usage-based Startups

Bassem Hamdy built Briq, an AI orchestration platform for construction and manufacturing, after scaling Procore from $10M to $100M. The company now generates 8 figures in revenue using an unconventional enterprise sales approach that closes deals in 9 days by selling vision before demos and targeting CFOs instead of innovation teams. They grew from a $15K first deal to 8-figure revenue through a land-and-expand strategy with consumption-based pricing.

PodPlay Technologies is a vertical SaaS platform for pickleball and racquet sport venues that grew from internal software used in founder Ben Borton's own ping pong venues. The company has reached $3M in contracted ARR serving 200 locations and 2,000 courts, with ACVs of $10k-$15k, and recently raised an $8M Series A in 2025.

Vantaca is a vertical SaaS platform for community association management companies that bootstrapped from low six figures in 2018 to $5-10M by 2022, then scaled to ~$50M ARR serving 6M homes after taking minority PE investment. The company expanded beyond pure SaaS into payments, treasury, and vendor monetization while maintaining majority ownership control.

Dresma is an AI-powered platform launched in 2020 that helps global brands like Puma create and localize e-commerce content at scale. The company serves ~28 customers, generates ~$2M ARR, and has grown profitably with studio partnerships driving over 50% of revenue and enterprise customers paying up to $500K per year.

Kukun is a B2B property data platform founded by Raf Howery that serves ~25 enterprise clients including banks, fintechs, and insurers with each paying $10K–$50K/month. The company has grown to nearly $5M ARR while staying bootstrapped and capital efficient, processing ~500,000 property addresses monthly with just 2 sales reps.

Adproval was a marketplace connecting bloggers and influencers with brands, founded by Matthew Anderson in 2011. Despite raising $300k and eventually generating over $200k in annual revenue through consulting services, the company failed after 6 years due to poor revenue model focusing on small commissions, lack of focus on the advertiser side, and founder burnout from depression and anxiety.