ControlUp ARR Hit $100M, Achieves $1B Unicorn Valuation

Paymend achieved a 4x growth in ARR, increasing from $5M to $20M in just 12 months. This growth was driven by their focus on recovering failed payments for merchants, addressing an often-overlooked issue where $150B+ is lost annually due to failed payments in the US. The company emphasizes relentless execution and solving a significant problem to convince clients of its value.

Applied Compute has seen rapid growth in its annualized revenue, now reaching approximately $50 million, a 4x increase since November 2025. This growth is attributed to heightened demand for open-source-based compute solutions. The company is in talks to raise a new funding round led by notable investor Elad Gil, potentially raising hundreds of millions of dollars and valuing the company at $3 billion—double its valuation just a few months ago.

Sanas has achieved $77M ARR after adding $17M in new ARR this quarter, exceeding forecasts by over 40%. The company ended the previous year at $50M ARR, highlighting substantial year-over-year growth. Sanas is expanding its reach within enterprise markets, particularly telco, leveraging its Speech AI platform and increasing customer purchases across various product offerings. The team is now aiming for $100M ARR as a milestone.

Fonio achieved significant growth, increasing from $500K to $10M ARR in 12 months—a 20x growth rate. This growth was facilitated by product innovation, including the release of best-in-class turn detection technology, market expansion into seven new regions, and scaling its team from 5 to 80 employees. The company is targeting $100M ARR by the end of 2027 and actively hiring for a Head of Growth role with a 7-figure monthly marketing responsibility.

Tree Traction has reached $5M ARR. The company is expanding its sales team and providing roles with uncapped commissions and retroactive accelerators. Tree Traction is a specialized direct mail marketing company built exclusively for tree service businesses. They design and send personalized, handwritten-style direct mailers to homeowners to help tree care companies generate exclusive leads before customers shop around on platforms like Google, Angi, or Thumbtack.Their platform appears to focus on leveraging AI tools to support sales teams primarily through inbound strategies.