"For founders trying to raise a Series B for their AI startups in the next six to 12 months, a more challenging fundraising environment likely awaits," says Isaac Madan, CEO and co-founder of Nightfall AI. Last August, his cloud data loss prevention services startup raised a $40 million Series B round when many CEOs were desperately searching for ways to extend their runway.
"SaaS+" refers to software companies that augment their core products and services with value-adding features like embedded e-commerce, insurance or payments processing. Baking these features into the product pipeline creates secondary convenience that delights customers — along with new revenue streams that thrill investors. Drawing from their experience building a platform for youth athletics, Justin Kaufenberg (managing director at Rally Ventures) and Greg Blasko (co-founder of Monoline) explain how to "build the foundation of your SaaS+ house correctly" with multimerchant cart technology, parent-child data models, and other ideas.