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(9) – Breaking News Again – Pre-A Window
Remember that 90-day-to-IPO “bonus series” I did? My team thought they could finally take a breather after that… and here we go again with another can’t-skip update 😂
So here’s the story.
There’s this AI company I invested in last year — back then, their ARR had just hit seven figures and was growing fast month by month. I even did a whole interview series about it. Because I came in through one of the early investors, I happened to grab a small position right before the valuation jumped, so on paper it’s already up a round.
I actually went through the whole normal process — interview done, content ready — but before I could even publish, they said, “No need, institutions are in, no more allocation.” 😂 So I shelved it. Still, a few people who found it on my site reached out saying they were super interested, but the round was long gone. There’s been a waiting list ever since.
That was late 2024. Fast-forward a year.
Honestly, my experience wasn’t great for a while — the founder’s a typical “genius with a temper” type. Barely communicates, doesn’t send updates, and all the news I heard was secondhand. He mentioned an upcoming Series A, but without proper numbers, I didn’t pay much attention.
Then a few months ago, a friend told me they’d opened a small office right in our neighborhood. We dropped by for a surprise visit. A few engineers and AI folks had literally relocated from different countries. One guy from Israel laughed and said, “If growth weren’t good, I wouldn’t have moved halfway across the world to here.” That line alone made me feel better 😂
Then, a few days after that visit, the founder called me:
“Oh, forgot to update you — the company’s doing great. Series A basically is penciled in for 2026, I have already lined up lead/anchor investors which is a well respected institution, valuation’s going way up. There’s just a tiny bit left in the current bridge round before series A next year — already got tons of calls from existing shareholders so I’m just only letting existing investors and shareholders top up. Just letting you know.”
Then he casually dropped:
“Since our last chat, ARR and revenue are up about 500%. ARR’s now over $5 million. The AI product that used to automate 50% of the workflow now handles 90% with no human touch. We’re raising only $4 million this round — $2 million’s already taken. Someone might take the rest, so depending on how fast people make their decisions, it’s first come and first serve. Valuation’s still low right now with xxM, whereas Series A will be at least 1xxM if not 1xxM. Simple math: the earlier you get in, the better your upside.” 😂
I said, just send me the data.
This time he actually did — and it was very detailed. (I won’t disclose the exact files or metrics here; anyone genuinely interested can talk with them directly and do your own due diligence.) Based on the data he shared with me, below are some details.
Highlights worth noting:
•Repeat founder. A bit of personality and does not like to communicate — Harvard dropout who already scaled his last startup to $10M+ ARR. Says this new one’s an even bigger opportunity.
•Strong backers. Series A lead investors include early backers of AngelList and Coinbase. Not the type to skip due diligence.
•Same terms as institutions. This small bridge round is at a much lower valuation than Series A, same terms as the VCs who already came in — so they already did a full DD back then.
•He asked me not to blast detailed numbers publicly — apparently a lot of funds are trying to sneak a look at their data to negotiate cheaper allocations. Classic “time-is-money” window.
So here I am, writing this quick post before it’s fully allocated.
If you want to understand what they actually do — market size, product, revenue mix, risks, outlook etc— check the unreleased interview series (link below) where the founder explains it in his own words