For software-as-a-service (SaaS) companies, precise and efficient monetisation of their products is crucial for business success. However, challenges arise due to essential monetisation elements being scattered across separate platforms, often isolated from each other. These fragmented systems can result in delayed responses to market changes, convoluted billing structures, and avoidable errors.
UserHub, a pioneering User-Based Billing Platform tailored for B2B SaaS, has closed a $3.2 million pre-seed funding round. Led by Berlin-based venture capital firm 468 Capital, this investment represents a significant milestone in UserHub’s quest to democratise modern monetisation infrastructure for all software businesses. The funding will be allocated towards expanding the engineering team, accelerating product development, and expanding the customer base.
Tailored for SaaS growth
Co-founded by Patrick Rafferty and Silas Sewell, New York-based UserHub was born out of their frustration with existing user management and billing products while working at Reonomy, a commercial real estate AI-powered SaaS product. The platform’s unique proposition lies in its ability to provide embeddable self-service interfaces seamlessly integrated with a SaaS vendor’s core product. This enables end-customers to manage subscriptions, add team members, and upgrade plans effortlessly.
UserHub targets SaaS vendors with user-heavy products, offering compatibility with platforms like Monday.com and Github with its user-centric approach and seamless integration capabilities.
All-in-one monetisation
In a landscape where category-leading SaaS products invest millions in building robust user management, pricing, and billing systems, UserHub aims to level the playing field. Many SaaS companies, especially startups, lack the resources to invest in this area, focusing instead on their core offerings. This gap often leads to missed opportunities for revenue generation and limits the ability to serve all customer segments effectively. UserHub addresses this challenge by offering a comprehensive platform that encompasses user management, subscriptions, and pricing, all in one place.
Patrick Rafferty commented, “Technology companies reinvented consumer commerce by creating a seamless buyer experience – both online and offline. Square, for instance, equipped every restaurant with an elegant checkout experience. UserHub will do the same for SaaS startups: help firms launch monetization capabilities usually reserved for the largest products. We will help them unlock expansion revenue and allow them to focus on developing their core products.”
Seamless integration
UserHub’s technology works alongside authentication providers like Auth0 and billing systems like Stripe, ensuring seamless integration for SaaS companies. While existing solutions like Stripe Billing and Auth0 address elements of the customer lifecycle, UserHub fills the gap by offering a comprehensive platform designed for application-layer SaaS.
Investor and user confidence
Led by Berlin-based 468 Capital, the pre-seed funding round garnered support from notable investors, including Plaid founder Zach Perret’s Mischief Capital, Tokyo Black, GTMfund, Lorimer Ventures, Nomad Cap, and Alumni Ventures.
Philipp Seifert, Partner at 468 Capital, expressed confidence in UserHub’s vision, emphasising its potential to revolutionise the user management and billing space for SaaS startups, “For too many startups there is a gap between the value their software delivers and the value they can extract from customers at scale. Patrick and Silas have first-hand experience of the problems this gap can create for companies and how to solve it. Their vision for a new user management and best-in-class billing platform is a game-changer in that it allows UserHub customers to offer an end-user experience as seamless as what the industry has come to expect from companies like Notion and Figma.”
Glimpse Co-Founder Max Fram-Schwartz added, “UserHub allowed us to quickly add team plans and seat management to our product. This saved us a bunch of time and allowed us to focus on what we do best. The Stripe Customer Portal was a great start, but UserHub takes it to the next level.”
Positive feedback and early adoption
Launched in private beta in November, UserHub’s early prototype has received enthusiastic feedback from a diverse range of SaaS companies, including trending data product Glimpse. Max Fram-Schwartz, Co-Founder of Glimpse, praised UserHub for its ability to streamline pricing plans and seamlessly transition from single-user to multi-seat models, saving valuable time and allowing them to focus on core competencies.
