The SaaS CFO

In this episode of The SaaS CFO Podcast, I have the pleasure of hosting Max Brentzel, co-founder and CEO at Spoke AI. Max, hailing from Germany and now based in Berlin, shares his journey in the tech scene and how the city's startup ecosystem has evolved over the years.   With a background in economics and international expansion, Max brings a unique perspective to the table. Tune in as he discusses Spoke AI's privacy-first AI products that help users streamline and prioritize their communication across various tools, ultimately saving time and increasing efficiency.   Discover how Spoke AI's standalone app within Slack and web app cater to the needs of product managers, summarizing and organizing their busy channels and threads.   Max also delves into the importance of user control and the future plans for Spoke AI's premium tier.   Don't miss this insightful episode packed with valuable insights for SaaS founders and tech enthusiasts alike.  Show Notes   [00:01:54] AI products prioritize and summarize communication.  [00:03:53] User controls communication data processing for privacy.  [00:08:22] Limited company onboarding to ensure reliable Summarization.  [00:10:13] Early core team, AI expertise = success.  [00:15:27] Launching new product, enclosed beta in May. Exciting features coming to Slack app.  Links  SaaS Fundraising Story: https://www.thesaasnews.com/news/spoke-ai-raises-2-million-in-pre-seed-round Max Brenssell’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/max-brenssell/ Spoke.ai’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/spoke-ai/ Spoke.ai’s Website: https://www.spoke.ai/ Ben’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/benrmurray/ 

Welcome to another episode of The SaaS CFO Podcast! In today's episode, we have the pleasure of hosting Ratnesh Verma, founder and CEO of Pidge. Ratnesh shares his diverse background, which includes working in seven different countries and holding prominent positions at companies like Whitbread and Hyatt.   Despite not having a tech background, Ratnesh ventured into the world of SaaS startups and founded Pidge. He discusses the timing and opportunity that led him to start the company in India's booming ecommerce ecosystem. Ratnesh also delves into the state of SaaS in India, highlighting the low digital adoption and legacy systems prevalent in the market.  He then provides an in-depth look at the unique products and services Pidge offers, emphasizing its end-to-end logistics solution with a focus on cash on delivery, customer experience, and demand aggregation. We learn about Pidge's self-serve and low code approach, as well as its pay-as-you-go pricing model.   Lastly, Ratnesh reveals that Pidge caters to anyone who delivers, regardless of the channel or industry, making it a versatile solution for various businesses. Stay tuned as we dive into the world of SaaS and logistics with Ratnesh Verma on this exciting episode of The SaaS CFO Podcast!  Show Notes: [00:02:12] Timing and opportunity fueled explosive growth in Indian ecommerce. It will reach a trillion by the end of the decade. The delivery ecosystem is fragmented and unorganized, which our solution is digitizing.  [00:04:32] Pidge offers unique end-to-end logistics solution.  [00:09:00] Keep it simple and understood by all.  [00:13:16] Raise enough capital for successful deployment; continue rapid growth; launch additional services; expand nationally.  [00:14:27] Fundraising is challenging, time-consuming, but rewarding.  [00:18:05] Pidge In: One-stop source for all things  Links:   Saas Fundrasing Stories: https://www.thesaasnews.com/news/pidge-raises-3-million-in-funding Ratnesh Verma’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ratnesh-verma-8418a1a3/ Pidge LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/pidge-mobility/ Pidge Website: https://pidge.in/ Follow Ben on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/benrmurray/ 

Welcome to another episode of The SaaS CFO Podcast! In today's episode, our host Ben is joined by Luba Chudnovets, the co-founder and CEO of Cordless. Luba shares her background, including her experience at a bank, and how it led her to start Cordless. Cordless is a telephony platform that combines AI-driven conversation intelligence for customer support teams. Luba explains how Cordless helps companies analyze support conversations, provide sentiment analysis, and automate call categorization. She also discusses the importance of 100% visibility in support conversations and the future of voice support analysis. Tune in to learn more about Cordless' journey, their target market, and their unique approach to pricing. Let's dive in!Highlights: [00:01:42] Cordless is a telephony platform with AI-driven conversation intelligence for customer support. It helps companies analyze support conversations, providing sentiment analysis, automatic categorization of calls, call summaries, and enables teams to make outbound calls. The platform is focused on being user-friendly for agents and offering in-depth analysis of support interactions. [00:03:10] Voice support company industry agnostic, but fintech and insurance resonate most. Compliance and customer support important for regulated businesses. Predicts all companies will use conversation analysis in future. Allows 100% visibility and quick reaction. Embracing Chat GPT technology. [00:08:18] Multiple channels: outbound, trade shows, marketplaces integration, content marketing. Promising leads and website visits, but conversion is not yet strong. [00:11:36] Raising funds is harder than expected, need different strategies for investors and customers, don't raise over summer. [00:15:23] Feeling positive about mission, competitive product, hiring business development managers, working on Chat GPT technology, will change computer interactions. [00:17:03] Check out Cordless.IO or email Luba at [email protected]. Luba shared insights and experience today. Links  Saas Fundraising Stores: https://www.thesaasnews.com/news/cordless-raises-2-3-million-in-seed-round Luba Chudnovets’ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lubachudnovets/ Cordless LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/cordless/ Cordless Website: https://cordless.io/ Ben’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/benrmurray/ 

Welcome to The SaaS CFO Podcast! In this episode, we have the pleasure of speaking with Janis Vavere, the co-founder of Trace Space. Janis shares his journey from starting as a Sales Development Representative to becoming a sales leader and eventually starting his own company. He discusses Trace Space's mission to empower and support innovators in the field of systems engineering. Janis explains the importance of requirements management in building complex products and how Trace Space aims to provide a purpose-built solution for engineers and innovators. We dive into the industries that Trace Space focuses on, their team size, and their recent pre-seed funding round. Join us as we learn from Janis's experiences and dive deeper into the world of SaaS and engineering solutions. It's an episode you don't want to miss!   Highlights: [00:00:18] Typical background, promoted, managed accounts, scaled company. Empowering innovators at Trace Space. [00:03:32] Managing large accounts for systems engineering products; organizing user conferences; passionate about the founder persona; working with companies building future products to improve efficiency. [00:09:11] Validating need, building team, obtaining practitioner validation. [00:11:31] Early validation, luck, and market analysis key. [00:15:42] LinkedIn is the best place to learn. Links: Saas Fundraising Stories: https://www.thesaasnews.com/news/trace-space-raises-1-5-million-in-pre-seed-round Janis Vavere’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/b2bsaas/ Trace Space LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/trace-space/ Trace Space Website: https://trace.space/ Ben’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/benrmurray/ 

Welcome to another exciting episode of The SaaS CFO Podcast! In today's episode, we have very special guests who will reveal the secrets to seamless billing in usage-based pricing in the SaaS industry. Joining Ben are Griff Parry and John Griffin, co-founders of M3ter, a groundbreaking platform that is revolutionizing the way companies handle pricing, billing, and revenue operations. Get ready to dive deep into the world of SaaS finance as Griff and John, along with our host Ben, discusses the challenges of traditional pricing models, the power of usage-based pricing, and how M3ter is empowering CFOs to take control of their pricing strategies. Whether you're a SaaS company looking to optimize your revenue streams or a finance professional seeking innovative solutions, you won't want to miss this episode. So grab your headphones, sit back, and get ready to unveil the secrets of successful SaaS invoicing on The SaaS CFO Podcast! Highlights: [00:01:13] Early engineering career led to big data. Sold and built systems, worked with Griff. Specialized in complex IT systems for media companies. Expanded to work with Disney, AT&T, Liberty. Used basic tools like IBM, WebSphere, Oracle. [00:04:32] Usage based pricing pain points inspired Meta. [00:06:48] M3ter helps CFOs control pricing decisions, billing, and revenue through their platform, which consolidates data sources and provides real-time billing and revenue information. [00:13:29] Billing is difficult, revenue leakage is common, customer experience and continuous pricing are important. 00:15:47 Pricing agility and automation saves time, money. [00:20:15] M3ter excels at complexity, billing, and usage-based models. Ideal customers are mid-sized software companies. Key decision-makers are CFOs or product leaders. Primarily focused on North America and Western Europe. Rapidly expanding customer base in APAC. [00:24:34] Seed stage company, not established product-market fit. [00:28:40] Easier the second time around for founders. [00:29:34] Choose partners carefully; UK and US VCs helpful. [00:33:29] Customer case studies showing platform impact. Links: Griff Parry’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/griffinparry/ Founder and CEO John Griffin’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/johnpgriffin/ Founder and CRO m3ter’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/m3ter/  m3ter’s Website: https://www.m3ter.com/ SaaS Fundraising Stories: https://www.thesaasnews.com/news/m3ter-raises-17-5-million-in-seed-round Ben’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/benrmurray/ 

Welcome to The SaaS CFO Podcast! In this episode, Ben sits down with Vlad Podolyako, founder and CEO of Folderly. Vlad shares his background in entrepreneurship and his journey from running a successful B2B sales agency, Belkins, to creating Folderly, an email deliverability platform.    Vlad dives into the problems they faced with email marketing at Belkins and how that led to the creation of Folderly. He explains how Folderly helps improve email performance metrics by fixing and monitoring issues with mailboxes, domains, templates, and content. Ben and Vlad also discuss the target audience for Folderly, which includes entry-level and advanced users in sales, marketing, and email analytics.    Finally, Vlad shares some impressive revenue metrics and gives insights into the growth and remote team structure of Folderly. Tune in for an insightful conversation with Vlad on this episode of The SaaS CFO Podcast! HIGHLIGHTS [00:02:15] In 2019, email marketing faced a problem with low open and reply rates. The solution involved addressing domain infrastructure and using the right ESP provider. This led to the creation of Folderly, a service to help clients with similar issues.  [00:05:28] Three customer profiles: beginners, knowledgeable, and advanced in sales and marketing. The most important is understanding email outreach consequences.  [00:11:00] Our brand focuses on lead generation email marketing. We have successful outbound processes and also generate around 30% organic traffic. We educate customers on various acquisition channels and aim to expand our customer base.  [00:13:46] Google for startups offers funding, mentorship, and camps for entrepreneurs. Applicants fly to Silicon Valley or Europe to share their background, experience, and technology. Interviews and data sharing determine acceptance.  [00:15:51] Start with an MVP, gain traction with clients and case studies to attract partners and investors. Show progress, don't fake it.  [00:19:07] Expressing gratitude and reciprocity. Links SaaS Fundraising Story: https://www.thesaasnews.com/news/folderly-receives-funding Vlad Podolyako’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chiefdata/ Folderly’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/folderly/ Folderly’s Website: https://folderly.com/ Follow Ben Murray on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/benrmurray/ 

Welcome back to The SaaS CFO Podcast! In this episode, our host Ben sits down with James Gasteen, co-founder and CEO of Unaric, to discuss his experience in the SaaS space and his vision for building the largest suite of apps on the Salesforce platform.   James shares insights on the importance of cross-selling, the value of bringing together different products under one vendor, and the unique approach of Unaric as a holding company that acquires ISVs.  He also discusses their investment thesis and the criteria they look for in potential acquisitions. Have an app that you’d like to sell? Tune in to learn more about James' journey and the exciting future of Unaric. Let's dive in!HIGHLIGHTS [00:00:12] 13-year veteran in Salesforce, ISV merger success.  [00:04:43] Holding company acquires small ISVs for growth.  [00:07:43] Unaric established July 2022, 8-person team.  [00:12:06] Raised funds, shifted focus to software company.  [00:13:44] Be clear with messaging, understand investment history, timing.  [00:18:42] 3 of us have 35 years experience. Initial conversations through network and conferences. Chief architect has certification that opens doors. Community oriented ecosystem. Careful portfolio building. Service space makes sense. Cross selling between industries and buyers. Building relationships and getting validation.  [00:23:34] Building app suite, cross-selling, customer success approach.  [00:26:44] Loads of events at Unaric.com, Dreamforce party.  Links Saas Fundraising Stories: https://www.thesaasnews.com/news/unaric-raises-35-million-in-seedround  James Gasteen’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jamesgasteen/  James Gasteen’s Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jgasteen/  James Gasteen’s Twitter: https://twitter.com/JGasteen  Unaric’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/unaric/  Unaric website: https://www.unaric.com/  Follow Ben on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/benrmurray/   

Welcome back to another episode of The SaaS CFO Podcast! In today's episode, we have the pleasure of speaking with Caitlin MacGregor, a true innovator in the field of talent assessment and CEO of Plum. Caitlin takes us on a journey through the evolution of her company and shares valuable insights into the intersection of science, technology, and human potential. Join us as we delve into the challenges Caitlin faced when bridging the gap between developers and psychologists, the power of accurate data in the world of psychometric assessments in 2023, and the importance of creating a symbiotic relationship between individuals and employers. This episode is packed with valuable information for anyone interested in revolutionizing talent practices and boosting organizational success. Stay tuned! HIGHLIGHTS 00:00:48 Studied international development, became successful entrepreneur. 00:05:09 Focused on SMBs, solved data pain point, scaled to enterprise customers. 00:10:15 Myers Briggs not valid, use KPIs instead. 00:13:43 Too many limitations, needing better ways: Plum. 00:18:55 Large enterprises struggle with talent competition and distributed workforces. Retention and diversity are top priorities. 00:24:57 Navigating committees and stakeholders in procurement. 00:27:23 Talent platform gets funding from Pearson Ventures. 00:30:17 Fundraising is about finding believers and derisking. 00:34:51 Expanding team, empowering individuals, serving enterprises. LINKS Caitlin MacGregor’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/caitlinmacgregor/ Plum.io LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/plum-io/ SaaS Fundraising Story: https://www.thesaasnews.com/news/plum-raises-6-million-in-funding Ben Murray’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/benrmurray/

Join us for an insightful chat with Michelle Duval, the dynamic founder and CEO of Fingerprint, as we explore her journey from pioneering one of the world's first coaching firms to creating an AI-powered tool for understanding cognitive biases and motivational traits at work. Listen in as Michelle discusses the freemium user acquisition strategy and the success story of how Canva integrated Fingerprint into their onboarding process. In the second part of our conversation, Michelle sheds light on the capital raising process, having secured AU $9 million to date, and the crucial milestones that guided their fundraising. She offers valuable advice to SaaS founders about understanding investors and knowing the key metrics that drive a business. Don't miss out on Michelle's insights about the future of Fingerprint and their mission to make human development accessible through conversational generative AI. -Founded 2017 -Staff of 43 -Around 1M ARR -HQ in New Zealand but remote first -6.5M USD raised to date Subscribe to Ben's newsletter: https://mailchi.mp/df1db6bf8bca/the-saas-cfo-sign-up-landing-page Fingerprint Linked: https://www.linkedin.com/company/fingerprint-for-success/ Michelle Duval's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michelleduval1/ SaaS Fundraising Story: https://www.thesaasnews.com/news/fingerprint-for-success-f4s-raises-au-5-million-in-seed-round

Sightfull, a San Francisco, CA & Tel Aviv, Israel-based company enabling strategic analysis of business data at scale, announced that it raised $18 million in series A funding. I interviewed Noam Liran, co-founder and CEO at Sightfull. Noam has spent most of his career in cybersecurity. He worked at a company that was acquired by Microsoft and then spent three years at Microsoft in R&D. Sightfull’s round was led by Dell Technologies Capital, with the participation of Norwest Venture Partners and Tiger Global. The new investment brings total funding to $24 million and will accelerate product development, meet increasing market demand, and expand the Sightfull team across multiple departments. Sightfull enables SaaS companies to quickly analyze vast amounts of complex business data to test and adjust their go-to-market strategies continuously. - HQ in SF and Tel Aviv - Founded in September 2020 - Staff of 30 - $24M Raised Noam Liran’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/noamliran/ Sightfull’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/sightfull/ SaaS Fundraising Story: https://www.thesaasnews.com/news/sightfull-raises-18-million-in-series-a Join Ben’s SaaS community here: https://www.thesaasacademy.com/offers/ivNjwYDx/checkout Follow Ben on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/benrmurray Subscribe to Ben’s SaaS newsletter: https://mailchi.mp/df1db6bf8bca/the-saas-cfo-sign-up-landing-page

Chronicle, a San Francisco-based startup that provides a presentation platform, raised $7.5 million in seed funding. I interviewed Mayuresh Patole, founder at Chronicle. He has a background in management consulting. Mayuresh was great at creating presentations but knew there was a better, faster way to tell stories in the business world. Chronicle was created to solve two main problems. The first is that creating slides is time-consuming because many presentation tools expect users to be visual designers, and most are not. The second is that the results are usually unappealing and static. The seed round was co-led by Accel and Square Peg, with participation from angel investors from Apple, Google, Meta, Slack, Stripe, Superhuman, OnDeck, Adobe, and others. - Founded in 2021 - Staff of 15 - $7.5M raised - Investors value authenticity Mayuresh Patole’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mayuresh-patole/ Chronicle’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/chroniclehq/ SaaS Fundraising Story: https://www.thesaasnews.com/news/chronicle-raises-7-5-million-in-seed-round Join Ben’s SaaS community here: https://www.thesaasacademy.com/offers/ivNjwYDx/checkout Follow Ben on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/benrmurray Subscribe to Ben’s SaaS newsletter: https://mailchi.mp/df1db6bf8bca/the-saas-cfo-sign-up-landing-page

Ramp, a London, UK-based forecasting analytics startup transforming how global finance teams plan for the future, raised $5 million in seed funding. I interviewed Dan Marcus, co-founder and CEO at Ramp. Dan is a serial entrepreneur with a passion for SaaS. Ramp is helping mobile gaming apps forecast revenue more accurately. The round was led by AlbionVC and Eurazeo with participation from Triple Point Ventures and angel investors including Barnaby Hussey-Yeo, CEO at Cleo, and Stephane Kurgan, Ex-COO at King.com, among others. Ramp is a user and revenue forecasting startup that is transforming how global finance teams plan for the future. It uses an opinionated view of modeling the interactions between the different levers of a business and with additional models to optimize inputs such as seasonality and live ops. - Founded 2018 - HQ in the UK - Staff of 34 - Passing $1M ARR - Raised $5M Dan Marcus’ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dansmarcus/ Ramp’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/rampgrowth/ SaaS Fundraising Story: https://www.thesaasnews.com/news/ramp-closes-5-million-in-seed-round Join Ben’s SaaS community here: https://www.thesaasacademy.com/offers/ivNjwYDx/checkout Follow Ben on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/benrmurray Subscribe to Ben’s SaaS newsletter: https://mailchi.mp/df1db6bf8bca/the-saas-cfo-sign-up-landing-page

Giskard, a Paris, France-based software startup specializing in artificial intelligence quality, raised €1.5 million in a funding round led by Elaia with participation from investors including Bessemer Venture Partners. I interviewed Alex Combessie, co-founder and CEO at Giskard. Alex started his career in finance and loved the data part of finance and strategic consulting. He went back to school for data science and became a software engineer and data scientist. Giskard’s AI Test product allows for the building of automated tests on AI models to measure critical quality criteria, including ethics, robustness, and efficiency. Angel investors including Christine Balagué (Founder of Good in Tech), Julien Chaumond (CTO of Hugging Face), Oscar Salazar (Founding CTO of Uber), Nathalie Gaveau (Co-Founder of PriceMinister), Charles Gorintin (CTO of Alan), Nick Hernandez (CEO of 360Learning), Vincent Huguet (CEO of Malt), Shéhérazade Semsar de Boisséson (CEO of McCourt Global), Chris Schagen (ex-CMO of Contentful) and Victor Coisne (VP Marketing of Strapi) also participated in the round. The investment will provide the startup with the firepower to engage in a sustained recruitment drive that will welcome additional talent to develop and commercialize its offer while venturing into new fields including computer vision, time series, and generative AI models. - Founded 2021 - HQ in Paris - Staff of 12 - 1.5M Pre-seed Round Alex Combessie’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexcombessie/ Giskard’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexcombessie/ SaaS Fundraising Story: https://www.thesaasnews.com/news/giskard-raises-1-5-million-in-funding Join Ben’s SaaS community here: https://www.thesaasacademy.com/offers/ivNjwYDx/checkout Follow Ben on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/benrmurray Subscribe to Ben’s SaaS newsletter: https://mailchi.mp/df1db6bf8bca/the-saas-cfo-sign-up-landing-page

Wisor AI, a Tel Aviv, Israel-based advanced freight booking software solution, raised an $8 million seed round led by Team8. I interviewed Raz Ronen, Co-founder and CEO Wisor. Raz served in the Israeli Air Force special forces and then jumped right into startup life. Wizor is changing the way global freight is moving around the world by helping freight forwarders automate route planning, pricing, booking, payments, and more. Other investors who participated in the round included Ocean Azul and Hico Investment Group, as well as pre-seed investors fresh.fund, Atooro Fund, The Dock, Seed IL Ventures, and Izaki Ventures. The funding will expedite Wisor’s mission to digitize the global supply chain industry and empower freight forwarders to plan, price, and book a shipment in seconds instead of hours or days. Founded 2021 HQ in Tel Aviv Staff of 26 and growing $8M seed round Raz Ronen’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/raz-ronen/ Wisor’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/wisorai/ SaaS Fundraising Story: https://www.thesaasnews.com/news/wisor-ai-raises-8-million-in-seed-round Join Ben’s SaaS community here: https://www.thesaasacademy.com/offers/ivNjwYDx/checkout Follow Ben on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/benrmurray Subscribe to Ben’s SaaS newsletter: https://mailchi.mp/df1db6bf8bca/the-saas-cfo-sign-up-landing-page

Coho AI, a Tel Aviv, Israel-based product-led revenue platform raised $8.5 million in seed funding. Coho AI is a product-led revenue platform that enables companies to maximize the revenue potential of their user base. I interviewed Itamar Falcon, co-founder and CEO at Coho AI. Itamar was born raised in Israel and has experience in product management and engineering. Coho AI helps established companies that have reached product-market fit evolve into product insight-driven businesses. Coho AI shows companies that a product-led growth (PLG) methodology can be applied to a wide range of SaaS companies and at different stages of the customer lifecycle. The round was led by Eight Roads, TechAviv, and a select group of angel investors, including company co-founder Ariel Maislos, Shlomo Kremer, Natan Linder, and other high-profile founders. With this funding, Coho AI allows to further build its platform that accelerates growth for B2B SaaS companies by effectively “lifting the hood” on their customer usage data. Founded 2021 HQ in Tel Aviv $8.5 raised Staff of 19 ARR < 1M (at Feb-23) Itamar Falcon’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/itamar-falcon/ SaaS Fundraising Story: https://www.thesaasnews.com/news/coho-ai-secures-8-5-million-in-seed-round Join Ben’s SaaS community here: https://www.thesaasacademy.com/offers/ivNjwYDx/checkout Follow Ben on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/benrmurray Subscribe to Ben’s SaaS newsletter: https://mailchi.mp/df1db6bf8bca/the-saas-cfo-sign-up-landing-page

Produce8, a Vancouver, BC, Canada-based SaaS startup that provides distributed and digital-first teams real-time visibility into the work getting done across all their business apps, raised $6 million in funding. I interviewed Joel Abramson, CEO and co-founder at Produce8. Joel has a strong background in IT managed services and more recently as a partner at Top Down Ventures. Produce8 is a digital work analytics platform. It helps teams understand how they leverage their technology and time to improve performance and protect employee wellbeing. Produce8 plans to launch into the IT services market at the start of 2023 with expectations to expand across other industry verticals in quick succession. Founded Jan 2021 HQ in Vancouver Raised $6M Staff of 20 and ramping Solve big problems Joel Abramson’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/joelabramson/ SaaS Fundraising Story: https://www.thesaasnews.com/news/produce8-raises-6-million-in-funding Join Ben’s SaaS community here: https://www.thesaasacademy.com/offers/ivNjwYDx/checkout Follow Ben on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/benrmurray Subscribe to Ben’s SaaS newsletter: https://mailchi.mp/df1db6bf8bca/the-saas-cfo-sign-up-landing-page

Vestico, a London, UK-based fashion tech startup that uses AI to help online shoppers find the perfect sizes and shades while buying a product, secured £250,000 in funding. I interviewed Maddie Forman, co-founder and CCO at Vestico. She is a first-time founder with a strong sales background at Diageo. She met one of her co-founders, Maia Sasania, while getting her MBA. Vestico is an all-in-one content, sizing, and personalization platform for fashion and beauty eCommerce. Type in your body measurements to see how fashion fits your body type. They are doing the same thing for the beauty industry. The investment came from the early-stage-focused London-based venture capital firm Jenson Funding Partners. The funds will be used to develop its technology further and transform the next generation of e-commerce. The company has already partnered with the Spanish fashion label Desigual and plans to expand its service to include more international brands over the next year. Founded 2020 Team size of 4 £250K pre-seed round Find founder/investor fit Maddie Forman’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/maddie-forman/ Vestico’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/vestico-co/ SaaS Fundraising Story: https://www.thesaasnews.com/news/vestico-raises-250-000-in-funding Join Ben’s SaaS community here: https://www.thesaasacademy.com/offers/ivNjwYDx/checkout Follow Ben Murray on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/benrmurray Subscribe to Ben’s SaaS newsletter: https://mailchi.mp/df1db6bf8bca/the-saas-cfo-sign-up-landing-page

Zift Solutions, a Cary, NC-based provider of Partner Relationship Management (PRM) and Through-Channel Marketing Automation (TCMA) software, recently announced that it raised $70 million in funding. I interviewed Gordon Rapkin, CEO of Zift Solutions. Gordon is a serial CEO, and it shows in his knowledge, experience, and insight. He is a 5X CEO. The round was led by Investcorp Technology Partners (“ITP”) with participation from existing institutional investors Arrowroot, Oxx, SSM, and AshGrove Capital. Zift will use the $70M to invest in its go-to-market engine, marketing awareness, new geographies, and in innovation. It takes twice as long as you think to raise capital according to Gordon, but he saw improving SaaS metrics, win rates, and a repeatable sales process. Founded 2006 HQ in Cary, NC 120 staff Sub $20M ARR Recent $70M raise Partner Community Management Gordon Rapkin’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gordonrapkin/ SaaS Fundraising Story: https://www.thesaasnews.com/news/zift-solutions-raises-70-million-in-funding Join Ben’s SaaS community here: https://www.thesaasacademy.com/offers/ivNjwYDx/checkout Follow Ben on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/benrmurray Subscribe to Ben’s SaaS newsletter: https://mailchi.mp/df1db6bf8bca/the-saas-cfo-sign-up-landing-page

Revend, an Antwerp, Belgium-based company that provides a SaaS e-commerce tool to defend your e-commerce revenue, raised €1 million in seed funding. Revend protects risks posed against your revenue. The round was led by Pitchdrive, with participation from Seeder Fund and business angel Pieter Casneuf. I interviewed Peter Wellens, co-founder and CEO at Revend. Peter is a commercial engineer by trade. He’s founded several companies in the solar and social network spaces. Peter wanted to raise from a position of strength. He landed trial customers that potential investors could speak to. The funds will be used to hire additional engineering talent and prepare for a full release to the broader market. The company also received a grant from the federal government that supports the development of AI and innovative technology. Founded 2022 Staff of 6 Pre-revenue 20 trial customers HQ in Antwerp Be capital efficient Peter Wellen’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/peterwellens/ SaaS Fundraising Story: https://www.thesaasnews.com/news/revend-raises-1-million-in-seed-round Join Ben’s SaaS community here: https://www.thesaasacademy.com/offers/ivNjwYDx/checkout Follow Ben on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/benrmurray Subscribe to Ben’s SaaS newsletter: https://mailchi.mp/df1db6bf8bca/the-saas-cfo-sign-up-landing-page

KYP is a risk intelligence platform that delivers continuous, real-time partner monitoring and holistic intelligence. It recently announced an £800,000 pre-seed round.  KYP is based in London. The investment was from US-based 1414 Ventures, BH Ventures, and some leading UK angel investors. I interviewed Alan Nagle, founder and CEO at KYP.  Alan is originally from Dublin and has a long history in fraud prevention.  KYP, or Know Your Partner, monitors supplier risk continuously rather than on a periodic basis. Alan states that investors have opened a bunch of doors for new prospects.  Get the leads and then attack with a repeatable founder-led sales model. Founded 2021 £800K pre-seed round 7 staff London Alan Nagle’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alan-nagle-9524941/ SaaS Fundraising Story: https://www.thesaasnews.com/news/kyp-raises-800-000-in-pre-seed-round Join Ben’s SaaS community here: https://www.thesaasacademy.com/offers/ivNjwYDx/checkout  Follow Ben on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/benrmurray Subscribe to Ben’s SaaS newsletter: https://mailchi.mp/df1db6bf8bca/the-saas-cfo-sign-up-landing-page

Spiny creates software and solutions specifically designed for digital publishing businesses. They streamline business data, provide insights, and optimize revenue. I interviewed Nana Nyantekyi, Founder at Spiny.ai. Nana discusses his experience in the digital media startup industry and CBS Interactive, and how those experiences led him to create Spiny.ai. Spiny.ai facilitates easier data manipulation for publishers and allows them to use data to power their digital media businesses more effectively. Founded 2020 $2.5M Seed Round 13 Staff HQ in Nashville, TN, USA Nana Nyantekyi’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nana-b-nyantekyi-3740aa103/ SaaS Fundraising Story: https://www.thesaasnews.com/news/spiny-ai-raises-2-5-million-in-funding Join Ben’s SaaS community here: https://www.thesaasacademy.com/offers/ivNjwYDx/checkout Follow Ben on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/benrmurray

Jua's weather prediction model will provide a global one-kilometer square's worth of coverage every five minutes and can predict more than fifteen different weather-based parameters, including precipitation, air pressure, wind speed, and wind direction. I interviewed Andreas Brenner, Co-founder and CEO of Jua. He’s had a previous exit in fleet management software to Battery Ventures. Now, he’s tackling weather. Jua plans to provide startups, companies, government institutions, and researchers with the ability to create purpose-built weather models in a matter of hours. Jua is pre-revenue and experimenting with its ideal customer profile. Founded April 2022 $2.5M pre-seed round Staff of 17 Pre-revenue Luck favors the prepared Andreas Brenner’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andreasbrenner/ SaaS Fundraising Story: https://www.thesaasnews.com/news/jua-raises-2-5-million-in-pre-seed-round Join my SaaS community here: https://www.thesaasacademy.com/offers/ivNjwYDx/checkout Follow me on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/benrmurray

Saile, a Kansas City, MO-based startup that developed patent-pending AI technology that creates personality-driven sales robots known as “sailebots”, raised $1.35 million in seed funding. I interviewed Nick Smith, CEO and Founder at Saile. He’s leveraging his sales background to help sales reps triple their productivity. His current ideal customer profile is Fortune 1000 companies. Saile’s technology learns deeply about individual sales reps to boost their productivity. The round was led by Atlanta-based Valor Ventures, with participation by the KCRise Fund, a Kansas City-based venture capital firm. Founded 2018 $1.35M Raised KC and NYC 18 staff and growing Triple sales rep productivity Nick Smith's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nixmith/ Saile's LinkedIn:  https://www.linkedin.com/company/saile/ SaaS Fundraising Story: https://www.thesaasnews.com/news/saile-raises-1-35-million-in-seed-round  Join my SaaS community here: https://www.thesaasacademy.com/offers/ivNjwYDx/checkout Follow Ben on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/benrmurray

Laika (now Thoropass) provides a SaaS platform for companies to establish compliance practices to meet requirements from regulators and enterprise customers. The platform combines automated infosec workflows, audits, monitoring, and vendor diligence while subject matter experts support customers at every step of the compliance process. I interviewed Austin Ogilvie, the Co-CEO and Founder of Laika. He also founded YHAT, a machine learning infrastructure product, and worked at OnDeck Capital. Austin is self-taught in technical skills, primarily using Python, and his latest company is aimed at B2B software companies of all sizes. Austin shares his insights on the importance of understanding compliance requirements and implementing the right controls in a robust manner. Founded 2019 Staff of 190 $50M Series C $100M raised to date Should pass $10M ARR Raise when you don’t need it [00:00:22] Information security and compliance. [00:03:31] Vendor risk in enterprise customers. [00:07:23] Compliance in B2B SaaS. [00:13:51] Company's funding history. [00:14:48] SaaS fundraising lessons. [00:18:11] New information security standards. Austin Ogilvie’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/austinogilvie/ SaaS Fundraising Story: https://www.thesaasnews.com/news/laika-raises-50-million-in-series-c Join my SaaS community here: https://www.thesaasacademy.com/offers/ivNjwYDx/checkout Follow me on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/benrmurray

I have a special edition of the show today.  I recently attended a great software event co-hosted by GLC Advisors and a private equity firm. They provided the latest insights into what’s happening on the front lines of software M&A. I want to share these insights with my SaaS community, so I invited Jim Williams with GLC Advisors onto the show for a Spring M&A Update. We cover the following and more. Deal volume in 2021 and 2022 Valuation trends in 2021, 2022, and today Bid/Ask spread differences Credit market impact on levered buyout deals Is it a buyer's or seller's market Valuations are under pressure What does it take for 10x ARR valuation? Why SaaS metrics are being scrutinized Platform vs add-on buys What to expect in 2023 and beyond Jim Williams LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/james-williams-5754953/ Join my SaaS community here: https://www.thesaasacademy.com/offers/ivNjwYDx/checkout Follow me on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/benrmurray

Airplane, a San Francisco, CA-based software-as-a-service (SaaS) development platform, closed a $32 million Series B funding round led by Thrive Capital with participation from Benchmark, bringing the startup’s total raised to $40.5 million. I interviewed Ravi Parikh, Co-Founder at Airplane. He is also the former co-founder of Heap. Ravi is on a mission to automate the harder part of admin tools in applications. This is the behind-the-scenes code necessary to run your applications. Airplane has a sales and PLG led motion. His former founder background helped with current capital raises. Segment co-founder Calvin French-Owen, Confluent co-founder Neha Narkhede, former GitHub CEO Nat Friedman, Vercel CEO Guillermo Rauch, Airtable co-founders Howie Liu and Andrew Ofstad, Allison Pickens from The New Normal Fund, Behance founder Scott Belsky, Jaren Glover, Gokul Rajaram, Liu Jiang, Comma Capital, and several others also participated in the round. The funds will be put toward growing Airplane’s team while expanding its product to new markets. Founded in December 2020 Staff of 20 $40.5M Raised Sub 10M ARR SLG + PLG Developer Tools Ravi Parikh’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/raviparikh2/ SaaS Fundraising Story: https://www.thesaasnews.com/news/airplane-raises-32-million-in-series-b Join my SaaS community here: https://www.thesaasacademy.com/offers/ivNjwYDx/checkout Follow me on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/benrmurray

Aug X Labs, a New York-based AI video technology startup, raised $1 million in pre-seed funding to use AI to democratize video creation by content creators. I interviewed Jeremy Toeman, Founder and CEO, who has a long history of building consumer apps. He built an AI-assisted visual storytelling service that saves time and money for creators. The company is building an AI-based visual storytelling platform that automatically transforms text or audio prompts into compelling, purpose-driven videos that convert audiences. Its platform allows users to automatically augment their video creations using open or licensed media (photos, short clips, etc.), generative media (AI Art), and owned media. Aug X Labs' initial investors and advisers include Yohei Nakajima (Untappd.VC), Noah Gale (Co-Founder, Tribe AI), Marc Whitten (SVP & GM, Create @ Unity), Alanna Gregory (Crosscut VC), David Beck (Brightcove), Ben Parr (Octane.AI), Rahim Fazal (CEO of SV Academy/x-Oracle), Jesse Redniss (Qonsent), Avner Ronen (founder, Boxee), Kevin Conroy, Rob Hoffer, Ryan Bricklemyer, Deep Banerji, Scott Ryan, and others. Founded January 2022 $1M raised to date 9 staff and 3 contractors Pre-revenue Engage investors early and be prepared Jeremy Toeman’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jtoeman/ SaaS Fundraising Story: https://www.thesaasnews.com/news/aug-x-labs-raises-1-million-in-pre-seed-round Join my SaaS community here: https://www.thesaasacademy.com/offers/ivNjwYDx/checkout Follow Ben on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/benrmurray

Orderlion, a Vienna, Austria-based SaaS platform for the food and beverage industry, raised €4 million in pre-Series A funding, bringing its total raised to about €7.5 million since its 2018 inception. I interviewed Stefan Strohmer, CEO and Co-founder. The technology has not changed in fifty years to help restaurants manage the supply chain back to suppliers. Stefan founded the company in 2018 and it took two years to build the MVP. Orderlion is now re-planning to step up expansion plans, making B2B food supply chains more scalable. A European restaurant technology investment firm led the new investment round. Additional investors include VC firms Rockstart, seed + speed Ventures, tecnet, and Gateway Ventures, among others. The funding will be utilized for international expansion, growing the team, and extending the company's product line-up. Founded in 2018 Staff of 30 Remote company Raised 7.5M to date 3 phases to growth Stefan Strohmer’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stefanstrohmer/ SaaS Fundraising Story: https://www.thesaasnews.com/news/orderlion-raises-4-million-in-pre-series-a Join my SaaS community here: https://www.thesaasacademy.com/offers/ivNjwYDx/checkout Follow me on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/benrmurray

From a basement project in 2015 to $33M raised to date, Unito is integrating disparate SaaS applications and improving workflows. I interviewed Mark Boscher, founder and CEO at Unito. Mark’s team uses a product-led growth (PLG) motion to acquire users. He’s at 50,000+ users and climbing. Unito, a Montreal, Canada-based workflow management software, completed $20 million in Series B funding. CDPQ led the round, with participation from new investors Rainfall Ventures and Investissement Québec, as well as existing investors Bessemer Venture Partners, Tom Williams, and Mistral Ventures. The fund will allow Unito to solidify its growing market traction—customers include Atlassian, Corpay, Teamwork, the Cincinnati Reds, and Wrike—and expand its connectors across the entire suite of digital productivity solutions. HQ in Montreal 70 staff $33M raised to date PLG sales motion 50K+ users Marc Bosher’s Linked Profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/marcboscher/ SaaS Fundraising Story: https://www.thesaasnews.com/news/unito-raises-20-million-in-series-b Join my SaaS community here: https://www.thesaasacademy.com/offers/ivNjwYDx/checkout Follow me on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/benrmurray

This is a special edition of the podcast covering the US R&D tax credit.  I invited Tyler Kem, President of Strike Tax Advisory, to discuss the latest on this tax credit. There were big changes to section 174 of the tax law affecting small businesses that claimed this credit in the past.  No repeal of these changes is in sight, so we must understand where we stand today. To understand your tax situation, reach out to your CPA, tax accountant, and/or R&D tax specialist. Tyler Kem's LinkedIn:  https://www.linkedin.com/in/tylerkem/ Tyler's email:  [email protected]

I interviewed Philippe Humeau, CEO and co-founder at CrowdSec. He is creating the Waze for cybersecurity. If one firewall is having issues, the product can see the machines having the same issues and then block the IP. The product is free, but CrowdSec will monetize the product by selling the signals to end users. CrowdSec, a Paris, France-based Cyber Threat Intelligence (CTI) solution, announced raised €14 million in Series A funding round led by Supernova Invest, with participation from Breega. CrowdSec intends to use this fresh capital to increase its staff from 20 to 45 individuals, strengthen its technical stack, ramp up revenues, extend its U.S. operations, and expand its global network of protected, collaborating devices from several hundred thousand to millions. Founded December 2019 Virtual workforce but mostly in France North star KPI is number of installs Staff of 24 and growing Targeting 1.5M Euros ARR €14M Series A Seed round easy, Series A hard Philippe Humeau’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/philippehumeau/ SaaS Fundraising Story: https://www.thesaasnews.com/news/crowdsec-raises-14-million-in-series-a

I interviewed Kathy Zhu, co-founder and CEO at Streamline AI. Kathy has 10+ years of experience as a commercial lawyer and has built legal teams from the ground up. She was bitten by the startup bug and turned her own pain point into a SaaS solution. Streamline AI, a San Francisco, CA-based intelligent intake platform for in-house legal teams, officially launched with $3 million in seed funding to supercharge how business teams work, starting with legal. The round was led by Oceans Ventures, with participation from Scribble Ventures, Ridge Ventures, and other firms. Streamline AI delivers visibility and metrics across G&A business units, starting with the costliest problem: legal teams. Founded 2020 1 year to build MVP HQ in Millbrae, CA; staff of 7 Should pass $1M ARR in 2023 Raised $3M to date Kathy Zhu’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kathymzhu88/ SaaS Fundraising Story: https://www.thesaasnews.com/news/streamline-ai-raises-3-million-in-seed-round

I spoke with Dave Saunders, CTO of Galen Robotics. His company is creating the “Uber” of surgical robots. Galen Robotics will place robots at hospitals and charge per use. This helps increase access to the latest surgical robots. It’s a fascinating hardware and software play, but Dave states that 80-90% of the technology in surgical robots is software. Galen Robotics, a Baltimore, Maryland-based Digital-Surgery-as-a-Service pioneer, completed a $15 million 1st close for an oversubscribed Series A funding round led by Ambix Healthcare Partners. This funding helped complete the final robot prototype and its submission to the FDA. Funds will also be used to develop a clinical sales team, expand engineering, grow product development, and develop surgeon training programs. Founded in 2016 Staff of 40; HQ in Baltimore Pre-revenue but hope to sell in 2023 You need to show constant forward motion Don’t get greedy with valuation Dave Saunders LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nemock/ Fundraising Story: https://www.thesaasnews.com/news/galen-robotics-raises-15-million-in-series-a/

I spoke with Christian Ritosek, co-founder and CEO of CANDIS. He’s helping finance departments in German companies improve their AP technology. He should pass $10M ARR this year as CANDIS expands into Europe. CANDIS, a Berlin, Germany-based fintech software provider, raised $16 million in its latest funding round to assist businesses in automating their accounts payable (AP) function, bringing CANDIS's total funding to $30 million. The round was led by Viola FinTech and returning investor Lightspeed, and Viola Ventures also participated in the round. With a focus on the SME market, it will now concentrate on expanding its product offering with payments, building additional integrations, doubling down on core invoice management functionality, and expanding the team. Founded in 2015 Started as a consulting agency Focused on the German market but expanding this year 110 staff, HQ in Berlin $30M raised to date Use warm intros to find investors Sell your big vision Christian Ritosek’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/christianritosek/ Fundraising Story: https://www.thesaasnews.com/news/candis-raises-16-million-in-funding

I interviewed David Weissman, CEO and co-founder of Humankind. He’s no rookie to e-commerce having spent 20+ years in the space. He’s worked for some of the biggest retail brands and has transformed that experience into a better online shopping experience for you. Humankind, a Los Angeles, CA-based e-commerce brand's digital concierge, and conversational commerce platform, closed $4.2 million in seed funding to connect real product experts with online shoppers via SMS. High Alpha Capital and Strand Equity co-led the round. Founded 2021 17 staff First customers through David’s network $4.2M raised Early sales traction right out the gate Find investors via warm intros Skip the analyst, talk to the VC partner David Weissman’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/davidw/ SaaS Fundraising Story: https://www.thesaasnews.com/news/humankind-raises-4-2-million-in-seed-round

I spoke with Mingsheng Hong, co-founder and CEO of Bluesky. Bluesky, a Menlo Park, CA-based formally launched its first product that provides unprecedented visibility into Snowflake workload usage and costs. He couldn’t start coding his idea due to IP concerns when he was employed. However, soon after launching the idea, he raised funding and started to code the product. Bluesky announced that it raised $8.8 million in seed funding led by Greylock, with participation from angels Ashish Thusoo (co-founder of Qubole), Jeff Hammerbacher (co-founder of Cloudera), and Johannes Gehrke (Microsoft Redmond research director). Founded 2022 $9M Raised 12 FTE’s and hiring more Moved from % savings pricing model to subscription model Closer to $0 than $1M ARR If the founder’s vision doesn’t resonate with the VC, move on (fail fast) Mingsheng Hong’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mingshenghong/ SaaS Fundraising Story: https://www.thesaasnews.com/news/bluesky-raises-8-8-million-in-seed-round

I interviewed Ben Edmond, founder and CEO at Connectbase. Ben started his career in sales and product management in the telecom arena. He made the leap from employee to SaaS founder in 2015. His company is connecting buyers and sellers of fiber and connectivity across the globe. Connectbase, a Westborough, MA-based connectivity marketplace platform, announced that it raised $21 million in its Series C funding round led by DigitalBridge Ventures, the InfraTech initiative of DigitalBridge Group, Inc. All existing Connectbase investors participated in the funding round, including Ascent Venture Partners, Harbert Growth Partners, Nauta Capital, and Osage Venture Partners. Connectbase secured the new equity investment to drive the growth of its platform, fueled by the increasing global appetite for bandwidth. The latest funding will be used to enhance the company's Connected world platform capabilities, expand digital services into more global markets and grow its team—including its go-to-market organization. $48M total capital raised Staff of 82 in the Boston area and remote #1220 on the Inc 5000 list 500%+ three-year growth per Inc 5000 PMF, crossing 10M ARR, major customers helped in Series C raise Luck favors the prepared; educate first go-to-market strategy 18 staff in Sales Ben Edmond’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/benjaminedmond/ SaaS Fundraising Story: https://www.thesaasnews.com/news/connectbase-raises-21-million-in-series-c

I spoke with Hauke Feddersen, VP of Operations at PreciTaste. PreciTaste is a fascinating combination of AI and vision hardware. It optimizes food production at quick service restaurants. PreciTaste, a New York-based Vision AI platform in operational optimization, raised $24 million in Series A to continue its mission to become the standard for digital food AI management in fast casual and QSR kitchens. HQ’s in New York and Munich Just passed 100 FTE’s Doubling growth $24M raised Huge total addressable market helped with the Series A raise Large customers helped refine the product Find investors who embrace your vision Hauke’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/hauke-feddersen-precitaste/ Fundraising Story: https://www.thesaasnews.com/news/precitaste-raises-24-million-in-series-a

I interviewed Thomas Ramsøy, CEO and founder of Neurons. Thomas holds a Ph.D. in Neuropsychology and was a clinical psychologist. He and his company have worked with some of the largest consumer brands in the world to understand how consumers respond to ads. He is helping these brands stop the waste in their marketing budget. Founded in 2013 Started as a consulting agency ~100 staff Based in Copenhagen Goal to hit 5M ARR in 2023 7M total raised + venture debt Neurons, a Danish consumer neuroscience company that helps businesses better understand unconscious and conscious responses, secured over €6 million in seed funding. Fairpoint Capital Vækstfonden and Finance Zealand backed the round. The round will fund the development of unique, state-of-the-art products, the scaling up of the company to 200 employees, and will bring a sizeable increase in annual recurring revenue by 2025. Thomas Zoëga Ramsøy’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tzramsoy/ Fundraising Story: https://www.thesaasnews.com/news/neurons-raises-over-6-million-in-seed-round/

Oort, a Boston, MA-based identity-centric enterprise security platform, raised $15 million in the funding of Seed and Series A rounds. I interviewed Matt Caulfield, Founder and CEO at Oort. Matt put his time in as a cloud/systems engineer. While working at a Fortune 100 company, he saw a market opportunity in security and ditched his employee title for SaaS founder. Oort will use the funds to grow and further accelerate its go-to-market (GTM) strategy and leadership in identity threat detection and response. The round was co-led by .406 Ventures, Energy Impact Partners (EIP), and Cisco Investments and joined by existing investors including 645 Ventures, Bain Capital Ventures, and First Star Ventures. CFO's watch out! You are a security target. Oort protects against account takeovers Founded 2019 Team size of 20 $15M total raised Land and expand GTM strategy Very engaged customers were a signal to raise Matt Caulfield’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mcaulfie/ Fundraise Story: https://www.thesaasnews.com/news/oort-raises-15-million-in-funding

Devicie, a Sydney, Australia-based software startup that helps companies secure their workers’ laptops, announced that it raised $14 million AUD in Series A funding. The round was led by New York-based private equity and venture capital firm Insight Partners, with participation from leading Australian cybersecurity firm CyberCX. Devicie previously raised $1.3 million in seed capital from angel investors and the cybersecurity venture accelerator program CyRise. I interviewed Martin McGregor, CEO and co-founder. Devicie was born out of a cybersecurity consultancy in 2020. $15.3M AUD raised in total Founded 2020 Staff of 18 Millions of ARR, hoping to double Early prospects did not believe their product claims Would have been more selective with time spent with VC’s What’s next; automate onboarding Martin McGregor’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mdmc/ Fundraising Story: https://www.thesaasnews.com/news/devicie-raises-14-million-in-series-a

I interviewed Tom Ross, CEO of Andgo Systems. This is not your regular shift scheduling software. Andgo is innovating on intelligent shift fill automation in complex industries such as healthcare and manufacturing. No more waiting for sick calls and then manually calling employees to fill open shifts. Not surprisingly the pandemic drove growth. The pandemic crushed the status quo and demanded the need for real-time analytics of labor staffing. Tom discloses his ARR range in this episode and plans to hire another 5-10 staff on top of its 60 employees. Andgo Systems (Andgo), a Saskatoon, Canada-based provider of intelligent workflow automation solutions for dynamic absence onboarding, shift filling, and vacation mapping raised $5.6 million CAD in Series A funding. The round was co-led by First Ascent Ventures and Waterline Ventures, based out of Toronto and Boston, respectively. Tom Ross’ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/thomasrosscan/ SaaS Fundraising Story: https://www.thesaasnews.com/news/andgo-systems-raises-5-6-million-in-series-a

HPC-AI Tech, a Beijing, China-based artificial intelligence high-performance optimization platform, closed $6 million in seed and angel rounds. The angel round was led by BlueRun Ventures China (BRV China); the funds will be mainly used to bring in more talented teams and expand the business market. I interviewed Yang You, founder of HPC-AI Technology. He also holds a PhD and is a professor at the National University of Singapore. The number of parameters in AI modeling has increased 35x. Yang aims to make AI modeling faster and more efficient. Founded August 2021 Team of 30 Based in US and Singapore $7M raised to date $1M ARR Used open-source as a go-to-market strategy Yang You’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/yang-you-0b92914b/ HPC-AI Technology’s Fundraising Story: https://www.thesaasnews.com/news/hpc-ai-tech-completes-6-million-in-funding

Mesh Payments, a New York-based corporate payment and spend management platform, raised $50 million in Series B funding. The round was led by Tiger Global, with participation from Entrée Capital, Falcon Edge Capital, and existing investors TLV Partners and Meron Capital. I interviewed Oded Zehavi, CEO and co-founder at Mesh Payments. He is a self-described “payments geek.” Mesh pivoted product strategy during the pandemic. $123M raised, series B of $50M 150 staff, 100 engineers NYC headquarters Servicing 1,000 global companies $1B payment value run rate Doubling down on market share growth Fundraising is about relationships Oded Zehavi’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/odedzehavi/ Mesh’s fundraising story: https://www.thesaasnews.com/news/mesh-payments-raises-50-million-in-series-b

Duel, a London, UK-based leading brand advocacy platform used by companies including ASOS, Dove, and Charlotte Tilbury, secured a $3 million (£2.5m) seed funding round led by SuperSeed. The investment will enable Duel to continue its 13 percent monthly growth rate in 2022 and better serve its expanding global client base. I spoke with Paul Archer, CEO and Founder of Duel. Paul’s tech experience dates back to when he wrote first video game at age 12. He founded Duel to turn word-of-mouth brand referrals into a scalable go-to-market motion. Founder 2016 Raised $3M Based in London 30 staff and growing Took 5 years to find product market fit Paul discloses his ARR number Do reference calls on potential investors   Paul's LinkedIn:  https://www.linkedin.com/in/paulkarcher/ Duel's Fundraising Story:  https://www.thesaasnews.com/news/duel-raises-3-million-in-seed-round

Lionize, a New York-based SaaS leader in the influencer marketing industry announced that it secured a $3 million seed investment. The round was led by St. Louis-based Cultivation Capital, with participation by ScOp Venture Capital, a Santa Barbara-based firm managed by DoubleClick founder Kevin O’Connor. I spoke with Chris Buetti, co-founder and CEO of Lionize. He is a data scientist turned SaaS founder. The initial concept of Lionize started as an interview project. Chris learned the hard way through his agency that scaling micro-influencers campaigns is hard. Founded 2018 Team size of 15 North of 1M ARR 4.4M raised to date Chris wished he know more about the due diligence process When fundraising, try to get past the junior guys to the partners Chris Buetti’s LinkedIn Lionize fundraising story

You may know David Spitz as the creator of the acclaimed Pacific Crest / Key Banc SaaS metrics survey.  He was a successful investment banker for over 30 years and then pulled the rip cord to found his own SaaS company. David realized that traditional benchmarking is painful, using manual processes and ill-suited survey tools.  He founded Benchsights in 2021 to solve this pain. With BenchSights, he built a software and data platform that focuses on software sales and compensation benchmarks. David shares his investment banking journey and his experience as a first-time SaaS founder. David’s LinkedIn Profile https://www.linkedin.com/in/dspitz/ Benchmark your SaaS sales Here https://benchsights.com/

Headroom, a San Francisco, CA-based meeting platform leveraging artificial intelligence to improve communications and productivity, has announced that it raised $9 million in funding. The capital brings total funding to date to $14 million and will be used to expand Headroom’s team, product development, and mobile offering. I interviewed Julian Green, CEO and co-founder, using Headroom’s application. Julian has been involved in tech and startups since 1998. Headroom is solving the problem of efficient meetings. We need better meetings and we need to put back the humanity in our interactions. Founded in 2020 Recently raised $9M Staff of 14, fully remote Make sure you are aligned with investors on company milestones Julian Green’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/juliangreen/ The SaaS News Story: https://www.thesaasnews.com/news/headroom-raises-9-million-in-funding

Mindset AI, a London, UK-based software-as-a-service (SaaS) firm that helps businesses within the knowledge economy to digitize their services and scale their expertise, raised £1.65 million from Mercia and angel investors. The funding will enable Mindset.AI to expand its team with several key appointments, boost its sales and marketing activity, and further enhance the platform. I had a great conversation with Barrie Hadfield, CEO and co-founder of Mindset AI. Founded in 2020 Staff of 50, fully distributed Just passed 1M ARR Sitting on the stairs at a conference and hatched the idea Uses ML to track key outcomes and customize the user experience Found product market fit; it was the right to raise and scale Wants to write a book on fundraising Barrie’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/barriehadfield/ The SaaS News story: https://www.thesaasnews.com/news/mindset-ai-raises-1-65-million-in-funding