Paid, the AI agent 'results-based billing' startup from Manny Medina, raises huge $21M seed

Recapping this week in startups

View this email online in your browser  October 03, 2025 TechCrunch Top 3 Paid, the AI agent 'results-based billing' startup from Manny Medina, raises huge $21M seed: Paid offers an interesting contribution to the AI agentic world: a platform for "results-based" billing. Read More Vibe-coding startup Anything nabs a $100M valuation after hitting $2M ARR in its first two weeks: The problem with most vibe-coding companies is that they don't provide all the infrastructure that nontechnical users need to launch a functional product. Anything is attempting to solve this problem. Read More A new search engine raises $1.1M to let obsessive fans dive down internet rabbit holes: Lore raises $1.1 million to build a personalized search engine for fandom culture. Read More A message from J.P. Morgan From vision to venture backed J.P. Morgan helps make connections that matter. With a network of strategic partners, J.P. Morgan offers unparalleled access to support startups at all stages of growth. Get Connected Must-Reads A comprehensive list of 2025 tech layoffs: A complete list of all the known layoffs in tech, from Big Tech to startups, broken down by month throughout 2024. Read More Self-driving trucks startup Einride raises $100M: Einride raised the funds five months after founder Robert Falck left the CEO role and took over as executive chairman of the board. Read More Perplexity acquires the team behind Sequoia-backed AI design startup Visual Electric: Perplexity has acquired Visual Electric, an AI Design tool. Its team is going to lead a new agents experience group at Perplexity. Read More Former Microsoft execs launch AI agents to end Excel-led finance: Maximor has come out of stealth with a human-in-the-loop agentic platform that does the finance team's grunt work. Read More Former OpenAI and DeepMind researchers raise whopping $300M seed to automate science : Periodic Labs has raised from a tech industry who's who, including Andreessen Horowitz, Nvidia, Elad Gil, Jeff Dean, Eric Schmidt, and Jeff Bezos. Read More A message from TechCrunch Partnerships Reach decision-makers with TechCrunch sponsored content Your story deserves more than impressions — it deserves impact. From hosted articles and interactive storytelling to custom videos and gated content, TechCrunch delivers high-value formats that engage tech leaders, founders, and investors. Whether you want to educate, inspire, or convert, we'll craft the content and put it in front of the people who matter. Learn More Be the first to know when news breaks Subscribe to our News Alerts, and you won't miss a thing. Breaking news, exclusives, and special reports—straight to your inbox. Sign up for News Alerts! Last but Not Least OpenAI is the world's most valuable private company after private stock sale: OpenAI employees sold $6.6B in shares, leading company's valuation to jump to $500B. Read More Check out some of our other newsletters: StrictlyVC TechCrunch Events TechCrunch Mobility Got a tip? Get in touch securely. Want to advertise on TechCrunch? advertise@techcrunch.com Has this been forwarded to you? Click here to subscribe to this newsletter. Unsubscribe Member Center Privacy Policy Copyright © 2025 TechCrunch Media LLC 501 2nd Street, Suite 650, San Francisco, CA 94107