Why we invested in StackOne
We’ve invested in StackOne to make API integration for SaaS vendors faster, easier, and more secure. It’s a pleasure to invest once again alongside our friends at Episode 1, Portfolio Ventures and an impressive list of industry-leading angels.
How it started
Hector from Episode 1, first put StackOne and its founders Romain Sestier and Guillaume Lebedel on our radar — thanks, Hector!
After meeting the team and understanding the pain they are solving, it became clear we needed to partner with Romain and Guillaume for the next stage of their journey.
The problem with APIs
APIs, or Application Programming Interfaces, are the connectors that allow different software systems to communicate and share data. Businesses today rely on a complex, interconnected web of many different software applications to run their operations. These applications often need to exchange information with each other, which is where APIs come into play.
More and more, B2B customers are expecting their SaaS tools to natively integrate with each other. But building and managing API connections in-house as a software vendor is a cumbersome task that consumes developers’ time. It not only slows businesses down but also loses them revenue when they can’t serve certain clients due to integration limitations.
The challenges of API integration are widespread across the software industry. Companies large and small grapple with integration complexities. When we referenced with SaaS founders and tech leaders, they consistently expressed a desire to outsource this work, citing complexity and resource drain.
StackOne’s solution
StackOne is changing that by simplifying API integration for software vendors. It provides a single API that allows you to access your entire addressable market — no longer saying “no” to customers. This unified API standardised data models and endpoints for entire categories of products such as ATS, CRM, Marketing, and HRIS. Businesses only need to build once to integrate with all the tools their customers use. As a result, they can focus on core product development, iterate faster, and expand their customer base by offering a wider range of integrated solutions. Engineering teams can forget the days of managing API sprawl.
Playfair’s thesis
The market for API integration solutions is vast, with untapped potential. Most companies still build them in-house, incurring high costs and slowing down the core tech roadmap.
SaaS companies are demanding an alternative. Top-down market reports put API management services in the tens of billions.
However, we believe StackOne’s unified and privacy-first approach will expand the market even further: building outsourced integrations in places that were previously considered ‘too difficult’ or ‘too sensitive’. They have a unique approach to becoming category leaders in this exciting and rapidly growing market.
Unified platform
StackOne’s unified API platform simplifies integration with multiple third-party APIs. Conventional methods require building and maintaining separate connections individually. StackOne provides a centralised solution, reducing complexity and streamlining the integration process.
Real-time data
StackOne’s technology enables real-time data access, with data pulls taking just seconds. This sets it apart from competitors, some of which have longer synchronisation times, providing users with up-to-the-minute data for informed decision-making. It also enables bi-directional integrations (read and write) which are very limited with competitors.
Data security focus
StackOne has designed its system with a security-first approach. Unlike some competitors that store or cache end customer data like Employees or CRM opportunities, StackOne does not retain user data, enhancing data security and privacy compliance, which is crucial in enterprise and regulated industries.
LLM-powered integration
StackOne uses LLMs to allow users to create custom integrations easily. This enables them to rapidly add new software connections, and will, in future, power a developer-facing platform to enable fully customisable API connectors.
Outstanding founders
At the core of StackOne’s potential are its founders, Romain and Guillaume. From our first interaction, we’ve been astounded by their drive, attention to detail and their approach to business building. Both are deeply technical and we believe they have the skills to execute on their ambitions.
They’ve founded together before and continued to work together at Yieldify. We’re confident that they are uniquely positioned to build the business they are targeting.
Romain Sestier: Co-founder and CEO
Romain brings a unique blend of business and technical expertise. He launched ContentSquare’s product in the UK before co-founding Upper.ai alongside Guillaume. He rose rapidly to VP of Product at Yieldify, managing a team of 70, and, at Google, he incubated and built $1 billion products. He has been exceptional in every role he has held.
Guillaume Lebedel: Co-founder and CTO
Guillaume is a commercial CTO who can simplify complex concepts and align technology with business goals. He earned a computer science degree from EPITECH, and then met Romain ~10 years ago at Maxymiser. He quickly progressed to VP of Engineering at Yieldify and is the architect of the unique approach which is critical to StackOne’s product.
What’s next
As they enter year two, StackOne’s team continue to build out their catalogue starting with HRIS, ATS, Marketing Automation, and CRMs at speed.
Their vision is for a fully customisable LLM-powered integration platform that developers love.
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If you’re looking for a solution to the hassle of building and maintaining API integrations for your product, you can reach out to the StackOne team directly here.
If you’re a founder at the very earliest stages of building your company, I’d love to connect and hear the vision. You can find me on LinkedIn or pitch the wider team at Playfair here.
You can follow the Playfair team on LinkedIn, Twitter, Forbes, Vimeo and here on Medium.
