The SaaS CFO

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:  tyler@striketax.com

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