Three live brands prove it works: Fanatiq (with Pete), Handled (with Max), and YEAA (with Carl). Each is a vertical AI brand, co-founded with a domain expert, running on the Squidgy platform.
Selective. We say no to most applicants — the cohort is small.
The right starting point depends on the scope of what you want to build, the time you can commit, and how much equity vs cash matters for you. Most Squidgy Ventures experts start at Vertical Build and graduate to Vertical Spinoff once the model is proven.
Tier 1 · Existing programme
Solo builders
Build one agent. List it in the marketplace. Earn from usage.
Tier 2 · NEW
Domain experts validating a multi-agent vertical solution
A managed multi-agent vertical solution, shipped in ~8 weeks under your existing brand or a Squidgy sub-account. No new brand. Revenue share.
Tier 3 · Squidgy Ventures
Domain experts ready to co-found a vertical brand
Full white-label vertical brand, co-founded with you, equity stake included. The Fanatiq, Handled, YEAA pattern.
Squidgy Ventures isn't a hypothesis. It's the formalised version of what's already running. Each of these brands launched as a Vertical Spinoff with a domain expert co-founder leading the GTM.
Sports & hospitality
Fanatiq
Co-founded with Pete
Co-founded the vertical brand for sports clubs, venues, and hospitality operators. Squidgy platform under the hood; Pete leads GTM and shapes the agent suite around real club operations.
Visit fanatiq →Marketing agencies
Handled
Co-founded with Max
Co-founded the vertical brand for marketing agencies that want to bring AI agents to their clients without rebuilding internal stacks. Squidgy provides the platform; Max runs the agency-facing GTM.
Visit handled →Real estate
YEAA
Co-founded with Carl
Co-founded the vertical brand for real-estate agents and brokers — lead qualification, listing intake, tour scheduling. Squidgy infrastructure; Carl leads the real-estate GTM and product depth.
Visit yeaa →You bring
Squidgy brings
| Dimension | Vertical Build | Vertical Spinoff |
|---|---|---|
| Output | Multi-agent vertical solution under existing brand | Full white-label vertical brand |
| Timeline | ~8 weeks to first paying customer | 16-24 weeks initial build, ongoing |
| Expert time | Part-time-able alongside a job | Meaningful — usually primary focus |
| Stake | Revenue share (terms negotiated per deal) | Equity stake in the spinoff brand |
| Brand | Yours or Squidgy.ai sub-account | Yours, fully white-labelled (Fanatiq pattern) |
| Best for | Validating a vertical solution before brand investment | Co-founding a vertical company |
Specific terms (revenue split, equity %, vesting, milestones) are negotiated per partnership. We share concrete numbers in the first conversation after an application review.
Compare
Both turn domain expertise into AI products. Prometheus structures it as a productized partnership with revenue share and a $75K minimum guarantee. Squidgy Ventures structures it as an equity-aligned co-founder relationship with a real stake in a vertical brand. Different deal shapes, different upside curves.
Squidgy Ventures is a co-build programme for domain experts who want to launch something more ambitious than a single agent. Two tiers: Vertical Build (a managed multi-agent vertical solution shipped in ~8 weeks under your existing brand or sub-account) and Vertical Spinoff (a full white-label vertical brand co-founded with you, with an equity stake). Three Vertical Spinoffs are already live: Fanatiq (sports & hospitality, co-founded with Pete), Handled (marketing agencies, with Max), and YEAA (real estate, with Carl).
Domain experts with deep niche expertise — typically 5+ years in their vertical — who want to productize and monetize what they know without building a startup from scratch. Coaches, consultants, agency operators, vertical-tech veterans, ex-operators in regulated industries (legal, accounting, real estate) all fit. The expert leads GTM and shapes the product; Squidgy provides the platform, engineering, ops, billing, and marketplace distribution.
The Agent Builder ships one agent — invite-only early access for solo builders, listed in the marketplace if you want, you keep the majority of revenue. Squidgy Ventures ships a vertical agent suite or a full vertical brand — a different category of output, more ambitious in scope, with a different commercial structure (revenue share or equity stake depending on tier).
Prometheus is a productized partnership with revenue share (70/30 by deal source) and a $75K minimum guarantee, where TheAgentic operates the product as their own. Squidgy Ventures is equity-aligned — at the Vertical Spinoff tier, the expert co-founds a brand under their own name (Fanatiq, Handled, YEAA pattern) and holds a real equity stake. See the full comparison on /vs/prometheus.
Squidgy brings the platform (agent builder, orchestration, eval, hosting), the engineering team, the ops layer (billing, customer support, infrastructure), and increasingly mature distribution (marketplace, channel adapters, embed). The expert brings deep domain knowledge, an opinion on what to build first, and access to the first 2-3 design-partner customers who can validate the product. At the Vertical Spinoff tier, the expert also leads ongoing GTM as the brand co-founder.
Vertical Build targets ~8 weeks from kickoff to first paying customer (assuming the design partners are lined up at week 1). Vertical Spinoff is longer — 16-24 weeks for the initial brand build, with ongoing growth after — because you're launching a company, not just shipping a product.
Yes — that's the design. The ladder is intentional. Many experts start at Vertical Build to validate the product and revenue model, then graduate to Vertical Spinoff once the proof is there. The transition isn't automatic; it's a conversation about commitment, equity structure, and brand identity.
There's an application form at the bottom of this page (or hello@squidgy.ai for direct outreach). We review every application personally — usually within 5 working days. Selection is based on niche depth, design-partner access, and fit between the vertical and our current platform capabilities. We say no to most applicants today because the cohort is small and the time investment per partnership is meaningful.
Squidgy Ventures is selective — we work with a small number of domain experts at any time. Tell us your niche, what you'd build, who'd use it, and which tier fits. We respond to every application within 5 working days.