Should a pitch deck show press logos and awards? Seven real slides compared: what media coverage and prizes prove to investors, and what they don't.
Press and Awards Slide: Pitch Deck Examples
Seven real slides, shown in full, compare how startups use media coverage, app store features and awards as evidence.
TL;DR
Press and awards show that someone outside the company noticed you. They do not show customers, revenue or retention, so investors weigh them lightly. The slides below that work best name the award and who gave it (Bower: "Named Top Civic Tech Project in Sweden by the Ministry of Enterprise and Innovation"), tie a feature to a channel result (By Rotation: "Featured in App Store over 3 times"), or put press beside hard numbers (House of Highness: "£100,000+ revenue over 12 months"). A wall of logos with no dates (Heyday, Liquid Marketplace) is weaker. Keep it to one slide or a strip, say what each mention was, and let traction lead.
Press and awards slides from real pitch decks
Each example shows the exact stored slide above its analysis and links to the full teardown. Claims are as shown on the slides; we have not verified them. Stage and year are given only where the slide or deck states them.
Bower press slide — slide 6
Recycling-rewards app, Sweden. A different slide from this deck appears in the executive summary guide. Stage and year are not stated on this slide.
Bower deck, slide 6. Exact stored slide matched to this analysis.
Our analysis: Each award is named with who gave it, so an investor can check it.
Evidence and limitation: No years. Add the year so investors know how recent each is.
What a founder can adapt: List each award with its name and who gave it.
Supporting analysis
What the deck claims: "An award-winning startup highly recognized on the startup scene." Five awards: Named Top Civic Tech Project in Sweden by the Ministry of Enterprise and Innovation; Future Entrepreneur (SvD); Largest Impact Within 5 Years (Nordea); Social Entrepreneurs of the Year (PwC); People's Choice (Norrsken). Photos from award events.
Presentation choice: Each award is named with who gave it, so an investor can check it.
When it does not fit: No years. Add the year so investors know how recent each is.
Peer-to-peer fashion rental app. The slide refers to January 2022.
By Rotation deck, slide 6. Exact stored slide matched to this analysis.
Our analysis: An App Store feature can bring users directly, so it's more than a logo.
Evidence and limitation: Download impact isn't shown. Add installs or signups from the feature.
What a founder can adapt: If a feature drove downloads, show the before-and-after.
Supporting analysis
What the deck claims: "A Recognised Tech Player": Featured in App Store over 3 times; proprietary platform; highly regarded iOS & Android app; web-based platform launched in January 2022; focus on data & analytics; no inventory risk, fully circular. Screenshots of App Store features including "App of the Day".
Presentation choice: An App Store feature can bring users directly, so it's more than a logo.
When it does not fit: Download impact isn't shown. Add installs or signups from the feature.
Consumer brand. Stage and year are not stated on the slide.
House of Highness deck, slide 4. Exact stored slide matched to this analysis.
Our analysis: The press mention sits as one tile beside revenue and repeat customers, which is the right weight.
Evidence and limitation: The book and author aren't named in full. Name them so the mention can be checked.
What a founder can adapt: Put press alongside hard numbers, not in place of them.
Supporting analysis
What the deck claims: "Traction": 7600 Instagram followers; £100,000+ revenue over 12 months; featured in The Digital Wealth Book by an African digital analyst; over 100 returning customers.
Presentation choice: The press mention sits as one tile beside revenue and repeat customers, which is the right weight.
When it does not fit: The book and author aren't named in full. Name them so the mention can be checked.
Video creation software. Stage and year are not stated on the slide.
Shakr deck, slide 2. Exact stored slide matched to this analysis.
Our analysis: Press and investors together give a quick credibility read on an early slide.
Evidence and limitation: No dates or headlines. Link or date each article.
What a founder can adapt: If you pair press with investors, keep each group labelled, as Shakr does.
Supporting analysis
What the deck claims: "Investors": 500 Startups, NHN Investment, Strong Ventures, POSCO, John Lagerling (Facebook VP), Chris Koh (Coupang VP). "As Seen In": TechCrunch, BusinessWeek, CNBC, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, beSUCCESS.
Presentation choice: Press and investors together give a quick credibility read on an early slide.
When it does not fit: No dates or headlines. Link or date each article.
Conversational AI for retail, Montreal. Stage and year are not stated on the slide.
Heyday deck, slide 3. Exact stored slide matched to this analysis.
Our analysis: Fifteen outlets across English and French media show broad coverage.
Evidence and limitation: A full slide of logos with no dates or headlines. Shrink it to a strip.
What a founder can adapt: If you have many mentions, pick the three most relevant to your buyers.
Supporting analysis
What the deck claims: "Featured in": Business Insider, Forbes, VentureBeat, La Presse, The Washington Post, Les Affaires, Vice, Quartz, Le Devoir, Rythme FM, SiriusXM, Infopresse, Elle, MarTech Exec, Chatbots Magazine.
Presentation choice: Fifteen outlets across English and French media show broad coverage.
When it does not fit: A full slide of logos with no dates or headlines. Shrink it to a strip.
Athletic apparel brand. Stage and year are not stated on the slide.
RYU Apparel deck, slide 4. Exact stored slide matched to this analysis.
Our analysis: The rest of the slide is concrete; the award claim is the weakest line.
Evidence and limitation: "Award-winning" with no award named. Investors will ask which one.
What a founder can adapt: Treat this as a slide to improve on: name the award or drop the claim.
Supporting analysis
What the deck claims: "Highlights — Award-winning brand with large, loyal and active customer base in fast-growing athletic apparel category." Renewal: completed recapitalization of $4.8m with operational improvements (Shopify platform, cross-border warehousing, decommissioning inefficiencies, planned store reopenings). Leaders & partners: internal leadership, new industry hires, partnerships including Zoom Media, Canada Skateboard Olympic Team, Afterpay.
Presentation choice: The rest of the slide is concrete; the award claim is the weakest line.
When it does not fit: "Award-winning" with no award named. Investors will ask which one.
Named, dated, linked-to-results mentions carry more weight.
Example
Type
Named source
Dated
Tied to results
Bower
Awards
Yes
No
No
By Rotation
App store features
Yes
Partly
No
House of Highness
Book mention
Partly
No
Beside revenue
Shakr
Press logos
Outlets only
No
No
Heyday
Press logos
Outlets only
No
No
Liquid Marketplace
Press logos
Outlets only
No
No
RYU Apparel
Award claim
No
No
No
Key Takeaways
Press is outside attention, not traction. Keep it secondary.
Name the award and who gave it. Bower does.
App store features count if they brought users. Say how many.
Logo walls need dates and context to mean much.
An unnamed "award-winning" claim adds nothing. Name the award.
Build your press and awards slide
Only include mentions you can name and date.
Mentions. Which three mentions matter most to your buyers or investors?
Details. Outlet or awarding body, headline or award name, month and year?
Effect. Did any mention bring signups, sales or partners? How many?
Placement. Full slide, strip on the traction slide, or appendix?
Copyable framework: [Award] from [body], [year]. Featured in [outlet] ([month year]): [result, e.g. 1,200 signups that week].
Illustrative example 1 — written by us
Before: Award-winning. As seen in: [logos]
After: Winner, [Award name], [Body], 2025. Featured in [Outlet], Mar 2025: 1,200 waitlist signups in 48 hours.
What improved: Our illustrative rewrite; names and figures are invented. It names the award and outlet, dates both, and shows the result.
What this guide adds
The testimonial guide covers customer quotes; the customer logo guide covers who buys. This guide covers third-party attention: media coverage, app store features and prizes.
Common mistakes
Unnamed awards. Name the award and who gave it.
Undated logos. Add the month and year.
Press instead of traction. Put press beside revenue and customers, not in place of them.
Too many logos. Pick the three that matter to your audience.
Diagnostic checklist
Each award names the award and the body.
Each mention is dated.
Any effect on signups or sales is shown.
Press sits after traction or as a strip.
Frequently asked questions
How we chose these examples
Corpus: published pitch deck teardowns on StartupFundraising.com. Founder-uploaded private decks are excluded.
Selection (2026-09-24): we searched extracted text of slides 2–6 for press and award terms (featured in, as seen in, award-winning, recognised), excluding fund decks, and inspected eight candidates. We excluded Marianna Naturals (text too small to read).
Overlap check: the testimonial and customer logo guides cover customer evidence. This guide covers third-party attention.
Review: all seven stored slide images were inspected on 2026-09-24 and matched to company, deck and slide number (editorial model review). No person has yet completed an editorial review of this page.
Claims are as shown on the slides. We make no claim that any slide caused a fundraising outcome.
