TechPoutine #19:The AI Land Grab, the Death of SaaS, and Stay22's $122M Raise
From TechPoutine with Eleonore Jarry, Ian Jeffrey, Gabriel Sundaram & Nectarios Economakis by Nectarios Economakis
April 6, 2026 · 32 min
About this episode
The episode discusses the evolving landscape of venture capital and technology, highlighting Stay22's funding and the implications for SaaS and AI in the industry.
Tech Poutine is back and so is the energy. The Tech Poutine crew is back for the first episode of the year. Recorded straight from the Startup Fest studio , Eleonore, Ian, Gabriel, and I dive into the rapidly shifting landscape of venture capital and the local tech ecosystem. The market is moving incredibly fast, and we break down the most exciting, and terrifying, trends hitting the industry right now. Episode Highlights Stay22's Massive Win: We kick things off with a massive shoutout to Andrew and Hamed from Stay22 on their $122 million raise led by Summit Partners. We discuss their incredible grit through multiple near-bankruptcies , how they navigated revenue going to zero during COVID , and the legendary story of Hamed pitching Dave McClure in a taxi. Is SaaS Dead? We explore the dramatic shift away from the traditional SaaS playbook. The crew analyzes how public markets are repricing software companies with shrinking multiples , while AI-native foundational models are commanding massive valuations based on incredibly high revenue per head. 10x Engineering & The End of Backlogs: AI tools are sending developer productivity through the roof, allowing tiny engineering teams to…
People in this episode
Hosts: Eleonore Jarry, Ian Jeffrey, Gabriel Sundaram, Nectarios Economakis
Topics covered
- venture capital
- tech ecosystem
- SaaS
- AI tools
- developer productivity
- Stay22 funding
Keywords
- Stay22
- SaaS
- venture capital
- AI tools
- developer productivity
- Startup Fest
- Mila Ventures
- Canada
Mentioned in this episode
Organizations: Stay22, Summit Partners, Mila Ventures
Places: Canada
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