AI Startup Paid Raises $21 Million Seed Round - 1

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AI Startup Paid Raises $21 Million Seed Round

  • Written by Andrea Miliani Former Tech News Expert
  • Fact-Checked by Sarah Frazier Former Content Manager

The startup Paid, founded by tech entrepreneur Manny Medina, has raised $21.6 million in a seed round led by Lightspeed. The company is now reported to be valued at more than $100 million.

In a rush? Here are the quick facts:

  • Paid raised $21.6 million in a recent seed round led by Lightspeed.
  • The startup, launched in March, is now valued at around $100 million.
  • The platform has been designed to support agentic startups with pricing.

According to Tech Crunch , the London-based company previously raised €10 million—about $11 million—in a pre-seed round in March. Medina—also the founder of Outreach—came up with the idea for the “results-based billing” service after testing agentic platforms last year.

Paid provides billing infrastructure that introduces a new way of charging for software. The service helps AI agent creators “start charging for points of margin saved by their customers,” Medina explained to TechCrunch.

Medina noted that today’s market is not designed for AI agents and that Paid enables agentic startups to set appropriate pricing while avoiding traditional software models. Since AI agents can perform multiple tasks, Medina argued, both clients and providers should focus less on individual actions and more on measurable outcomes.

“If you’re a quiet agent, you don’t get paid,” said Medina. “You need an infrastructure that allows the agent to charge for the additional work that the agent is doing.”

Paid also tracks outputs and helps companies determine profitable margins. Current clients include startups such as Artisan, HappyRobot, and Logic.app.

“50% of the workforce will be AI agents by 2030,” wrote Medina on the social media platform X on Monday. “While every SaaS company is still stuck charging ‘per seat’ for AI agents that aim to reduce seats. Those two things can’t be true at the same time.”

50% of the workforce will be AI agents by 2030 while every SaaS company is still stuck charging “per seat” for AI agents that aim to reduce seats. Those two things can’t be true at the same time. Today we announce $21M in seed funding to fix this! @lightspeedvp knows this… pic.twitter.com/11Q8P38Znx — Manuel Medina (@medinism) September 29, 2025

The platform itself has been built using the technique known as “ vibe coding ” with AI agents such as Lovable—which recently announced a new record in Annual Recurring Revenue —, Replit, and v0.

“This is what is so much fun about building a company right now. We have two engineers, and we have built the entirety of the building platform in a month. Why? Because we build everything on AI,” said Medina to TechCrunch.

Sources familiar with the matter confirmed that after this latest funding round, Paid’s valuation has surpassed $100 million.

Video Game Giant EA To Be Sold In $50 Billion Mega-Deal - 2

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Video Game Giant EA To Be Sold In $50 Billion Mega-Deal

  • Written by Andrea Miliani Former Tech News Expert
  • Fact-Checked by Sarah Frazier Former Content Manager

The video game giant Electronic Arts (EA) is in the final stages of a $50 billion deal to go private, according to anonymous sources. If it succeeds, it would become one of the largest buyouts in history.

In a rush? Here are the quick facts:

  • EA is in the final stages of a $50 billion deal to go private.
  • Investors include Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, private-equity firm Silver Lake, and Jared Kushner’s investment firm Affinity Partners.
  • The potential acquisition raises concerns in the gaming industry.

According to the Wall Street Journal , sources familiar with the matter said that the group of investors involved in the negotiation includes Jared Kushner’s investment firm Affinity Partners, Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF)—which already owns 10% of EA—, and private-equity firm Silver Lake.

Saudi Arabia’s interest in the acquisition has to do with the country’s strategy to reduce dependence on oil and its focus on video games—in 2021, it launched Savvy Games Group to invest in esports and video games. PIF also holds stakes in other major gaming companies, including Activision Blizzard.

EA has created hugely popular franchises such as EA Sports FC (formerly known as FIFA ), Madden NFL , Need for Speed , and The Sims, which recently celebrated its 25th anniversary . Over the past decades, EA has built a strong legacy and established itself as one of the largest video game companies in the world. However, the potential acquisition raises concerns in the gaming industry.

According to Bloomberg , this massive deal may reflect challenges in the industry, which is currently experiencing slower growth. The acquisition has been seen by experts as part of a trend toward consolidation, as gamers appear more inclined to revisit established favorites rather than adopt new titles.

“We’re moving away from an era of breaking new ideas to people settling into the same games, spending money over and over again,” said analyst and Spilt Milk Studios co-founder Nicholas Lovell to Bloomberg. The expert also suggested that EA’s valuation could begin to decline soon.

According to CNBC , after news of the $50 billion deal broke on Friday—one of the largest in Wall Street history—EA shares jumped about 15%. The deal is expected to be officially announced later this week.