Paid raises $21 million seed to help SaaS companies break free from the seat-based trap

We’ve raised $21M in an oversubscribed Seed round led by Lightspeed Venture Partners, with participation from FUSE and existing investor EQT Ventures. This brings our total funding to $33.3 million.

Our mission is to grow the AI agent economy by helping builders get paid for their agents.

We founded Paid as a team of leaders who built and scaled category-defining companies: Manny Medina (co-founder of Outreach), Manoj Ganapthy (serial founder, built Salesforce billing), Raj Dosanjh (early Palantir) and Arnon Shimoni (early Pleo).

With this new funding, we’re extending to include SaaS companies building AI Agents, helping them escape the seat-based trap and return to growth through AI agents.

The SaaS-to-agent transition is our duty

SaaS growth has stalled. Public SaaS companies are posting single-digit growth at best with many shrinking. Their core business model is breaking down.

Seat counts are dropping across the industry. Why? Because AI agents are replacing entire teams - and no customer will pay “per seat” for software that eliminates seats.

With 50% of the workforce expected to be AI agents by 2030, seat-based pricing is over. It built a trillion-dollar industry - but clinging to it means flatlined revenue while AI-first competitors capture all the growth.

SaaS companies are now quickly pivoting to agents because it's the only path back to growth. The problem is today’s tech stack wasn't built for a world where agents dominate the workforce.

AI agents are the life raft

The route is clear, and smart SaaS companies are already selling AI agents. Early movers are seeing 20-40% revenue increases within 6 months, higher retention rates, and much faster sales cycles.

For others, the transition feels impossible - but it is inevitable.

Paid is the infrastructure for the SaaS-to-Agent shift

Paid is the infrastructure layer that makes the SaaS-to-Agent transition possible. We handle five critical pieces:

Customer Value Proofs

• Make invisible AI work tangible business outcomes
• Launch branded portals in minutes that show agent impact
• Build transparency that earns trust and drives renewals

Custom Pricing, Fast

• Deploy per-customer pricing in minutes, aligned to value

Outcome-Based & Hybrid Models

• Replace seats with outcome- and value-based pricing
• Blend subscriptions with performance fees
• Enable revenue sharing and success-based models
• Do what your current billing system can’t

True Cost Tracking

• See what each agent costs to run
• Track margins by customer and agent
• Optimize resources before they erode profits

AI Business Intelligence

• Monitor agent performance with dashboards
• Analyze profitability and run “what-if” scenarios
• Operate with full visibility in an agent-first world

The moment is now

The SaaS industry is at the biggest inflection point since on-prem to cloud. Companies that make the transition to AI agent business models in the next 12 months will dominate their categories. Those that don't will get left behind.

Buyers are already demanding AI that delivers outcomes, not just features and the technology is now ready too. AI agents can now handle complex, multi-step workflows reliably, with cost structures that are becoming predictable enough for serious business planning.

This funding accelerates our roadmap built specifically for SaaS companies making the AI agent transition.

If you’re a SaaS CEO: Let’s talk, we can help you break free from seat-based pricing and get back to growth.

If you’re an application builder: We’ll set you up to monetize your apps and agents quickly.

If you’re an agent builder: We’ve got your entire business infrastructure covered - and it’s free.

Join us in building the agent economy.

Build agents, Get Paid.

Paid's platform is available now for SaaS companies ready to make the transition. Get started at paid.ai or reach out to our team for a consultation on your AI agent strategy.