Real Case: How a B2B AI Platform Is Creating a Token for Its Due Diligence Software

A confidential AI company, a non-crypto business, builds due diligence software for asset managers, private equity funds and law firms, and is setting it up as a new business. It wanted USD 3 to 5M without selling shares, and asked whether a utility token sale could raise it. It had a working product and enterprise clients, but no token, whitepaper, website, community or investor list. TokenMinds mapped seven gaps and worked in three stages. Due diligence on the token, an MVP that builds the token into the software, and a launch route behind four gates.

Case at a glance

The Company in Detail

About the business:

• An AI company that builds data and insight tools for regulated industries, with large enterprise clients.
• Its due diligence software reads the files in a data room, flags what is missing, analyses the risks and writes the investment committee memo, with an audit trail behind every insight.
• Its users are asset managers, private equity funds and law firms. The company is setting the software up as a new business with its own funding.
• Its founder comes from traditional capital markets. The company is new to blockchain and has no crypto team.

About the goal:

• Raise USD 3 to 5M for the new business without selling shares.
• Find out whether a token can work for a B2B product with no consumer community.
• Keep the upfront spend low. No paying for a launch that raises nothing.
• Close faster than an equity round, with a private round first and a public sale later.
• Keep the team on the business while the token work is done.
• Protect the company's standing with its institutional clients.

The Problem: Fundraising Gaps the Company Still Had

The company already had a working product, paying enterprise clients and a founder who knows investors. But none of that was ready for a token sale. Investors in a B2B token check the model, the demand and the product use before they read the story. TokenMinds examined each area and found these seven gaps.

1. Token model.
   TokenMinds examined the token ideas from the first call. It found ideas, not a model. No supply, no allocation, no release schedule, no demand numbers, and no reason for a holder to keep the token.
2. Raise expectation.
   The USD 3 to 5M target was tested against what a utility token can raise at this stage. A first public round for a token like this usually raises USD 100K to 1M, and at the price the team had in mind the full target needed more tokens than the whole investor bucket.”
3. Proof of demand.
   Nobody outside the company had been asked whether they wanted the token. There was no consumer community, no crypto audience and no evidence that crypto investors would put money in.
4. Legal position.
   TokenMinds examined the structure of the new business. The token had to be a utility token with no link to revenue or profit, the issuer, the IP and the cap table were not settled, and retail investors at home could not be approached. The sale needed an offshore issuer, a legal opinion, KYC and country checks.
5. Product use.
   The software had no job for a token. Clients paid in fiat, and credits could be paid in a stablecoin without a new token. Without a job in the product, demand ends when the sale ends, and a crypto label could hurt the institutional image.
6. Web3 presence.
   There was nothing public to check. No token website, no whitepaper or litepaper, no community, no content.
7. Investor pipeline.
   A private round had no way to be sold. No investor list, no data room, no process, and a team that could not run outreach without leaving the business.

Why These Gaps Matter to Investors

The founder's questions are the same questions an investor or a board asks. The table shows what each gap means to them.

Why a Token Sale Was the Solution for the Company

The company already had revenue from enterprise clients and a founder with access to traditional investors. But a traditional round meant selling shares, six months or more, and a result that could still be nothing. A token sale was worth testing because the software has a natural use for a token. Clients pay for memos, data rooms and subscriptions, and the token can be how they pay and the key to their service level. Through a utility token, the company can raise from the people who will use the software and keep its shares. The due diligence step answers whether the token also fits the raise. These are the four reasons in detail.

1. The token has a job inside the product. Clients pay in the token at a discount, lock it for a year for a bigger discount, and reach tiers that set their service level. So the token has buyers after the sale, not only during it.
2. No shares are sold. The token sale does not change the cap table. The founders keep their stake.
3. The users are the investors. The private equity and asset management professionals who use the software are a natural investor group. A B2B audience like this is rare in Web3.
4. The decision can be tested first. Four weeks of due diligence answer go, fix first or not yet before any launch money is spent. If demand is weak, the company stops there and keeps the model, the litepaper and the mockups.

TokenMinds designed the token as a utility token only. It gives no equity, no dividends, no revenue share and no binding say over the company. Holding alone earns nothing, and only verified wallets can hold or stake it.

TokenMinds' Token Sale Solution

TokenMinds worked as the company's advisor, token designer and developer. The work has three stages. Find out whether the token works. Build it into the software. Launch it after the four gates are passed. The image at the end of this section shows the stages and the question each one answers.

Due Diligence

This stage answers whether a token sale is feasible and wanted. TokenMinds designs the token model with numbers, writes a litepaper, designs the product screens with the token built in, and surveys 500+ crypto investors. The result is a report that opens with a verdict, go, fix first or not yet. The company decides with data instead of a bet.

MVP Development

This stage gives the token its job. TokenMinds builds a membership and payment layer around the existing software. Every client is on a plan and can pay in fiat or in the token at a discount. The token is optional, and fiat clients get the full product. Two small contracts handle the token payments and the 12-month commitment lock. An external audit runs before mainnet.

Token Launch Route 

This stage brings the token to investors. An offshore issuer with a legal opinion, a token sale website with KYC, a whitepaper, a private sale round through TokenMinds’ network of 800+ investors and the founder’s own contacts, and one or two investor events, followed by the public sale and the exchange listing. The four gates from the recommendation come first.

The Development Solution: Building the Token Into the Product

What TokenMinds Built

The software already worked and clients paid in fiat. TokenMinds built a membership and billing layer around it, where the token is an optional way to pay and fiat clients get the full product. The work covers these parts.

• A clickable prototype of the client and admin consoles on mock data, with the wallet flow simulated end to end.
• Three membership plans that set the service level, the memo credits, the processing queue, the data room size, the early modules and the events.
• Payment in fiat or in the token at 10 percent off, and a 12-month token commitment at 15 percent off with unused tokens returned.
• Loyalty credits on every delivered memo, 2 percent back in fiat and 4 percent in the token.
• Members' insights and events, unlocked by plan.
• Two smart contracts, the payment router and the commitment lock, with an external audit before mainnet.
• Wallets with the keys held for the client, KYB before any token payment, and a company treasury multisig.
• A three-layer architecture around the existing software, with only token payments and commitment locks on chain.

The reasoning behind all of it is the legal position and the institutional image. In the MVP the token buys services at a discount and nothing more. No yield, no burn, no say over the company. The software keeps looking like software.

Membership Model

Clients buy three things. A membership plan, memos beyond the plan credits, and extra data rooms. Each can be paid in fiat or in the token. The model works in four steps.

• Membership. The client picks one of three plans. The plan sets the service level and includes memo credits.
• Discounts. Anything paid in the token is 10 percent cheaper than the fiat price.
• Commitment. A client can lock the token as a 12-month prepayment. Services draw down from it at 15 percent off, and unused tokens are returned at the end of the term.
• Loyalty. Every delivered memo earns platform credits back, and steady usage moves a client up to a faster queue.

Plan levels, credits and turnaround times are proposals for the company to confirm. Token amounts are quoted from the US dollar price at the moment of payment, so clients always know what they pay in dollars.

Main Functionalities

The MVP has five features, built around the existing software. Each works with fiat, and the token adds a discount or a benefit on top.

1. Membership plans, priority processing and early access. Three plans, chosen at onboarding and changed from the client console. Memos run in queue order by plan, and each job shows its queue, its expected time and its data room allowance. New modules can be added to a job when the plan includes them. Credits, renewal dates and usage are visible to the client and the admin. Checkout shows the fiat and the token price side by side.
2. Pay in fiat or in the token. Every invoice can be paid by bank transfer or card, or in the token at 10 percent off. The token amount is quoted from the dollar price and held for 15 minutes. Token payments go through the payment router straight to the company, with the transaction hash on the invoice. Clients without the token can buy it at checkout.
3. Token commitment. A client locks at least USD 25,000 of the token for 12 months in the commitment lock contract, as a prepayment. Plans, memos and data rooms draw down from it at 15 percent off. Unused tokens return to the client's wallet at the end of the term. The lock pays no yield. Draw-down history and the remaining balance are visible to the client and the admin.
4. Loyalty credits. Every delivered memo earns credits back, 2 percent of its price when paid in fiat and 4 percent when paid in the token or from a commitment. Credits pay for memos, data rooms or the next renewal, and are valid for 12 months. A client on the first plan with four or more memos in 12 months moves up to the priority queue. Credits are a service discount booked by the company, not a token payout.
5. Members' insights and events. A library of anonymised benchmarks, due diligence templates, sector risk reports and AI screening insights, unlocked by plan. Aggregated data only. Every figure covers at least ten deals, and no client, deal or issuer can be identified. Product briefings, founder sessions and roundtables, with RSVP and seats by plan.

The platform has two kinds of users. The client firm, with deal team and investment committee members who run and read memos, and a finance admin who manages the plan, the invoices and the payment method. And the company, with admins who manage plans, billing and members, and analysts who work the memo queue. Holding the token is not a role. It is a payment option on a client account.

User Journey

From sign-up to renewal, the journey has seven steps. The token is optional at every one of them.

1. Join. A client firm signs up and passes KYB. Users sign in with single sign-on. A wallet is created only if the firm chooses to pay in the token.
2. Choose. The finance admin picks a plan and pays in fiat or in the token, or sets up a 12-month commitment.
3. Run. The deal team submits memos, paid from plan credits, loyalty credits, a new invoice or the commitment.
4. Process. The memo runs in the queue set by the plan. The company's analysts work the queue in order.
5. Earn. Each delivered memo books loyalty credits. Steady usage upgrades the client's queue.
6. Access. The plan opens the insights library, the early modules and the events.
7. Renew. The plan renews from fiat, the token, the commitment or loyalty credits. Unused commitment tokens are returned.

Design Mockups

TokenMinds built a clickable prototype of the client and admin consoles before the MVP build. All data is mock. The wallet, the token payments and the commitment lock are simulated end to end, from approval in the embedded wallet to on-chain confirmation and a transaction hash. The screens cover plans and checkout, billing, the commitment, loyalty, memos, the members' library and the admin overview. Four of them are below, with the client's branding blurred.

Smart Contracts

Only two things go on chain, token payments and commitment locks. Deal data, invoices and loyalty credits stay off chain. So the MVP needs two small contracts next to the token, built on audited open-source libraries.

• Payment router. Takes the token amount quoted on an invoice and sends it to the company treasury, with a receipt the backend matches to the invoice. Nothing is burned.
• Commitment lock. Holds the 12-month prepayment, releases tokens to the company as services are used, and returns the balance at the end of the term. It reuses TokenMinds' existing audited staking and vesting modules, so the new code and the audit scope stay small.

The commitment lock holds client funds, so an external audit is required before mainnet. Contract tests cover payments, locks, draw-downs and returns, and reconciliation tests check that the fiat, token and loyalty ledgers agree.

Architecture and Tech Stack

The platform has three layers around the existing software.

1. The front end. A client console and an admin console, built in Next.js with TypeScript on Vercel, with single sign-on.
2. The back end. Membership, billing and token quotes, the loyalty ledger, commitment draw-downs, the memo queue, insights and events, and an indexer that reads the chain. Built in NestJS on PostgreSQL on AWS. The existing AI software runs the memos and is integrated, not rebuilt.
3. The contracts. The token, the payment router and the commitment lock on Ethereum, with a public test network for testing.

Around them sit the external services. A fiat billing provider for card and bank invoices, a wallet provider that holds the keys for each client, a token on-ramp at checkout, a KYC and KYB provider, a node provider and the block explorer. The token follows the ERC-20 standard with permit, so holders can approve by signature. A client that pays in the token gets a wallet at sign-up, with the keys held by the wallet provider, so no client ever manages keys. Every client passes KYB at onboarding and before any token payment. Payments go to a company treasury multisig, and the contracts are verified on the block explorer.

After the MVP

These items follow once the MVP is validated with paying clients. Stablecoin payments next to fiat and the token. A client referral programme, subject to legal review. On-chain membership credentials that partners can verify. Monitoring jobs for tokenized assets. More sector models and early-access modules.

The Marketing Solution: Testing the Token Before the Launch

What TokenMinds Prepared

The marketing work for this company comes before any launch budget. It tests the token on paper and with investors, and prepares the launch route for a go. The work covers these parts.

• A token model with nine uses, a fixed supply in nine buckets, release controls and a buy versus sell stress test.
• A recommendation, go with conditions, and the four gates the launch waits behind.
• A due diligence report with the verdict, nine sections and the editable spreadsheet model.
• A litepaper in two versions, one for the survey and one after the feedback.
• A demand test with 500+ crypto investors across four regions.
• A launch route for a go. Offshore issuer and legal opinion, token sale website, whitepaper, private sale round through 800+ investors, then the public sale and the listing.

Every part here answers a question before money goes into a launch. Does the token work on paper, do investors want it, and what has to be true before it is sold.

Token Model Design

The rest of the work depends on this one. The company’s token ideas had no numbers. TokenMinds designed the token around one rule. Nine uses and nothing else, and holding alone earns nothing. The staking tiers and the fee sink below activate only after the launch gates are passed. Until then the MVP runs on membership plans and token payments alone, with no burn.

The nine uses

• Stake-to-unlock tiers. Verified holders lock the token to reach one of three tiers, with minimum stakes of USD 5,000, 25,000 and 100,000 for 6 to 12 months. The tier gates everything below.
• Platform credits. Subscriptions, data rooms and memo credits paid in the token at 10 percent off.
• Priority and feature access. Faster queue, larger data rooms and early modules by tier.
• Fee sink. 20 percent of every token fee, 5 percent burned and 15 percent recycled into the rewards pool.
• Participation rewards. Points for onboarding, verification, first deals and model feedback, paid from a capped pool and multiplied by the tier. Earned by activity, never by holding.
• Referral bonuses. For people who bring new clients, never for people who bring investors.
• Token-gated insights. Benchmarks, templates and sector reports by tier, aggregated data only.
• Governance-lite. Advisory votes on the roadmap, modules and integrations. Never binding.
• Events and VIP access. Roundtables, founder sessions and priority seats by tier.

Supply and release

• Fixed supply, split into nine buckets.
• At most 3 percent of the supply can move at launch, and none of it belongs to insiders.
• The team, investors, advisors, partners and the treasury have cliffs of 6 to 12 months and release over 24 to 60 months.
• The rewards pool, 26 percent of the supply, pays out only against activity, so most of it stays undrawn until real usage exists.
• Only vested tokens count towards a tier.

Rules that keep it a utility token

• No material mentions APY, returns, price or listing.
• Nothing is paid for holding. Rewards follow usage, not the calendar.
• Only KYC and KYB verified wallets can hold or stake the token. No retail sale.
• Allocation addresses, vesting contracts, multisig signers and a monthly token-flow report are public before any token moves.

The stress test

TokenMinds compared the value of tokens likely to be sold each year, from unlocks, rewards and fees converted to fiat, with the value likely to be bought by holders who need the token to stake or to buy credits. At the price the team had in mind, selling exceeded buying in years two to four, and the USD 3 to 5M raise needed more tokens than the whole investor bucket. At the value the software's usage supports, buying exceeded selling every year.

The recommendation

Go with conditions. Keep the nine uses. Do not fund the raise with the token at that price. Raise the money another way first, equity or equity with a token warrant, and launch the token when usage and staking support its value. The launch waits behind four gates.

• The MVP is proven with paying clients.
• Written legal advice is in hand, including the burn share, the reward multipliers and the advisory voting.
• Clients and verified holders commit in writing to buy credits or to stake.
• The contracts are audited.

Litepaper and Due Diligence Report

The report

One document that answers whether a token launch is feasible and wanted. It opens with the verdict and the key numbers, then nine sections, and comes with the editable spreadsheet model so the company can change any input.

• Investor survey data from 500+ crypto investors.
• Benchmark of three to six comparable B2B software, AI and fintech tokens.
• Token utility and demand model.
• Pricing scenarios, conservative, base and upside, against the USD 3 to 5M ambition.
• Supply and allocation.
• Vesting and unlocks over 60 months.
• Revenue model and how usage turns into token demand.
• Sell-pressure and runway simulation.
• Product mockups, 6 to 8 screens.

The litepaper

Six to ten pages in plain language for crypto investors. The product, the token uses and tiers, the tokenomics summary, the roadmap, the team and a legal notice on what the token is and is not. Version one goes out with the survey, version two after the feedback. On a go, the model becomes the whitepaper's tokenomics chapter, the litepaper the first public document, and the mockups the token website.

Investor Demand Test

The founder's main fear was spending money and raising nothing. The survey answers it before any spend.

• Who. 500+ crypto investors from TokenMinds' own community across Asia, Europe, the Middle East and North America.
• How. The litepaper and the product screens go out with the survey, which runs for 7 to 10 days. Market research only, no offer and no sale.
• What it asks. Interest on a scale of one to five, preferred uses, acceptable valuation at launch, ticket size, lock-up and concerns.
• What it gives. The respondent profile, the interest score, the preferred uses and the total indicated demand against the pricing scenarios. It sizes the raise with numbers and answers the board's question, is there real demand.

Launch Route

When the four gates are passed, the launch runs in this order.

Setup

• An offshore issuer in Panama, with the corporate documents, banking support and the legal opinion for the whitepaper, the website and the sale.
• A token sale website with investor registration, KYC and country checks, and a contribution widget for the private round.
• A 20-page whitepaper.

Private sale round

• Outreach through TokenMinds' 800+ accredited investors and Web3 funds plus the founder's own network, run through an eight-step funnel with a weekly pipeline report.
• Targets. Web3 funds active in AI and fintech, family offices, accredited individuals, and the finance professionals who are also potential users.
• One or two events with speaking slots for the founder and one investor matchmaking session.
• Qualified and accredited investors only, with retail excluded where promotion rules require it.

Public sale and listing

The private round pays for the public sale campaign, the launchpad and the exchange listing. The image below shows the marketing work in one view.

What a Company in the Same Position Can Take From This Case

• Test the token before paying for the launch. Four weeks of due diligence answered go, fix first or not yet with numbers, for a fraction of a launch budget.
• A B2B token needs a job inside the product. Here clients pay for the software in the token and lock it for a bigger discount. A token a stablecoin could replace has no buyers after the sale.
• Do not let the raise target size the token. The USD 3 to 5M target needed more tokens than the whole investor bucket at a price usage did not support. The value comes from usage, and the raise follows it.
• Keep insiders out of day one. At most 3 percent of the supply moves at launch, none of it insiders, with cliffs of 6 to 12 months.
• Pay for activity, never for holding. Rewards multiply points earned by doing, from a capped pool. That keeps the token a utility token.
• Put gates in front of the launch. MVP proven, written legal advice, written client demand, audited contracts. The token launches when the conditions are met, not when the calendar says so.

Planning a Token Sale?

TokenMinds runs a token sale readiness review for non-crypto companies. It checks the company's own plan against the same seven areas, lists the gaps and sets the order to close them. Read this guide on how a token sale works to see the full process.

Schedule a Call →

Frequently Asked Questions

• Can a B2B software company launch a token? Yes, if the token has a job inside the product and an audience. Here clients pay for the software in the token and reach membership tiers, and the audience is Web3 investors plus the finance professionals who use the software.
• Should a token fund a company's raise? Only if demand for the token supports the price. Here the stress test showed the USD 3 to 5M raise needed more tokens than the whole investor bucket, so the advice was to raise the money another way first and launch the token when usage supports its value.
• What does token due diligence cover? A token model with supply, allocation, vesting and pricing scenarios, a demand model, a benchmark of comparable tokens, a sell-pressure simulation, product mockups, a litepaper and an investor survey. It ends with a verdict, go, fix first or not yet.
• How does a token pay for a product without being a security? It buys services at a discount and nothing more. No yield, no dividends, no revenue share, no binding votes, and only verified wallets. This is not legal advice. Each company needs its own legal opinion.
• What are launch gates and why use them? Conditions that must be met before a token launches. Here, MVP proven with paying clients, written legal advice, written commitments from clients and holders, and audited contracts. Gates stop a launch the product and the market are not ready for.