Announcing o11's backing from Y Combinator.
Top 5 Automated Pitch Deck Generators for Dealmakers
“Can you put this in a slide?” The most dangerous words in banking.
Slide generation tools have been around for a while (think Beautiful.ai or Tome), but they have historically failed the “Investment Banking Test.” They look too “techy,” too colorful, or they can’t handle complex data.
In 2026, a new wave of tools has arrived. Here are the top contenders.
1. o11 (The Native Specialist)
Verdict: The only one that builds real PowerPoint slides.
Most “generators” create a web page that looks like a slide. o11 runs inside outputting native .pptx files. It uses your firm’s actual master template (colors, fonts, logos). It is indistinguishable from a human-made deck.
2. Microsoft Copilot (The Built-in)
Verdict: Good for starting points. Copilot varies wildly in quality. It is great at “Create a slide about AI,” but bad at “Create a slide comparing these 3 specific companies with this data table.” It often ignores master slide formatting.
3. Beautiful.ai (The Designer)
Verdict: Great for consultants, bad for bankers. It forces you into their templates. The slides look gorgeous, but they don’t look like a standard CIM or Pitchbook. Hard to customize deeply.
4. Gamma (The Visual Storyteller)
Verdict: Amazing for creative pitches. Gamma is incredible for “Memo-to-Deck” conversion for startups or VC pitches. It’s less suited for rigid data-heavy banking slides.
5. SlideGen (The Data Viz Tool)
Verdict: Niche use case. Great for turning a CSV into a chart slide. But lacks the full “storytelling” capability of o11 or Copilot.
The “Banker Quality” Test
To work in IB/PE, a tool must:
- Respect the Master Template perfectly.
- Allow every shape/text box to be edited natively.
- Link to Excel data.
Only o11 passes all three.
