> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://help.angelhub.net/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Moving a company to pitch-ready

> How to move an application from Screening to Pitching, and what happens next.

## When to move to Pitching

Move an application to Pitching when you are satisfied that:

* The application is sufficiently complete and coherent
* The team is credible enough to present to the group
* The business opportunity is relevant to your group's focus and stage
* There are no obvious disqualifiers (e.g. clear EIS/SEIS ineligibility, a business model that is fundamentally unworkable)

You do not need the company to be perfect. The pitch stage exists precisely to allow the group to ask questions and form a view. You are making a judgment about pitch-readiness, not investment-readiness.

## How to move to Pitching

1. Open the project
2. Complete your screening assessment in the **Screening** tab
3. Click **Move to Pitching** in the project header
4. Confirm the move

The entrepreneur is not automatically notified when a project moves to Pitching. Notification is handled separately — see below.

## Notifying the entrepreneur

Once a project is in the Pitching stage, the admin or Project Lead should contact the entrepreneur to:

* Confirm they have been selected to pitch
* Provide the date, time, and format of the pitch event
* Set out any requirements (slide deck format, time limit, Q\&A format)

Use  AngelHub's built in email to notify the entrepreneur. A pitch event management feature is available on the Scale plan — see your admin for details.

## Declining instead

If the application is not suitable, decline it from the project menu. Record a brief reason: this is stored internally for the group's reference.

Common decline reasons:

* Too early stage for the group's focus
* Outside the group's sector or geography
* Application too thin to assess — invited to reapply when further developed
* Business model concerns that make the opportunity unsuitable
* EIS/SEIS eligibility concerns

A declined application moves to the **Declined** archive. The entrepreneur can reapply in the future; declining does not permanently exclude them.

## Handing over to the Project Lead

Once a project has attracted interest at a pitch, the Project Lead takes primary responsibility. As the Assessor, you may be asked to brief the Project Lead on:

* What you found during screening
* Any specific concerns or questions that came up in the Q\&A
* Your overall impression of the team and the opportunity

Your screening notes are visible to the Project Lead in the project record, so a formal handover meeting is often not necessary, but a quick conversation can help, particularly if there are nuanced concerns that are hard to capture in notes.