Pruven Capital

Join Pruven Capital's Enterprise IT team! If you're excited about collaborating with founders in #ITInfrastructure, #AI/ML, and #cybersecurity, and eager to be part of a driven, entrepreneurial team with a new fund supported by major investors, we want to hear from you! Apply here: https://bit.ly/3LHCsgG

🦉 It's hard to step outside these days without bumping into a VC (vest and all) raving about how AI will flip the script from Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) to Service-as-Software (SaS). Guilty as charged—Pruven Capital included! Seriously though, as we meet more founders diving into the Service-as-Software (SaS) space, it's becoming clear that building a SaS company demands far more strategic planning than simply launching a cloud-native version of on-prem software like we saw with SaaS (okay, I’m oversimplifying a bit). Most successful SaaS companies—exceptions aside—began by catering to SMBs before scaling up to enterprises. While SaaS companies had to add features that enterprises care about, their core product largely stayed the same. SaS companies will also need to start by serving SMB customers. But when it comes to breaking into the enterprise market, they’ll have no choice but to go head-to-head with System Integrators like Accenture, Deloitte, Tata Consultancy Services, Infosys, and Wipro. These SIs do hundreds of millions in business with large enterprises—including our own corporate partners—so competing with them won't be for the faint of heart. SaaS companies haven't traditionally needed to work with or compete against SIs, so this is definitely uncharted territory! Here's how we at Pruven Capital believe SaS companies can succeed in selling to enterprises: 1. Choose the Right Problem: Start by identifying a problem that can be neatly separated from what System Integrators (SIs) handle for enterprises. SI projects are complex and interconnected, so the key is to find an issue that’s more self-contained. 2. Embrace Your Services Role: Accept that you’ll be a services company for your customers. Sure, your services will be powered by software, offering better customer experiences at a lower cost. But from day one, you need to hire a services team and have them "dogfood" your product while serving customers. This is crucial for improving your product and avoiding the need to scale your services team as you grow. 3. Be Strategic in Your Go-to-Market: Resist the urge to partner with SIs just because they have customer access. Remember, you might end up competing against them. Instead, target areas where large enterprises have in-house teams working closely with SIs and approach those teams directly. If you deliver higher value at a lower cost, the in-house team will have every reason to replace the SI with you. Once you’ve secured several enterprise clients directly, you’ll be in a much stronger position to consider partnerships with SIs—if you need to at all. 4. Respect the SIs: Don’t underestimate them. It’s easy to fall into that trap, but the deep relationships SIs have built with large enterprises over decades are their real stronghold. While the problem you’re tackling will inevitably overlap with what SIs are hired for, play nice (until you no longer have to).

Walgreens partners with Pruven Capital portfolio company, Bilt Rewards, to bring even more value to Bilt members. With this partnership, Walgreens shoppers using Bilt can seamlessly apply their Flexible Spending Accounts (FSA) or Health Savings Accounts (HSA) to their purchases—no more need for multiple cards or split transactions. This makes it easier than ever to maximize health and wellness benefits while earning rewards on everyday essentials. Bilt continues to redefine the rewards space by offering unique opportunities that go beyond rent payments. With this new partnership, Bilt is expanding its ecosystem to include healthcare, adding to its list of offerings in travel, fitness, dining, and more. At Pruven, we are proud to support Bilt on its incredible journey. We're excited to share more about the next partnership/product announcement that’s just around the corner—the hits keep coming! Congratulations to the teams at Walgreens and Bilt Rewards and a shoutout to our friends BANYAN and Method for powering this partnership 🚀 CC Ankur Jain, Daniel Seder, Alpesh Chokshi

🎓 Lesson learnt: When selling to a large enterprise, even one that's notoriously slow-moving, prioritize delivering immediate value—even if it means drastically narrowing your POC's scope. Yes, we all would like to land that million-dollar contract right away, but the reality of enterprise sales is different. Decision-making in big organizations is complex, with layers of bureaucracy and politics. Your mission? Make your internal champion look like a hero—fast. That's your ticket to cutting through all the noise and red tape. #enterprisesales #schoolofhardknocks /cc Pruven Capital

🚀 Trunk Tools Raises $20M in Series A Funding & Launches Schedule Agent! 🚀 We’re thrilled to announce that Trunk Tools has raised $20 million in Series A funding, led by the incredible team at Redpoint Ventures, with participation from Innovation Endeavors, to revolutionize the construction industry with our cutting-edge AI solutions. What is another vote of confidence is how many of our current and prospective customers have invested: WND Ventures (DPR Construction’s CVC), Suffolk Technologies, AEC Angels, STO Building Group, Liberty Mutual Strategic Ventures, Thornton Tomasetti/TTWiiN, Charps, and many more. This funding allows us to develop more products to get construction teams back to building. Our products, like our newest Schedule Agent, leverage Trunk Tools' advanced data infrastructure and create a dynamic link between scheduled activities and essential documentation, ensuring projects are completed on time, on budget, and according to plan. Our Schedule Agent proactively senses project issues, surfaces insights, and takes action with no additional effort. It seamlessly integrates with schedule files, providing timely notifications to project managers, superintendents, and engineers about open tasks, discrepancies, or logistical problems. If you’d like to beta test our Schedule Agent, get in touch with us at our website: https://lnkd.in/gCPB5cEJ. A huge thank you to our investors for believing in our vision, and to our incredible team for their relentless hard work and dedication. With this new funding, we’re excited to expand our platform, enhance our AI capabilities, and continue pushing the boundaries of what’s possible in construction technology. Stay tuned for more updates as we build the future of construction, one innovation at a time! 💪 🔗 https://lnkd.in/g2Dwexq4 🔗 trunktools.com/careers #TrunkToolsSeriesA #ConstructionAI #FundingAnnouncement

Can Reciprocal Insurance Exchanges (RIE) change the game for insurtech valuations? Clearcover recently launched an RIE—a move that largely went unnoticed but shouldn’t be overlooked. For insurtechs frustrated with the MGA model, this should be a big deal. While reciprocals are an old concept, they’re making a comeback for good reason. Unlike the carrier/MGA model, the Attorney-in-Fact (AIF) in a reciprocal isn’t exposed to balance sheet risk, which investors like and reward with higher valuations. Think of a reciprocal like a mutual fund—owned by policyholders but managed by an AIF, which oversees operations in exchange for a percentage of the premiums. (Read Sean Harper's post at Kin Insurance) This model has proven to be successful, with over 60 reciprocal exchanges in the U.S., including top carriers such as Farmers Insurance, USAA, Erie Insurance Group (Market Cap of $21B), and PURE Insurance (acquired by Tokio Marine Group for $3B). The surplus and capital of these exchanges are generally contributed by policyholders, which helps align their interests with those managing the risk. Insurtechs like Kin Insurance and Branch have already embraced this model, and I believe more insurtechs should take note. Reciprocals could be a key strategy to unlocking higher valuations and sustainable growth. 👏 Congrats to Clearcover and Kyle Nakatsuji on the launch!