What Information Do Investors Want from Feasibility Studies?

Around 7 in 10 app startups fail to secure funding after their first investor meeting, and the main reason isn't a bad idea but rather a poorly prepared feasibility study that doesn't answer the questions investors actually care about. I've watched this happen probably 30 times now in my years running Glance, where founders walk into meetings with beautiful decks full of nice graphics and big promises but missing the specific details that serious investors need to make their decision... and the thing that keeps surprising me is how often these founders genuinely don't know what information was missing until it's too late.

The gap between what founders think investors want to hear and what investors need to know is often what kills an otherwise fundable app project

A feasibility study for a mobile app isn't really about proving your app will work, it's about showing investors exactly how their money will turn into more money, and I guess that sounds obvious but you'd be shocked how many studies focus on features and technology without properly connecting those dots to revenue and returns. After working on funding pitches for apps in healthcare, fintech and e-commerce sectors over the past decade, I've learned that investors follow a pretty consistent pattern in what they look for, and when you understand that pattern you can structure your feasibility study to answer their questions before they even ask them. The document you create needs to show market opportunity backed by real research, financial projections that stand up to scrutiny, a technical plan that proves you understand the challenges ahead, a team capable of actually building what you're proposing, and a clear path to the kind of returns that make investing in your app worth their time and risk compared to putting that same money elsewhere.

Understanding What Makes Investors Say Yes

Investors reviewing mobile app proposals are basically trying to answer three questions that sort of blend together but each needs addressing separately in your feasibility study. Can this team build what they're describing, will enough people actually use it and pay for it, and how do I get my money back with a decent multiple attached to it. I've sat in rooms with angel investors and venture capital partners, and while their specific requirements vary based on investment size and sector focus, these core questions remain pretty much the same whether you're raising £50k or half a million quid.

The presentation format matters less than you'd think.

What really gets investors interested is seeing that you've thought through the hard questions about your app business, not just the exciting possibilities but the potential problems too, and that you've got reasonable answers ready. The feasibility study needs to demonstrate that you understand both the mobile app market generally and your specific niche within it, that you've identified who will use your app and why they'll choose it over existing alternatives, and that you've mapped out a realistic path from initial funding through to either profitability or the next funding round.

Market Opportunity and Competition Analysis

When I review feasibility studies that failed to secure funding, the market section is almost always where things fall apart, usually because founders have convinced themselves their app idea is more unique than it actually is or they've massively overestimated the addressable market size by using top-down calculations that don't hold up. Investors want to see bottom-up market sizing that starts with your actual target user, shows how many of these people exist, demonstrates what percentage you could realistically reach with your marketing budget, and calculates revenue based on conservative conversion rates not best-case scenarios.

The competition analysis needs to be honest about what already exists in the market, and saying you have no competitors just tells investors you haven't done proper research because every app is competing for user attention and device storage space even if there isn't a direct functional equivalent. I worked with a fintech app founder who initially claimed no competition existed for their budgeting tool aimed at young professionals, but when we dug deeper we found at least eight apps targeting the same users plus spreadsheet templates, banking app features, and even pen-and-paper methods that people were currently using... and mapping all of those alternatives actually strengthened the pitch because it showed we understood the landscape and had identified specific weaknesses in existing solutions that our app would address.

• Total addressable market defined by actual user numbers not industry revenue
• Serviceable addressable market based on your geographic and demographic reach
• Serviceable obtainable market using realistic marketing and conversion assumptions
• Direct competitors with feature comparison and pricing analysis
• Indirect competitors including non-app alternatives
• Market trends affecting user behaviour and willingness to adopt new solutions

Build a spreadsheet showing your market sizing calculations with all assumptions clearly listed and sources cited, so investors can adjust your assumptions and see how that changes the opportunity size

User Research That Actually Proves Demand

Saying people "would probably use" your app based on conversations with friends doesn't count as market validation, and investors know the difference between polite interest and genuine intent to download and pay. Your feasibility study needs to show you've done proper research methods that validate market demand, which might include surveys with specific questions about current behaviour and pain points, interviews with potential users that uncover what they're willing to pay, competitor app reviews analysed for common complaints, and ideally some form of early validation like landing page signups or waitlist numbers. I've found that even spending £500 on Facebook ads to test messaging and measure actual click-through rates provides more credible market validation than months of casual conversations, because it shows what people do rather than what they say they'll do.

Financial Projections That Actually Make Sense

Here's where most feasibility studies lose credibility with investors, and I mean they completely fall apart, because the financial projections show hockey stick growth curves that jump from zero to millions in revenue without explaining exactly how that growth happens or what needs to be true for those numbers to work out. After building financial models for probably 40 different app funding proposals, I can tell you that investors would rather see conservative projections that you exceed than aggressive targets that make you look naive about how hard user acquisition really is in the current mobile market.

Your projections need to cover at least three years.

The first year should be month-by-month because investors want to see how you'll use their money in the early stages, and years two and three can be quarterly breakdowns that show the path to either profitability or the metrics that justify a Series A round. Each line in your financial projection needs to connect back to specific assumptions about user growth, conversion rates, pricing, and costs... and those assumptions need to come from somewhere real rather than just picking numbers that create the revenue story you want to tell.

Unit Economics and Customer Lifetime Value

Investors care deeply about unit economics because these numbers tell them whether your app business can actually work at scale or if growth just means losing more money faster. You need to show the cost to acquire each user, the revenue that user generates over their lifetime with your app, and how long it takes to recover that acquisition cost. I worked on a health and fitness app where our initial projections showed a customer acquisition cost of about £8 per user and lifetime value of £45 based on a subscription model with average retention of 7 months, which gave us a decent LTV to CAC ratio of around 5.6 to 1... but when we modelled different scenarios with higher churn or lower conversion rates, we could show investors that even in less optimistic conditions the business model still worked, just with slower growth and longer path to profitability. Understanding these fundamentals is part of building a solid foundation for your mobile app from the very beginning.

Your Technical Implementation Plan

The technical section of your feasibility study isn't meant to be a full specification document with every feature described in detail, but rather a high-level plan that proves you understand what's involved in building and maintaining a mobile app and that you've thought through the major technology decisions that affect both cost and timeline. Investors don't need to know which specific API you'll use for push notifications, but they do need to understand whether you're building native apps for iOS and Android separately or using a cross-platform approach, how you'll handle backend infrastructure and data storage, what third-party services you'll integrate, and roughly how complex the development is compared to other apps they might have funded.

Technical feasibility isn't about proving you can build every feature you've imagined, it's about showing you know which features matter for launch and which can wait until after you've validated the core concept with real users

I've seen founders damage their funding chances by presenting technical plans that are either too vague or too complex, and finding the right level is kind of tricky because you need enough detail to show you've thought this through properly but not so much technical jargon that you lose non-technical investors in the weeds. The sweet spot is explaining your technology choices in terms of what they mean for the business... so rather than saying "we'll use React Native for cross-platform development," you'd explain that you're choosing a cross-platform approach that lets you build for both iOS and Android with largely the same codebase, which reduces initial development cost by about 35-40% and means new features launch simultaneously on both platforms, though with some trade-offs in performance for very complex animations compared to fully native development.

Infrastructure and Ongoing Technical Costs

Your feasibility study needs to include realistic estimates for the ongoing technical costs of running your app, not just the one-time development investment, because these recurring costs directly affect your financial projections and timeline to profitability. Server hosting costs typically start small but scale with user numbers, third-party service fees for things like analytics, authentication, and payment processing can add up quickly, and you'll need budget for bug fixes, OS updates, and security patches even after the initial launch. A healthcare app we developed needed GDPR-compliant data storage with encryption at rest and in transit, which added roughly £180 per month in infrastructure costs for the first 5,000 users, scaling up as the user base grew... and having those specific numbers in the feasibility study helped investors understand the true cost of operating in a regulated industry.

Team Capabilities and Resource Requirements

Investors back teams as much as ideas, maybe even more so, because they know that execution matters far more than the initial concept and a strong team can pivot and adapt while a weak team will struggle even with a brilliant idea. Your feasibility study needs to honestly assess what capabilities you currently have on your team and what gaps need filling, either through hiring, freelancers, or agency partnerships like working with someone like us at Glance. If you're a solo founder with business experience but no technical background, don't pretend otherwise... instead, show that you understand this gap and have a plan to fill it with a technical co-founder or a trusted development partner.

The resource requirements section covers both people and money.

You need to map out what roles are required to build and launch your app, what each role will cost whether that's salary, freelance rates, or agency fees, and when you need those resources available. I typically recommend breaking this down into phases: design and prototyping phase that might need a UX designer and project manager, development phase requiring iOS and Android developers plus backend engineers, testing phase that needs QA resources, and post-launch phase requiring customer support, marketing, and ongoing development capacity for improvements and fixes. Understanding whether you can maintain your app yourself or need professional developers is crucial for accurate resource planning.

1. Current team members with relevant experience and time commitment
2. Identified gaps in technical, business, or domain expertise
3. Hiring plan with roles, timing, and salary ranges
4. Advisor or mentor relationships that add credibility
5. External partners for development, design, or marketing
6. Training or upskilling needed for existing team members

Advisory Board and Industry Connections

Having respected advisors or industry connections in your corner can make a real difference in how investors perceive your team's capability, particularly if you're entering a specialised sector like healthcare or financial services where domain expertise matters enormously. Your feasibility study should mention any advisors who've agreed to support the project, what specific value they bring, and how involved they'll be... though be careful not to overstate these relationships because investors will often do back-channel reference checks. An e-commerce app founder I worked with secured an advisor who'd previously exited a similar business for about £8 million, and just having that person's name attached to the project with a letter of support opened doors with investors who might otherwise have passed on a first-time founder. When evaluating potential development partners, it's important to know how to assess whether an app developer has the skills you need.

Risk Assessment and Mitigation Strategies

Nothing kills credibility with investors faster than a feasibility study that presents only the upside potential without acknowledging the very real risks that could derail your app project, because experienced investors know that every venture involves uncertainty and they want to see that you've thought through what could go wrong and have plans to handle those situations. The risk section shouldn't be doom and gloom, but rather a balanced assessment that identifies the major categories of risk (market, technical, financial, regulatory, competitive) and explains what you'll do to reduce the probability or impact of each one.

Market risk covers the possibility that demand doesn't materialise as expected or that user behaviour shifts in ways that make your app less relevant, and you mitigate this through user research, iterative development based on feedback, and building flexibility into your roadmap so you can adapt. Technical risk includes things like integration challenges with third-party services, platform changes from Apple or Google that affect your app's functionality, or scaling issues as user numbers grow... and your mitigation here comes from choosing proven technologies, building in buffer time for unexpected problems, and working with experienced developers who've dealt with these challenges before.

Create a simple risk matrix plotting each identified risk by probability and potential impact, then explain your mitigation strategy for any risks that fall into the high probability or high impact categories

Regulatory and Compliance Considerations

If your app operates in a regulated space like healthcare, finance, or children's content, your feasibility study absolutely must address compliance requirements and the associated costs and timeline implications. I've worked on apps that needed GDPR compliance for European users, needed to meet accessibility standards for public sector clients, and one that required Financial Conduct Authority approval before launch... and in each case, understanding these requirements early and building them into the project plan prevented nasty surprises that could have derailed funding or delayed launch. Investors want to see that you've researched what regulations apply to your app, what you need to do to comply, how much that compliance will cost in terms of time and money, and who on your team or advisor network has relevant experience navigating those requirements. This is particularly important when considering intellectual property risks and potential legal challenges.

Timeline and Development Roadmap

Your feasibility study needs a realistic timeline that maps out the journey from funding to launch and beyond, showing major milestones and deliverables along the way in enough detail that investors can track progress and hold you accountable. I see a lot of timelines that are either far too optimistic (we'll be live in 3 months with a fully featured app) or far too vague (development will take 6-12 months), and neither approach builds investor confidence. A proper development roadmap breaks the project into distinct phases with clear success criteria for each one.

The timeline typically starts with a discovery and design phase lasting 4-8 weeks where you finalise user research, create detailed wireframes and visual designs, and specify the technical requirements for your minimum viable product. Then comes MVP development which for a moderately complex app might run 12-16 weeks for cross-platform development or 16-24 weeks if you're building separate native apps for iOS and Android. Testing and refinement adds another 3-4 weeks, then there's the app store submission and approval process which can take 1-2 weeks for iOS and is usually faster for Android though sometimes requires multiple submission attempts if there are policy concerns. Understanding the distinction between bug fixes and new features helps in planning your post-launch timeline accurately.

Post-Launch Iteration and Feature Rollout

Smart founders include their post-launch roadmap in the feasibility study to show investors that launch is really just the beginning and that they've thought through how user feedback will shape subsequent development. Your timeline should show planned feature releases for the first 6-12 months after launch, ideally tied to specific user needs or market opportunities that emerged during your research phase. A fintech app we developed launched with basic budgeting and expense tracking features, then added bill reminders in month two, savings goals in month four, and investment tracking in month seven... and having that roadmap in the initial feasibility study showed investors we understood which features would drive retention and revenue growth after the initial launch excitement wore off. Building an email list before launch can help with this initial traction, and you can learn more about effective pre-launch email marketing strategies.

Return on Investment and Exit Strategy

Here's what investors really want to know from your feasibility study: how do they get their money back and how much more than their initial investment will they receive when that happens. Your exit strategy section needs to lay out the realistic options for how investors will eventually liquify their position in your company, whether that's through acquisition by a larger company, merger with a competitor, management buyout, or in rare cases an IPO if you're building something with truly massive scale potential. Different investors have different time horizons and return expectations, so understanding who you're pitching to helps you frame this section appropriately.

Angel investors backing your seed round typically expect a 10x return within 5 years, while VC firms might accept lower multiples if the absolute return is large enough, and strategic investors often care more about synergies than pure financial return

The return calculation needs to connect directly back to your financial projections and show how the company valuation grows over time based on revenue growth, user metrics, or other key performance indicators that matter in your specific app category. For a subscription-based app, you might show how monthly recurring revenue growth drives valuation multiples that are common in your sector... so if SaaS apps in your category typically trade at 8-12 times annual recurring revenue, and your projections show £2.5 million in ARR by year three, you can demonstrate a potential valuation of £20-30 million compared to the seed round valuation of maybe £2-3 million. If you're considering different revenue models, understanding the best licensing models for business apps can inform your projections.

• Acquisition by strategic buyer seeking your technology or user base
• Competitive acquisition as rival looks to consolidate market position
• Merger with complementary app or service
• Private equity buyout if you achieve strong profitability
• Secondary market sale to later-stage investors
• Management or founder buyback if profitable

Comparable Exits and Market Precedents

Including recent comparable exits in your sector strengthens your feasibility study by showing investors that successful outcomes are possible and giving them reference points for potential valuations. If you're building a health app, you might reference how Calm raised £180 million at a £2 billion valuation or how Headspace merged with Ginger in a deal valued at about £2.5 billion... not to say you'll reach those numbers but to show that the market rewards successful apps in your category. I worked on a feasibility study for an e-commerce app where we included six relevant acquisitions from the previous three years, showing purchase prices ranging from £4 million to £85 million and identifying the common factors in the higher-value exits (large user base, strong retention, proprietary technology) that our app would aim to replicate.

Conclusion

Building a feasibility study that actually secures funding requires putting yourself in the investor's position and answering their questions before they ask them, showing that you understand not just your app idea but the entire business ecosystem around it from market dynamics to technical challenges to exit opportunities. The document you create should feel less like a sales pitch and more like an honest assessment of both the opportunity and the risks, backed by research and realistic projections that stand up to scrutiny. I've watched founders secure funding with modest ideas executed brilliantly on paper, and I've seen apparently brilliant ideas fail to get backing because the feasibility study didn't address the fundamental questions investors needed answered.

The strongest feasibility studies I've helped create all share a common quality, which is that they demonstrate deep understanding of the problem being solved, the users who'll benefit, and the path to building a sustainable business rather than just an app. Your feasibility study isn't really about your app at all... it's about showing investors that you're the kind of founder who thinks clearly about problems, plans thoroughly before executing, and has the self-awareness to know what you don't know and how you'll fill those gaps.

If you're preparing a feasibility study for your app idea and want experienced input on what investors in your sector typically look for, get in touch with us and we can review what you've got or help you build something that properly tells your story.

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