SaaS Firm Paddle Creates ‘Launchpad’ for AI Software Makers

Paddle says it wants to help up-and-coming artificial intelligence (AI) firms make their mark.

The British Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) payments infrastructure platform announced Tuesday (July 18) the debut of AI Launchpad, a six-week program designed to help software founders create, launch and scale AI-powered businesses.

The program, financed by $10 million from the $150 million Founderpath fund, comes as companies are investing billions in AI.

“However, having a great product is just the first challenge in a very competitive space,” Paddle founder and Executive Chairman Christian Owens said in a news release. “No matter how smart your AI tool, you won’t be able to scale your company to its full potential without the right growth strategies and infrastructure in place.”

Paddle says its Launchpad will help companies build that infrastructure by offering “masterclasses” and interactive workshops from industry experts about the fundamentals of SaaS scaling, including product and go-to-market strategies, as well as finance and operations and industry positioning.

The company will accept 25 founders into the first cohort of the program, “based on their AI business idea, their minimum viable product, and their ability to demonstrate market traction and growth potential,” the release said.

Based in London, Paddle offers SaaS companies what Owens has called “a different approach to payments infrastructure” by integrating checkout, payment, subscription management, invoicing, international taxes and financial compliance processes. The company was valued at $1.4 billion last year following a $200 million Series D round.

Paddle’s efforts are happening as AI is in the middle of its “Bronze Age,” as Shaunt Sarkissian, CEO of AI-ID, said in an interview with PYMNTS last week, citing three decades of technological phases.

As Sarkissian noted, “out of all the early ages of humanity, the Bronze Age seemed to be the most significant. Why? Because we finally went from sticks — and we started making metals.”

The AI industry is changing rapidly, and this pace of change could last several years. But on close examination, things are shifting, with Silicon Valley’s rush to throw money at the sector now being combined with a harder look at business models.

Fewer companies are adding “AI” to their names as lenders, innovators and lawmakers all focus on what comes next.

“Just going out now and saying, ‘AI has built something — let’s all clap and go look at it.’ That’s phase one,” Sarkissian told PYMNTS’ Karen Webster. “Now the question is: ‘What are we going to do to make [AI] responsible, traceable, accountable and accurate?’”