The SaaS Revolution Show: "How AI is Changing SaaS Funding" with Ventech’s Audrey Soussan

Host: Alex Theuma
Guest: Audrey Soussan, General Partner at Ventech
Date: November 20, 2025

Episode Overview

This episode of The SaaS Revolution Show delves into how Artificial Intelligence (AI) is fundamentally transforming the SaaS funding landscape. Host Alex Theuma interviews Audrey Soussan, General Partner at Ventech, to explore how her fund is adapting to the new realities of AI-driven SaaS, how founders should respond to AI disruption, and what investors now prioritize when backing early-stage SaaS startups. Audrey shares candid insights from Ventech’s investment strategy, portfolio evolution, and her hands-on approach to supporting founders in the AI era.

Key Discussion Points and Insights

Ventech's Evolving Investment Mandate (02:05–05:00)

• Ventech’s Focus Areas:
  • Primary focus on AI, as well as digital health, industrial software, European sovereignty, cyberspace, and related tech sectors.
  • Early-stage investments: Seed and Series A, with typical initial tickets of €1–6M and up to €15M per company.
  • The latest fund, Ventech 6, is €175M, with high LP loyalty—“95% LP re-up rate” ([04:15]).
• Geographic Coverage: France-based, but also covers Germany and Nordics with local teams, and the Netherlands via partnerships.

Case Study: Inside it Acquisition by Gainsight (05:00–13:02)

• Unique Bootstrapping Story:
  • Ventech was the first institutional investor after Inside it bootstrapped for ~5 years, joining at €2–3M ARR.
  • Audrey: “It was already … quite developed but without any external [capital].” ([05:18])
• Role as Lead Investor:
  • Always takes board seats and retains them until exit; core to providing value.
  • Preference to tailor value-add based on each founder’s needs, using Ventech's 25-year network.
  • “My main role is actually to match this network with the main challenges of the CEO at a specific timing.” ([09:56])
• Acquisition Timing and AI's Rising Importance:
  • Gainsight acquired Inside it in 2022—timing was “excellent” given how acquirers now prioritize AI-native companies.
  • “Gainsight as of today would not invest in a company with no AI native strategy.” ([11:38])
  • Emphasizes that great founders will pivot or adapt to major market shifts—predicts Inside it would be more AI-driven if founded today.

Is Traditional SaaS Dead? AI as the Baseline (13:02–19:44)

• AI as a Ubiquitous Enabler:
  • “AI is not a vertical in itself anymore. It should be within any company now.” ([13:29])
  • No competitive SaaS founder can ignore AI—even mature, scaled businesses must revisit their value propositions.
• Agility and Adaptation Matter:
  • Incumbents who can rapidly add AI functionality have competitive assets, e.g., existing customer trust and distribution.
  • Case example: Botify’s evolution from SEO to JEO (Generative Engine Optimization) to match shifts in information retrieval (Google → LLMs).
  • “The fight between AI native companies and … major companies that are now leveraging AI … is not for sure won by AI native companies.” ([18:27])

Handling Legacy Tech Debt and Founder Agility (19:44–22:46)

• Legacy SaaS Can Survive—With Nuance:
  • Audrey cautions against dogmatic AI pivoting; founders must weigh the cost and value of AI adoption.
  • “Rushing into every new trend is not a good thing for a CEO. So saying that rushing into AI is not great.” ([21:36])
  • Still, expects even laggards to use AI for productivity gains internally, if not as part of their product.

The Competitive VC Landscape & What Gets Funded (22:46–25:03)

• What Audrey Seeks in AI Startups:
  • Focuses on founders with deep vertical expertise or exclusive data, not just pure AI/ML technical backgrounds.
  • “Find experts in their specific vertical with specific barriers to entry that are not linked to the tech itself, but … to either the expertise of the founder or their access to specific data.” ([23:32])
• Advice to Founders Raising Today:
  • Non-AI or non-AI-adjacent startups face a tougher, more selective fundraising market.
  • However: “Whatever you’re doing which is doing great should get interest from the investor.” ([25:15])
  • Emphasizes equity storytelling and market adaptation in pitching.

How AI Powers the Modern Investor (26:41–28:19)

• Daily Use of AI Tools:
  • Reliance on ChatGPT and LLMs for communications, market research, screening deals, and internal productivity.
  • Ventech has internal developers building custom AI tooling for dealflow and sourcing.
  • “I’m like everyone, I’m using ChatGPT a lot … to get sharper and crisper in understanding faster the deals.” ([26:56])

Bullishness on the Future (28:19–29:13)

• AI Cycles: B2B and B2C Outlook:
  • Sees broader tech optimism, not just for SaaS/B2B, but a belief that consumer (B2C) technology will rebound with AI-powered agent productivity.
  • “Technology is all about trends and cycles … when a cycle dies, another cycle is born.” ([28:53])

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• “AI is not a vertical in itself anymore. It should be within any company now.”
  — Audrey Soussan ([13:29])

• “My main role is actually to match this network with the main challenges of the CEO at a specific timing.”
  — Audrey Soussan ([09:56])

• “Gainsight as of today would not invest in a company with no AI native strategy.”
  — Audrey Soussan ([11:38])

• “The fight between AI native companies and … major companies that are now leveraging AI … is not for sure won by AI native companies.”
  — Audrey Soussan ([18:27])

• “Rushing into every new trend is not a good thing for a CEO. So saying that rushing into AI is not great.”
  — Audrey Soussan ([21:36])

• “Whatever you’re doing which is doing great should get interest from the investor.”
  — Audrey Soussan ([25:15])

• “Technology is all about trends and cycles … when a cycle dies, another cycle is born.”
  — Audrey Soussan ([28:53])

Timestamps for Key Segments

• [02:05]: Ventech’s geography, fund, and focus
• [05:18]: Inside it's bootstrap to institutional investment story
• [07:53]: Ventech’s hands-on approach with founders
• [11:37]: Would Gainsight acquire a non-AI SaaS today?
• [13:29]: "AI is not a vertical"—the baseline expectation
• [17:50]: Botify’s AI transformation case study
• [21:36]: Is it ever OK not to pivot to AI?
• [23:32]: Audrey’s AI investment criteria
• [25:15]: Fundraising advice in the AI-dominated market
• [26:56]: How Audrey personally uses AI every day
• [28:53]: Future optimism—cycle wisdom

Summary Takeaway

Audrey Soussan presents a clear, pragmatic view: AI is now the standard for SaaS and enterprise tech. Both startups and investors must adapt fast, but winning still comes down to founder agility, unique expertise, and leveraging longstanding networks. In this fast-moving era, Ventech aims to back founders who are not only “AI-native,” but who can build genuine barriers, adapt with integrity, and ride inevitable tech cycles—no matter which trend comes next.