Former Outreach CEO Manny Medina launches new startup tackling AI agent monetization

Manny Medina, co-founder and former CEO of Seattle-based sales tech company Outreach, is getting back on the startup train.

Medina is the founder of Paid, a London-based startup aiming to help companies handle monetization and billing for their AI agents.

“With just a few lines of code, AI builders can focus on creating amazing agents while we handle the business engine behind them,” Medina wrote on LinkedIn.

Medina wrote about this topic in an “Ask the Expert” business advice column for GeekWire in December, noting the challenges around AI agent monetization given the fundamental differences between agents and traditional software-as-a-service.

“Most companies start with simpler models like bundling or consumption-based pricing, then evolve toward outcomes and success as their product and customer understanding matures,” he wrote.

Paid has raised more than $10 million from EQT Ventures, Sequoia Capital, GTMfund, Exceptional Capital, Alt Capital, SV Angel, and Seattle-based Founders’ Co-op — which was an early Outreach investor.

Medina, who is now based in London, stepped down as CEO at Outreach in September. He became executive chairman of the company’s board at the time and is now a board member.

Outreach, launched in 2014, helps companies improve their seller workflows and win more deals. The company has raised nearly $500 million and reached a $4.4 billion valuation after raising $200 million in 2021.

Outreach grew rapidly during the pandemic, but has gone through multiple rounds of layoffs over the past few years.

The company is now led by Abhijit Mitra, who joined the company in 2023 as its president of product and technology.

Medina co-founded Outreach in 2014 with Wes Hather, Gordon Hempton, and Andrew Kinzer.

The four co-founders went on a roller coaster startup journey together. They originally launched a recruiting software company called GroupTalent in 2011 after going through the Techstars Seattle accelerator. But the entrepreneurs pivoted in 2014 to focus on building tools for salespeople.

Outreach is backed by Sands Capital, Salesforce Ventures, Operator Collective, Lone Pine Capital, Spark Capital, Meritech Capital Partners, Trinity Ventures, Mayfield, and Sapphire Ventures.