Title: Fourth Startup Milestone: Securing Our First Funding Round at a $10 Million Valuation
After starting several ventures since 2020, we finally reached a funding milestone that had eluded us in the past.
Background and shift in leadership
In earlier startups, I served as CTO or in a similar technical role, rarely steering fundraising or the day-to-day operations. We often moved at a pace that felt too slow, and our teams included co-founders who were strong on ideas and some sales ability, yet consistently unable to raise capital. The frequent feedback was that we were “too early,” even for pre-seed rounds.
A fresh start
I stepped back into entrepreneurship after a stint as a full-time infra/ML engineer, where I progressed to an engineering director role before transitioning out. I initially planned to return to a CTO role, with a co-founder handling CEO responsibilities due to his business and entrepreneurship background. However, in 2023 it became clear that he wasn’t yet ready to drive the speed we needed.
Taking the CEO reins
I embraced the CEO role, initially feeling apprehensive but growing into the position. My first priority was to master storytelling—studying how to articulate a compelling vision and move people toward our mission.
Fundraising insights and strategy
Along the way, I learned several hard-earned lessons about fundraising:
– Validate demand first: secure a few prospective or signed customers to demonstrate need.
– Build with the founders’ hands-on involvement: the team should be capable of designing, building, and selling the full product.
– Avoid early VC outreach in some markets: European VCs before Series A can be time-consuming and unproductive due to cultural differences.
– Engage angel investors first, then consider Tier-C VCs (preferably in the USA), and progress from there.
Progress and current momentum
We ultimately secured funding from CEOs of billion-dollar financial platforms. With a core technical team of a couple of engineers, we are actively advancing toward Series A. The key takeaway—maintain genuine enthusiasm for what you’re building, and that energy will resonate in conversations.
What we’re building now
We’re developing a platform for multi-agent infrastructure that enables businesses to hire AI agents and team-them much like assembling a workforce. We’ve already signed our first customer at $9k ARR, with another onboarding soon at $30k ARR.
Narrowing the focus
Even though our platform has broad applicability, we intentionally narrowed our positioning to the U.S. logistics sector—specifically freight brokers and 3PL providers. We built and deployed the first agent capable of fully automating Accounts Payable and Receivable workflows within this niche. While the technology can serve other industries, a focused initial market simplified messaging and product-market fit. A core lesson: start small and expand your market in concentric circles.
Upcoming developments
We’re preparing to launch an API/hosting product that will enable solo developers and automation agencies to build and host agents on the platform for businesses to hire. The team is highly energized about this next phase, and we’re eagerly working toward a public release.
Open for questions
I’m happy to discuss go-to-market strategies, engineering AI agents, and fundraising experiences. If you’re exploring similar paths, feel free to ask about our learnings, tooling, or approach.
