Ping Li

SF VC Takeaway #2: Pricing expectations, performance bars, and what’s actually getting funded. One theme that came up repeatedly in SF was how far pricing expectations and performance bars have shifted, even compared to just a few years ago. A few things investors kept anchoring to: 1️⃣ Median Series A valuations are higher than their 2021 peaks, but fewer of them are getting done. 2️⃣ Capital is being concentrated into fewer and fewer companies (and lots of capital!) 3️⃣ “Good” progress is no longer enough and the bar for standout performance has moved in an AI-native world So what does “top performance” mean right now? One investor told me that top quartile seed companies in their portfolio are going from $0 to $2M in ARR in <12 months. Outside of pure traction numbers, a few other themes that came up to describe "top performance": 📈 Explosive early revenue ramps (or a very credible path to them) 📊 Strong velocity and momentum for 2 quarters in a row, even if the baseline is small. 🚀 Clear signals of category leadership, not just product-market fit. Sometimes shown by either domain expertise, speed of product optimization, or by lack of competition in the category. This creates a counterintuitive dynamic where it can be easier to fund a company with strong pedigrees in a hot space and no traction yet than a company that went from 0 to $1M ARR at what used to be considered a rapid pace. Pricing today is driven by trajectories, not moments in time. We used to say investors invest in lines not points; I think that's more true than ever now because crossing certain milestones doesn't carry as much influence as it once did. Finally, investors still say that valuation matters, but many of them are acting differently. Pace and belief in category-defining companies really sets the price; while slower growth gets scrutinized rather than discounted. One silver lining in the camp of durable growth: Series A rounds are happening so fast that many companies don’t yet have meaningful history of retention data. Large bets are being made on velocity before the durability is proven. Several investors told me the same thing: we may soon swing back to a market where retention, not growth, becomes the defining metric. Let's hope so. I'll share my third SF VC takeaway tomorrow!

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We’re thrilled to announce that Nascap Partners has led its first investment into supplai, a KSA-based AI-driven logistics platform revolutionizing cold-chain logistics across Saudi Arabia. We couldn’t be prouder to back two exceptionally hardworking, driven, and determined founders Azmi Negro and Marwan Oueida, who are building critical infrastructure for the Kingdom’s growing enterprise logistics sector. 𝘞𝘩𝘺 𝘸𝘦 𝘪𝘯𝘷𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘥: 𝐒𝐨𝐥𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐥 𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐤𝐞𝐭 𝐠𝐚𝐩: Supplai bridges the disconnect between enterprise clients locked into expensive legacy providers and high-quality domestic carrier capacity that sits underutilized. They’re bringing an advanced holistic offering that most domestic carriers can’t provide alone. 𝐒𝐭𝐫𝐨𝐧𝐠 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐝𝐮𝐜𝐭-𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐤𝐞𝐭 𝐟𝐢𝐭: The team has demonstrated impressive traction with major F&B conglomerates and enterprise clients across multiple Saudi cities, validating strong demand for their value proposition. 𝐓𝐞𝐜𝐡𝐧𝐨𝐥𝐨𝐠𝐲-𝐟𝐢𝐫𝐬𝐭 𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐚𝐜𝐡: Supplai has deployed AI-powered automation that streamlines operations, creating meaningful efficiency gains for both clients and carriers. 𝐎𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐞𝐱𝐜𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞: The founding team has built robust processes around risk management, client diversification, and geographic expansion, demonstrating maturity beyond their stage. 𝐌𝐚𝐫𝐤𝐞𝐭 𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐠: The logistics sector is fundamental to Vision 2030, and Supplai is perfectly positioned to capture this massive opportunity as the Kingdom continues its economic transformation. Azmi and Marwan have built something incredible in record time – a platform that doesn’t just move goods, but transforms how enterprises and carriers work together. Their focus on operational excellence, technology innovation, and client success sets them apart in a fragmented market. Congratulations to the entire Supplai team on this milestone. We’re excited to support your journey as you scale across the Kingdom and beyond. 🚀 If you’d like to learn more about what Supplai does and why we believe in them, feel free to reach out.

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We at Sequoia Capital are leading Serval's Series B. Empowering IT teams is one of the most elegant and scalable ways to deliver AI automation to the enterprise. Serval does exactly that by providing both a system of automation (a natural-language AI automation builder) and a system of record (a modern ITSM platform spanning ticketing system, access management, inventory management, and more). Customer feedback has been exceptional. We consistently heard how easy Serval is to use, and how powerful, reliable, and auditable its automations are in practice. Equally impressive was hearing that (1) many customers have already ripped and replaced legacy ITSM platforms and now use Serval as their system of record, and (2) automations built on Serval are spreading rapidly beyond IT into HR, Legal, Finance, Security, Engineering, Marketing, and more. The last time we at Sequoia saw the thesis of "IT system of record enabling horizontal enterprise automation" was 16 years ago when we partnered with ServiceNow. That’s why we’re thrilled to partner with Jake, Alex and the amazing team at Serval - alongside existing and new investors - in the mission of enabling IT teams to drive AI enterprise automation. Read more about our thesis in the comment.

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