Suggestions
Clement Vouillon
Freelancing for SaaS startups & VCs
Clement Vouillon is a freelancer specializing in SaaS startups and venture capital, based in Bonn, Germany.12 He has extensive experience in the tech industry, particularly in B2B software and startup ecosystems.
Professional Experience
Vouillon's career includes several notable positions:
- Pre-Seed/Seed Investor at The Goat Guild (December 2022 - June 2023)1
- Venture Partner at Eurazeo (January 2021 - November 2022)1
- Founder of MemoHub.io (July 2019 - February 2022)1
- Senior Research Analyst at Point Nine Capital (April 2015 - June 2019)1
- Marketer in residence at eFounders (July 2013 - December 2014)1
Entrepreneurial Ventures
Vouillon co-founded edoboard.com in 2008, an online education platform providing interactive whiteboards for live classes.1 He also co-founded WeLoveSaaS, a B2B platform for SaaS discovery and consumption, in 2012.1
Writing and Speaking
He has contributed to the tech industry as a writer for Techcrunch France (2010-2011) and as a lecturer on web entrepreneurship at HEC Paris (2010-2011).1
Current Focus
As of 2024, Vouillon is actively involved in the SaaS and fintech sectors. He recently shared insights on generative AI and its probabilistic nature in business applications.3 He's also been involved in hiring for GetLago, indicating his continued engagement with startups in the fintech space.4
Education
Vouillon holds a master's degree in Electronics from the University of Canterbury and a master's in E-business from HEC Paris.1
Highlights
Can You Still Raise a Pre-Seed/Seed Round with a Non-AI-First SaaS Startup in 2024?
To answer this question, I analyzed around 130 pre-seed/seed SaaS rounds in Europe over the past six months (starting January 2024). The data was sourced from Chirag M.’s European Tech Weekly Newsletter (highly recommended). For details on the methodology and definitions, see the comment section.
🧐 Is it still possible to raise a pre-seed / seed round with a non AI-first SaaS startup in 2024?
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Yes, you can still raise a pre-seed/seed round with a non-AI-first SaaS startup in 2024. From this sample of 130 rounds, 53% of the startups that raised were not AI-first SaaS, while 47% were AI-first. I was slightly surprised as I expected the opposite result.
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However, it's important to note that if 53% of the companies were not AI-first, almost all of them had some sort of AI-powered features or were working on implementing AI.
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Only around 10 companies (7%) appeared to be traditional SaaS products with no visible “AI twist.” It’s possible they are working on integrating AI or simply did not promote it on their website.
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So, to answer the question with more nuance: You don’t need to be an AI-first SaaS to raise a pre-seed or seed round, but you do need to leverage AI in your product.
🧐 Which type of SaaS attracts more VCs? Vertical SaaS (VSaaS) or Horizontal SaaS (HSaaS)?
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I added another dimension to my analysis by checking whether each startup was a VSaaS or an HSaaS.
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I was again surprised by the result: 60% of the startups were VSaaS, and 40% were HSaaS. So, there is a clear majority of VSaaS.
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When combining both dimensions (AI-first vs. non-AI-first and Vertical vs. Horizontal), our sample of 130 rounds showed 35% of non-AI-first VSaaS, 25% of AI-first VSaaS, 23% of AI-first HSaaS, and 17% of non-AI-first HSaaS.
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This clearly indicates the VC market is currently leaning towards AI-powered specialized software.
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If you have a traditional SaaS in a horizontal category, it’s harder to raise money at the moment (and will continue to be).
🦺 About the VSaaS in the sample:
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The vast majority of early-stage VSaaS listed are operating in major verticals: There’s a majority in climate tech VSaaS, followed by healthcare, logistics, manufacturing, and legal industries.
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The most “exotic” one I saw was a VSaaS for customs declaration.
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The majority of AI-first VSaaS were “Copilot for X” models—Copilot for lawyers, investment managers, doctors, etc. There were also other interesting models like a Large Language Model (LLM) specialized in Climate Tech data.
🧳 About the HSaaS in the sample:
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Most of the HSaaS that raised money were AI-first, with the majority being AI infrastructure products (the "pick and shovel" tools).
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The couple of non-infrastructure HSaaS were serving marketing, customer support, HR, and finance departments with AI-native solutions.
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I saw fewer than ten “vanilla SaaS” (traditional HSaaS with no AI). It’s a dying breed.
