infrastructure. Specifically, it highlights that financial data is scattered across complex systems, legacy banking protocols are unfit for modern developers, and data accuracy problems are growing as the sector fragments.
How does Proper describe its product architecture?: On Slide 7, the company presents an 'Integrated Proper Platform' consisting of a Financial Data Platform layer that sits above Banks, Networks, and Payment Providers. This platform feeds into three core modules: Reconciliation, Insights, and Workflows, all managed via a Unified Dashboard.
Who are the target customers for Proper Finance?: Slide 9 states that the market opportunity spans early-stage startups to 'household names in fintech.' The addressable sectors include banking, lending, payments, and securities companies.
What metrics or traction are shown in the deck?: The deck contains no specific metrics, user counts, revenue figures, or growth percentages. It relies entirely on qualitative descriptions of the problem and the high-level architecture of the solution.
Is there a team slide in the Proper Finance deck?: No. The 12-slide deck provided does not include a team slide, bios, or mentions of the founders' backgrounds, which is a significant omission for a Seed stage fundraising document.

Cover slide of the Proper Finance pitch deck — Seed 2023 — Proper Finance pitch deck, slide 1 (2023)

Proper Finance pitch deck: the facts

Company: Proper Finance
Year: 2023
Stage: Seed
Slides: 12
Sector: Fintech
Deck type: Pitch Deck
Outcome: $4.3M Raised
Headquarters: North America

Proper Finance pitch deck PDF

The full Proper Finance deck is embedded on this page and can be read slide by slide in the browser — no download or account required. Each slide is covered in the breakdown above.

What the Proper Finance pitch deck was used for

This is Proper Finance’s 12-slide seed-stage pitch deck featured by Business Insider in connection with a USD 4.3M seed round for its reconciliation and ledger platform for modern fintechs.[1] The deck was used around June 2022 to raise a seed round led by Redpoint Ventures with participation from Y Combinator, BoxGroup, Mischief, and others, positioning Proper as critical financial infrastructure for fintechs that need precise, scalable reconciliation.[1][2][4][8] The teardown focuses on how the deck framed Proper’s integrated reconciliation software and financial data platform as an infrastructure layer that solves accuracy and data fragmentation problems for fast-growing fintechs.[1][2][4]

Business model: Proper Finance provides an integrated reconciliation and ledger data platform that serves as a modern financial data infrastructure layer for fintechs and other transaction-heavy businesses, helping them maintain complete financial accuracy across accounts and money movement.[2][4][7][13]

Round: Seed.[1][2][4][11][13]
Raised: USD 4.3M seed round.[1][2][4][11][13]
Lead investor: Redpoint Ventures.[2][4][8][11][13]
Investors: Redpoint Ventures, Y Combinator, BoxGroup, Mischief, Additional undisclosed or smaller investors noted as “and more” in the seed announcement.[2]
Founders: Kyle Maloney, Travis Gibson
Headquarters: San Francisco, California, United States.[2][4][7][9][11]

Year: 2022 (seed round announced June 8, 2022; Business Insider later referenced the deck in its library).

Industry: Fintech; financial data infrastructure and reconciliation software for financial services, payments, and accounting.[2][4][7][12][13]

Total funding: USD 4.3M seed round publicly announced; several profiles report total raised around USD 4.3–4.8M, but only the USD 4.3M seed is clearly sourced.[2][4][7][11][13]

Use of funds as presented: Further develop Proper’s product suite, including Reconciliation-as-a-Service, payments data platform, and universal ledger; introduce no-code tools for payment operations teams to track and reconcile money movement across systems; and build additional payment method integrations.[2][4]

What happened after the Proper Finance deck

After raising a USD 4.3M seed round in June 2022 and building an integrated reconciliation and ledger platform for fintechs, Proper Finance continued to grow its product and customer base and was ultimately acquired by Intuit in March 2024.[2][4][6][7][14]

Closed a USD 4.3M seed round announced on June 8, 2022, led by Redpoint Ventures with participation from Y Combinator, B
Participated in Y Combinator’s Winter 2022 batch as a fintech infrastructure startup.[2][3][9][12]
Developed a product suite including Reconciliation-as-a-Service, payments data platform, universal ledger, and no-code t
Proper later joined Intuit via an acquisition completed in March 2024, after operating as a seed-stage company with gene

What the Proper Finance deck got right

Strong and focused positioning as core fintech reconciliation infrastructure. Proper is framed as an **integrated reconciliation and ledger infrastructure platform** specifically for fintechs, a clear and focused positioning that matches a well-defined pain point—maintaining complete financial accuracy across fragmented systems and high transaction volumes.[2][4][8][12][13] This clarity of role as an infrastructure layer is likely reflected in the deck’s messaging.
High-quality seed syndicate directly associated with this deck. The seed round attracted a strong investor syndicate—Redpoint Ventures (lead), Y Combinator, BoxGroup, Mischief, and others—which Business Insider explicitly ties to the 12-slide deck.[1][2][4][8][11][13] This investor validation enhances the perceived quality of the deck and the underlying business.
Coherent multi-product platform narrative grounded in reconciliation. The product story encompasses Reconciliation-as-a-Service, a payments data platform, a universal ledger, and no-code tools for payment operations, offering a coherent platform narrative rather than a single feature.[2][4][5][12][13] This breadth suggests that the deck likely communicates a roadmap from core reconciliation into broader financial operations tooling.
Concise 12-slide structure prioritizing clarity. External descriptions emphasize that the deck prioritized **clarity over density**, keeping it to 12 pages while still conveying the key story about infrastructure, product suite, and investor interest.[1] For investors, a concise yet clear deck can improve comprehension and discussion quality.
Compelling mission linking precise financial data to broader ecosystem health. The mission—accelerating fintech innovation and improving the health of the financial services ecosystem by ensuring precise financial data at scale—connects a technical infrastructure product to a larger industry impact narrative.[2][4] This mission-driven framing likely strengthens the deck’s emotional and strategic appeal.

What could have been stronger

Limited externally visible traction and usage metrics in association with the deck. Public sources describe the product suite (Reconciliation-as-a-Service, payments data platform, universal ledger, no-code tools), but there is limited information about concrete customer traction metrics (e.g., number of customers, processed transaction volume, revenue) in the materials tied to this deck.[2][4] Without visible traction slides, investors may have to infer product-market fit from narrative and investor backing rather than hard customer data.
Competitive landscape and differentiation appear underdeveloped in the deck’s external narrative. The reconciliation and ledger space is crowded with incumbent solutions and newer fintech infrastructure platforms, yet the publicly described story around this deck focuses more on product capabilities than explicit competitive benchmarks or differentiation versus specific named competitors.[2][4][8][12][13] That can leave a gap in how uniquely defensible Proper’s offering appears from the deck narrative alone.
Go-to-market and business model scaling details are relatively sparse. Materials connected to the seed announcement emphasize use of funds for product development and new features but provide fewer specifics about go-to-market strategy, sales motion, or long-term business model scaling (pricing, margins, expansion path), which are critical questions for infrastructure SaaS investors.[2][4][8][12] If the deck mirrors this emphasis, it may underweight commercial strategy relative to product.
Economic impact of the solution may not be quantified strongly in the deck. The Business Insider feature highlights that the deck prioritizes clarity over density, but when paired with external information, there is no clear indication that the deck rigorously quantified the operational pain points (e.g., error rates, reconciliation time saved, compliance risk reduction) in numeric terms, which can weaken the economic argument for the solution.[1][2][4]

How an investor would read this deck

What draws attention

Proper is positioned as a **critical financial infrastructure layer** for modern fintechs, offering integrated reconciliation and a universal ledger, which aligns with the broader thesis around fintech infrastructure and back-office automation.[2][4][8][12][13]
The company already attracted a strong seed syndicate including Redpoint Ventures, Y Combinator, BoxGroup, and Mischief, which indicates early validation of the team and product vision.[1][2][4][8][11][13]
Founders Kyle Maloney and Travis Gibson have backgrounds in fintech and data operations, and are explicitly highlighted in investor materials, suggesting a team narrative that investors will examine closely.[4][8][11]
The product scope—Reconciliation-as-a-Service, payments data platform, and universal ledger—touches multiple pain points in financial operations, making the platform story and potential expansion into broader financial data infrastructure attractive to investors.[2][4][8][12][13]

Risks that stand out

The reconciliation and ledger infrastructure space has many competing solutions from both startups and incumbents; without clear comparative metrics, Proper could face intense pricing and feature competition.[2][4][8][12][13]
Fintech customers often have complex, legacy systems and regulatory constraints, so implementation friction and integration complexity can slow adoption and increase churn if the platform cannot demonstrate seamless integration.[2][4][5][12][13]
If most of Proper’s early growth depends on fintechs with high transaction volumes but volatile business models, macro or regulatory shocks to fintech could materially affect demand for reconciliation infrastructure.[2][4][12][13]
The seed narrative emphasizes product development; if go-to-market execution lags, the company may struggle to convert strong product capabilities into sustainable revenue growth in a crowded infrastructure market.[2][4][8][12][13]

Questions this deck invites

What specific customer segments (e.g., neobanks, payment processors, marketplaces) were using Proper at the time of the seed round, and what were their usage metrics (active accounts, transaction volume, retention)?[2][4][12][13]
How does Proper’s reconciliation and ledger platform compare to incumbent solutions and other fintech infrastructure providers in terms of time-to-implement, data coverage, and error-rate reduction, and are there live case studies to substa
What is the pricing model for Reconciliation-as-a-Service and the universal ledger (SaaS subscription, usage-based, per-transaction), and how does that translate into gross margins and long-term unit economics?[2][4][12][13]
To what extent is the platform defensible via technology (e.g., data model, automation, integrations), switching costs, or regulatory/compliance capabilities versus being mainly an execution play in a competitive infrastructure market?[2][4
How did Proper plan to scale sales and customer success for a specialized infrastructure product serving fintechs, and what early signals existed on sales cycle length and deal sizes at the time of the seed raise?[2][4][12][13]

What founders can take from the Proper Finance deck

Positioning reconciliation and ledger tooling as **core financial infrastructure** for fintechs can resonate with investors when backed by a clear description of how fragmented data and inaccurate ledgers create significant operational and compliance risk.[2][4][8][12][13]
A concise, 12-slide deck that prioritizes clarity over density can still support a multi-faceted product story if external materials and investor communications reinforce the narrative about the product suite and mission.[1][2][4][8]
Anchoring a seed raise around a **clearly defined product suite**—Reconciliation-as-a-Service, payments data platform, and universal ledger—helps investors understand both the immediate offering and the longer-term platform roadmap.[2][4]
Explicitly naming a strong investor syndicate (Redpoint Ventures, Y Combinator, BoxGroup, Mischief, and others) can increase perceived credibility of the deck and reduce uncertainty about the quality of the team and opportunity.[1][2][4][8][11][13]
Tying use of funds to specific product milestones (feature expansion, no-code tools, additional payment integrations) provides investors with a coherent picture of how capital will convert into product value, which can strengthen a seed-stage pitch.[2][4]
Framing the company’s mission around improving the health of the financial services ecosystem by ensuring precise financial data at scale connects a technical infrastructure product to a larger vision, which can be compelling in early-stage pitches.[2][4]

Proper Finance pitch deck: common questions

What does Proper Finance do?

Proper Finance is a fintech infrastructure company that provides an integrated reconciliation and ledger data platform, allowing fintechs and other transaction-heavy businesses to unify financial data, automate reconciliation, and maintain complete financial accuracy across accounts and money movement.[2][4][7][13]

How much did Proper Finance raise with this pitch deck, and from whom?

Proper Finance publicly announced a USD 4.3M seed round in June 2022, led by Redpoint Ventures with participation from Y Combinator, BoxGroup, Mischief, and other investors.[1][2][4][8][11][13] This pitch deck, as shown by Business Insider, is the 12-slide seed deck associated with that seed fundraise.[1]

What is Proper Finance using its seed funding for?

According to a press release and investor materials, Proper Finance’s seed funding is being used to further develop its Reconciliation-as-a-Service offering, a payments data platform, and a universal ledger, as well as introducing no-code tools for payment operations teams and additional payment method integrations.[2][4]

Who are Proper Finance’s target customers?

Proper Finance’s platform targets modern fintechs and other fast-growing companies dealing with high volumes of transactions, including marketplaces and payments businesses, by offering scalable reconciliation and ledger software delivered via APIs and no-code tools.[2][4][8][12][13]

Is Proper Finance backed by Y Combinator, and in which batch?

Multiple profiles indicate that Proper Finance participated in Y Combinator’s Winter 2022 batch (YC W22), and is described as a Y Combinator-backed company in the seed funding announcement.[2][3][9][12]