IQ Capital is a Cambridge venture capital firm that backs deeptech: companies built on hard science. In 2022 it needed a deck for a new growth fund, aimed at the people it would ask to invest.
That audience is broad. It runs from former founders and family offices to institutions that have never invested in venture before, and seasoned fund selectors who see dozens of polished decks and are looking for a reason to say no. As the IQ team told us, most of them need deeptech explained before they can judge it. The deck had to look institution-ready, make the case for a specialist deeptech fund in plain terms, and stand out in a crowded pile.
We started with a Brandscape workshop with the IQ team, mapping who the fund needed to reach and what each audience wanted from it. On the investor side, that meant high-net-worth individuals and family offices, who want to trust the people behind a fund, and institutional fund selectors, who need precision, a track record and a clear reason to back a specialist. On the founder side, we built personas for the kinds of founders IQ backs: one scaling a business that has found its market, an academic founder raising early rounds for technology few people understand, and an experienced industry expert with one big problem to solve.
For each founder persona we set out what IQ gives, what it protects and what it represents. For the scaling founder, that meant investment and expertise they can trust, protection for the long-term growth of their company, and a partner to guide them through it. The workshop also captured how the team sees itself: a partner rather than just a source of money, happy to back founders other funds pass over because their technology is too complex.
From there we structured the deck and explored five visual routes for it: foundational lines, a bold mark, clean and calm tech, dynamic movement and sophisticated confidence. As part of that exploration we modelled the IQ Capital wordmark in 3D, rendering it in IQ red and white from layered letters, outlines and shadows.
The art direction we developed for the deck is built on a single shape: a soft white form with angled, chamfered corners. Rendered in 3D and layered into stepped compositions, it gives the pages a calm, precise backdrop that feels engineered rather than corporate, and the same chamfered shape frames photography of the team and portfolio companies.
We then designed the growth fund deck in this system. In the summer of 2022 we also helped IQ plan the About Us page of its website around the three audiences it needs to reach: deeptech founders at seed and Series A, the investors in its funds, and the people who might join its team.
In June 2023 IQ Capital announced $400 million across two new funds: its fourth venture fund and its second Growth Fund.
Outfly, a London brand, marketing and product agency, ran a Brandscape strategy workshop with IQ Capital in 2022, structured its growth fund deck, explored five visual routes for it and created the 3D art direction for the final design.
For the investors IQ Capital needed to win, from high-net-worth individuals and family offices to institutions new to venture and experienced fund selectors who review many decks and need a clear reason to choose a specialist deeptech fund.
It is Outfly’s strategy workshop for mapping a brand’s audiences. With IQ Capital it defined investor and founder personas, set out what IQ gives, protects and represents for each founder persona, and then shaped the deck.
We explored five visual routes, including 3D renders of the IQ Capital wordmark in red and white, then built the final art direction from soft white 3D forms with chamfered corners, a shape that also frames photography of the team and portfolio companies.
