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<ul><li><keyword id="1836134" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="icertis" source="Orion">Icertis</keyword> is exploring options for Nasdaq listing in the US for sometime next year.</li><li>The company aims to double its valuation to $6 billion, as per sources aware of the development.</li><li>The company counts Google, Microsoft, Johnson &amp; Johnson, Infosys, Wipro and Cognizant as its customers. </li></ul>Software-as-a-service (SaaS) firm Icertis is holding serious discussions to hit the public markets by the end of 2022. Pune and Seattle-headquartered company — valued at $2.8 billion — is considering to go for an initial public offering (IPO) in the United States sometime next year, Icertis’ cofounder and chief technology officer (CTO) Monish Darda told Business Insider. The company counts Google, Microsoft, Daimler, Airbus, Johnson &amp; Johnson, Lupin, Infosys, Wipro and Cognizant as its customers. A Nasdaq listing is the top priority of the company, which offers contract management solutions to businesses, at the moment. Though Darda did not share details like the amount the company plans to raise or the valuation it is looking to list at, people aware of the development told Business Insider that Icertis plans to double its valuation to $6 billion by next year with this public issue. Darda clarified that Icertis is ready to hit the public market in terms of its business growth, however the plan still hinges on two major developments. First, the growth of the business by next year. Second, the economic situation globally. Regardless, the company is open to raising capital through both private as well as public markets depending on the economy and the COVID-19 situation. <div type="ExtQuote" text="“If we need a round, with our valuation and our revenue, we always have an option of going public, so we'll evaluate that as well. So there are a couple of things we could do next year in terms of, you know, how we move, we can raise another round and you know, defer going public. Or we could choose the path of going public as well.”" auname="— Monish Darda, co-founder and CTO of Icertis, told Business Insider."></div> Last week, another Indian <keyword id="9231180" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="saas-company" source="Orion">SaaS company</keyword> Freshworks<a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/enterprise/enterprise-software/news/freshworks-files-for-an-ipo-in-the-us-looks-to-raise-100-million/articleshow/85707900.cms"> filed </a>for an IPO in the USA, seeking permission to list on Nasdaq. It is looking to raise $100 million. Founded in 2009 by Darda and Samir Bodas, Icertis’ flagship product ‘Icertis Contract Intelligence (ICI)’ manages over 10 million contracts with an aggregate value of more than $1 trillion. Icertis added 70-100 customers in 2020 and 100 customers in the first half of 2021. It plans to add over 100 customers by the end of 2021. “I think what is interesting is that the last four quarters have been successively the best quarters we've ever seen in Icertis. We have beaten every quarter, every year. So the last two quarters, January-February-March and April-May-June. April-May-June has been the best quarter in the history of Icertis,” Darda added. Icertis claims to have a revenue between $100 million to $200 million, growing at 60-70% rate annually. The 12-year-old company raised<a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/enterprise/news/icertis-raises-80-million-in-series-f-funding-and-triples-valuation-in-less-than-two-years/articleshow/81450882.cms"> $80 million</a> in March this year to add more customers as well as develop more products for its existing customers. Overall, the company has raised $291 million to date from marquee investors like B Capital, PremjiInvest, Greycroft, Meritech Capital Partners, and PSP Growth. SEE ALSO <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/stock-market/news/tata-power-bharat-forge-bharti-airtel-and-other-top-stocks-to-watch-out-for-on-august-31/slidelist/85786005.cms">Tata Power, Bharat Forge, Bharti Airtel and other top stocks to watch out for on August 31 </a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/stock-market/news/ami-organics-wants-to-become-debt-free-post-the-ipo/articleshow/85781458.cms">Ami Organics wants to become debt-free post the IPO, to cut dependence on China in the coming years</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/defense/news/a-us-f-22-raptor-pilot-describes-the-challenge-of-going-up-against-f-35-red-air-aggressors/articleshow/85784261.cms">A US F-22 Raptor pilot describes the challenge of going up against F-35 red air aggressors</a>

After Freshworks, Icertis is looking for an IPO for next year in the US

Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) company <keyword id="1836134" type="General" weightage="100" keywordseo="icertis" source="Orion">Icertis</keyword> on Monday said it has secured $150 million in funding comprised of a revolving credit facility and convertible financing from Silicon Valley Bank. Icertis said that the funds will enable it to further extend the company's leadership position in the Contract Lifecycle Management (CLM) category by accelerating the application of transformational technologies like artificial intelligence, machine learning, and <keyword id="6355684" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="blockchain" source="Orion">Blockchain</keyword> to deliver material, unique, and consequential value to customers. "We continue to see strong momentum with our clear value proposition as we help customers become more agile, drive efficiencies, and respond to market challenges like inflation, sanctions, economic slowdown, and supply chain disruptions," said <keyword id="15395939" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="rajat-bahri" source="Orion">Rajat Bahri</keyword>, <keyword id="53346" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="cfo" source="Orion">CFO</keyword> of Icertis. "This new funding from Silicon Valley Bank is a major vote of confidence in our growth trajectory, enhancing our already strong capital position, and enabling us to lean in to capture market share and build towards the next exciting chapter in our company's journey," he said in a statement. The Icertis Contract Intelligence platform helps companies structure critical commercial, legal, and operational data within contracts and connect that data to surrounding procurement, ERP, HCM, and CRM systems. According to MGI Research, the category total addressable market for CLM will increase to $30 billion in the next five years. "Understanding and harnessing the underlying data can drive material business impact to a wide range of enterprises. We're proud to support the Icertis team as they build an enduring and industry leading enterprise software company," said Bob Blee, Head of US Technology Corporate Banking at Silicon Valley Bank. Icertis handles more than 10 million contracts worth more than $1 trillion in over 40 languages and more than 90 countries. SEE ALSO: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/telecom/news/bharti-airtel-reports-89-yoy-increase-in-q2-net-profit-to-2145-crore/articleshow/95207348.cms">Bharti Airtel reports 89% YoY increase in Q2 net profit to ₹2,145 crore</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/finance/news/rbi-measures-controlled-inflation-but-challenges-remain-say-economists/articleshow/95201223.cms">RBI measures controlled inflation, but challenges remain say economists</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/careers/news/number-of-gig-workers-earning-over-85000/month-rose-over-60-since-last-october-report/articleshow/95208221.cms">Number of gig workers earning over ₹85,000/month rose over 60% since last October: Report</a>

Icertis raises $150 million to boost contract lifecycle management business

<ul><li>The Pune-based company said that it was valued at over $2.8 billion dollars.</li><li><keyword id="1836134" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Icertis">Icertis</keyword> said it will be using this money to invest in <keyword id="107950" type="TECHNOLOGY" weightage="20" keywordseo="artificial-intelligence">artificial intelligence</keyword> and blockchain development.</li><li>The startup, which was founded in 2009 by Samir Bodas and Monish Darda, has raised over $280 million in private market funding till date.</li></ul>The Indian startup that helps bigwigs like <keyword id="6355629" type="DEFINITION" weightage="20" keywordseo="google">Google</keyword>, <keyword id="10387" type="CITY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Microsoft">Microsoft</keyword> and <keyword id="6354427" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="apple">Apple</keyword> manage their contracts just bagged $80 million (around ₹580 crore) in its series F round of funding. Pune and Seattle-based Icertis is a startup that uses artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) to manage contracts on the cloud. Rather than keep track of compliance or payments on paper, everything is managed automatically by the company’s contract intelligence software-as-a-service (SaaS). The company said that it was valued at over $2.8 billion dollars (around ₹20,000 crore at current rates) in a press statement. The tech unicorn claims that its valuation tripled compared to July 2019, when it raised the series E round. <div type="Article" hostid="261" msid="79640659" title="EXCLUSIVE: This Indian unicorn helping Google, Microsoft and Apple manage their contracts is hiring⁠— it needs techies as well as people in sales" mstype="2" mssubtype="0"></div> The company, which was founded in 2009 by Samir Bodas and Monish Darda, has raised over $280 million in private equity funding till date. The latest funding round was led by existing investor B Capital Group, along with investors Premji Invest, PSP Growth, Greycroft, Meritech Capital Partners, and e.ventures. The firm said it will be using this money to invest in “accelerating AI (artificial intelligence) and blockchain development.” It also added that it will also utilise the funds to expand its sales and marketing efforts. In an exclusive<a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/careers/news/icertis-helps-google-microsoft-and-apple-manage-their-contracts-is-hiring-for-techies-and-people-in-sales/articleshow/79640659.cms"> interview</a> with Business Insider last year, Darda, co-founder and chief technology officer (CTO) of Icertis had said that they will continue to hire aggressively to support their growth and expect the firm to increase its headcount 30% to 40% in 2021. SEE ALSO: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/careers/news/icertis-helps-google-microsoft-and-apple-manage-their-contracts-is-hiring-for-techies-and-people-in-sales/articleshow/79640659.cms">EXCLUSIVE: This Indian unicorn helping Google, Microsoft and Apple manage their contracts is hiring⁠— it needs techies as well as people in sales</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/news/indias-new-cybersecurity-framework-needs-to-be-more-robust-in-order-to-be-effective-according-to-experts/articleshow/81448577.cms">It has taken over 7 years for India to revamp its cybersecurity policy — experts say there's room for carrots and sticks but not surveillance</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/enterprise/news/gartner-forecasts-ai-will-replace-investor-gut-feel-in-stock-market/articleshow/81442285.cms">Gartner predicts 75% of VCs will be using AI instead of their ‘gut feel’ to make decisions by 2025 — a path that companies are already discovering</a>

This Pune-based startup has tripled its valuation in less than two years

<ul><li><keyword id="1836134" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Icertis">Icertis</keyword>, which caters to the likes of <keyword id="6354427" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="apple">Apple</keyword>, Airbus, <keyword id="10387" type="CITY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Microsoft">Microsoft</keyword> and Best Buy, plans to increase its headcount by 30% to 40% in 2021. </li><li>Most of this hiring will be done for engineering and sales. </li><li>The uptake of employees comes as Icertis’ looks to move beyond its enterprise clients and focus on the mid-market segment. </li></ul>Icertis, the billion-dollar unicorn based out of Pune in India, which manages contracts for bigwigs like Apple, Airbus, Microsoft and Best Buy has plans to increase its headcount by at least 30% in 2021. Over the last year, the company has added over 300 employees globally, with at least 50 being hired from Indian campuses. Before 2020 comes to an end, Icertis intends to add another 200 employees to its <a href="https://www.owler.com/company/icertis#:~:text=Icertis%20has%201%2C300%20employees%20and,among%20it's%20top%2010%20competitors.">1,300-strong</a> headcount. “We’ll continue to hire aggressively to support our growth and expect to increase our headcount 30% to 40% in the next year,” co-founder and chief technology officer (CTO) of Icertis, Monish Darda, told Business Insider in an exclusive interview. This means onboarding at least 450 new faces in 2021. The development at a time when the startup has plan to shift its focus on bringing more mid-market customers. The challenge there is that it takes at least 10 to 15 clients from that segment to bring the same amount of revenue as an enterprise client. Software companies need to sell For those who aren’t familiar with Icertis, the startup used artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) to manage contracts on the cloud. Rather than keep track of compliance or payments on paper, everything is managed automatically by the company’s <keyword id="10399864" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="contract-intelligence">contract intelligence</keyword> software-as-a-service (SaaS). And, as a SaaS company, Darda believes being able to sell your product is a necessity for growth. “If you cannot sell, that’s the end of the company when you’re smaller… The ability to sell is critical for any company especially for an enterprise Saas company which is dependent on companies renewing every year — it’s not a perpetual license,” he explained. On the hunt for hunters and farmers According to Darda, there are two types of salespeople — hunters and farmers. Hunters go out and convince the customer to buy new software like Icertis. Farmers, on the other hand, reach out to clients that already have Icertis and grow the business by uncovering new ways and new value for the customer. “When we hire, we hire at different levels. Experienced people for large accounts and people who may be capable of doing that a mid-level. This allows you to expand that pyramid and sell better,” explained Darda. Former Airbus and BMW procurement honcho <a href="https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/icertis-adds-former-airbus-and-bmw-chief-procurement-officer-dr-klaus-richter-to-board-of-advisors-301178658.html">Klaus Richter</a>, for instance, has recently joined Icertis’ advisory board and can be profiled as a hunter. “He brings in a lot of raw experience into the company in how to cater to large deals,” according to Darda. The freshers come in on the analytics side of sales. Their role is to rummage through raw data to figure out how sales are performing and what lies ahead to improve the efficiency of sales. Cloud development is a skill that you have or don’t Sales can help you expand your business but you need engineers to stay ahead of the competition. When Darda first joined Icertis, the first line of code he wrote was on Azure. And, the entire company is built on the cloud. According to him, cloud development is a skill that people have or don’t have. Candidates need to be able to think ten steps ahead and be proficient at what’s called ‘defensive programming’. “How do you think about a problem and how do you solve a problem? Do you take care of what will happen under five different scenarios,” he explained. And, since Icertis is a contract ‘intelligence’ company the value of having the basic computer skills to navigate the Microsoft Stack and the AI/ML stack, which consists of languages like R and Python, is a bare necessity. Icertis was among the <a href="https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/jobs/iit-roorkee-receives-7-international-offers-until-day-3-of-placement/articleshow/79547532.cms">seven international companies</a> to dole out a placement offer at IIT Roorkee. And, the secret sauce to getting selected — more than the clout of being good at coding — is ‘elasticity’. “The most important aspect that we look for is elasticity — how can people learn, especially when we’re hiring young people fresh out of college with very little industry experience,” said Darda. SEE ALSO: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/corporates/news/tata-group-company-voltas-is-telling-analysts-that-it-may-hike-ac-prices-by-3-4-to-cover-rising-input-costs/articleshow/79624340.cms">Voltas is telling analysts that it may hike AC prices by 3-4% to cover rising input costs</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/science/environment/news/mount-everest-taller-by-2-8-feet-as-nepal-and-china-set-aside-their-differences/articleshow/79622601.cms">Mount Everest is 2.8 feet taller as China and Nepal finally agree on the height of the world's highest peak</a>

EXCLUSIVE: This Indian unicorn helping Google, Microsoft and Apple manage their contracts is hiring⁠— it needs techies as well as people in sales

<ul><li>SaaS platform <keyword id="1836134" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Icertis">Icertis</keyword> has raised $115 million, and is the latest entrant into the <keyword id="152045" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="Unicorn">unicorn</keyword> club. </li><li>The startup has raised the funding from <keyword id="6419840" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="Azim-Premji">Azim Premji</keyword>’s <keyword id="648852" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Premji-Invest">Premji Invest</keyword> and US-based VC firm Greycroft.</li><li>Earlier in June, another SaaS platform <keyword id="741520" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Druva">Druva</keyword> had raised funds to be a unicorn.</li></ul>India and US-based Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) platform Icertis is the latest startup to join the unicorn club following a <a href="https://tech.economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/startups/icertis-becomes-indias-third-saas-unicorn-with-115m-funding/70256989">funding </a>from Azim Premji’s Premji Invest and US-based VC firm Greycroft. The startup has raised $115 million in its latest fundraising. With its total funding standing at $211 million, the company, which offers contract management, has raced past the $1 billion mark in value, to enter the unicorn club. The startup has 5.7 million contracts so far across 90 countries. Its clients include Adobe, Airtel, Cognizant, Infosys, Microsoft and others. According to <a href="https://tech.economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/startups/icertis-becomes-indias-third-saas-unicorn-with-115m-funding/70256989">reports</a>, with the new funds, the company will invest in building new technologies like blockchain, artificial intelligence and machine learning. It also plans to expand its global presence. In June 2019, another Indo-US-based SaaS startup Druva had entered the unicorn club after raising $130 million in a round led by Viking Global Investors and Nexus Venture Partners. Meanwhile, Premji Invest, which is the family office of Azim Premji, has been investing since 2006 and has placed its bets across 40 countries. See Also: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/wipro-azim-premji-in-his-last-agm-spoke-about-technologies-that-the-company-would-focus-on/articleshow/70254296.cms">Azim Premji announces four technologies that Wipro will focus on as he bid adieu</a>

Azim Premji leads an investment in Indo-US startup Icertis, turns it into a unicorn

<ul><li>The Indian SaaS segment has the potential to clock a total turnover of $75 billion by 2025.</li><li>One in five global <keyword id="6361043" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="software" source="Orion">software</keyword> demand is likely to be met by Indian <keyword id="6756963" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="saas-companies" source="Orion">SaaS companies</keyword> in the next four years, according to experts.</li><li>On one hand large global corporations, even tech giants like Amazon and Twitter, are buying software solutions from India.</li><li>This has led to a mad rush from venture capitalists who have pumped in $1.7 billion into these startups in 2020.</li><li>Seven unicorns have been created in this space in the last year and a half alone.</li></ul>The sudden change in global trends and the rise of ‘remote everything’ — from learning to work — has propelled the software-as-a-service (SaaS) industry. And their customers include marquee names like Amazon, Twitter, <keyword id="596" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="hyundai" source="Orion">Hyundai</keyword>, Domino’s, and Philips, just to name a few. Venture capital firms like Accel, Tiger Global and Sequoia, looking for the next gold rush, have pumped in $1.7 billion across 128 deals in 2020, and more in 2021, creating at least seven unicorns in the space of less than 20 months, in India alone. Enterprise tech accounted for 13% of deal volume among top investors in the first half of 2021, says a NASSCOM PGA Labs report. According to a report by investment firm Chiratae Ventures and consulting firm Zinnov last month, the Indian SaaS segment has the potential to clock a total turnover of <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/startups/news/india-software-service-sector-needs-more-than-200000-employees-by-2025/articleshow/84632003.cms">$75 billion</a> by 2025. But where will this revenue come from? The answer is simple — market and product expansion. As the world stepped into a lockdown in March 2020, the SaaS companies had a new reality to face — the demand for softwares and solutions that required limited/no physical efforts and showed faster results was the need of the hour. More enterprises were on a hunt for tech solutions in the latest virtual scene and SaaS companies started seeing more customer interest. The increased customer interest also resulted in increased flow of venture capital for this segment and India added seven SaaS unicorns — private companies valued at or more than $1 billion — during the pandemic since 2020. <div type="image" title="Amazon, Twitter, Hyundai, and Domino’s are buying Indian software fuelling a $75 billion dream chased by top VCs like Sequoia and Tiger Global" msid="85647410" hostid="261"></div> While the investors’ interest brought in more money for the SaaS companies to grow, the increased customer interest has brought in more revenue. Zoho, which is a 25-year old bootstrapped company that has not raised funds so far, has customers like Amazon, Zomato and Xiaomi. Here's Sridhar Vembu, the founder of Zoho, explaining the software boom, in a recent interview with Business Insider. <div type="Video" msid="85650341" hostid="261" title="Zoho founder explains India's software boom in the last 24 months" dataSource="BUSINESSINSIDER" thumbUrl="https://denmark.timesinternet.in/cmslite/api/app/images.jpg?msid=85650341"></div> Conversational artificial intelligence (AI) solutions company Uniphore ⁠— backed by Cisco, Sistema Capital Partners and ⁠Chiratae Ventures — claims to have noted a 3-fold year-on-year increase in their revenue in the financial year 2021, meanwhile contract management system has termed this fiscal the best one for them. Similar trend of increased revenue has been witnessed by most of the big SaaS names in India. Backed by Google and led by founder Girish Mathrubootham, help desk software company Freshworks ⁠— which has bagged contracts from Vice Media Group, Toshiba and Cisco ⁠— claimed to have crossed $300 million in annual recurring revenue (ARR) in February 2021. ARR is a metric used by SaaS businesses to show the revenue one can expect on a yearly basis. “It’s no secret that the future of business and scale is SaaS-driven, more so in the post-pandemic landscape. What’s interesting however is how quickly Indian companies have set a global benchmark for the industry. The exponential growth unlocked in the last 5 years is a testament to how capital efficient the Indian SaaS industry is,” Venkatesh Peddi, executive director and head of SaaS investments at Chiratae Ventures, previously said. One in five global software demands will be met by Indian SaaS companies in the next four years, Chiratae-Zinnov report added. What are Indian startups doing to attract these customers? With enough revenue and funding to aid sustain and grow their businesses, Indian SaaS companies have now put in greater focus on penetrating deeper into the international markets. <div type="image" title="Amazon, Twitter, Hyundai, and Domino’s are buying Indian software fuelling a $75 billion dream chased by top VCs like Sequoia and Tiger Global" msid="85647440" hostid="261"></div> Monish Darda, co-founder and chief technical officer (CTO) of Icertis, talked to Business Insider about the three important aspects for international expansion for any SaaS business. First, ensuring that the technology is in accordance with the market one if planning to enter. Second, readiness from the team perspective and having local workforce who understand the market well. Third, cracking right partnerships to expand business. “If you look at contract management, you will see that for India we will not only integrate electronic signatures from Adobe Sign, which are global, but also add e-Mudhra which is a very Indian specific digital signature. You always have these different things in different markets that you need to cater to, to be successful. So there is technology,” he explained. Ankur Bansal, co-founder of BlackSoil Capital, in an interaction with Business Insider said that it’s almost a given for all SaaS companies, who have found their product-market fit, to think global. Having global customers changes the valuation of a SaaS company “dramatically” and offers much better margins to the company. “In terms of the size of the contract, the understanding of it and the speed of execution — everything on all counts in favour of a SaaS company… Anyway SaaS business margins are great, and on top of it if the company is catering to customers based out of the US or Europe then it becomes way better,” Bansal added. SEE ALSO <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/stock-market/news/infosys-airtel-kaveri-seed-and-other-top-stocks-to-watch-out-for-on-august-26/slidelist/85645299.cms">Infosys, Airtel, Kaveri Seed and other top stocks to watch out for on August 26 </a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/personal-finance/news/investors-will-be-able-to-open-fixed-deposit-accounts-fds-on-google-pay/articleshow/85646488.cms">Google Pay to let users open fixed deposits on its platform </a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/science/news/popular-pro-vaccine-reddit-page-calls-on-founders-to-do-more-to-combat-covid-19-disinformation/articleshow/85639053.cms">Popular pro-vaccine Reddit page calls on founders to do more to combat COVID-19 disinformation</a>

Amazon, Twitter, Hyundai, and Domino’s are buying Indian software fuelling a $75 billion dream chased by top VCs like Sequoia and Tiger Global

<ul><li>The new <keyword id="7567986" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="auto-debit" source="Orion">auto-debit</keyword> guidelines for recurring <keyword id="6359540" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="payments" source="Orion">payments</keyword> kicked in from today, October 1.</li><li>“The current <keyword id="30067" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="rbi" source="Orion">RBI</keyword> guidelines place more friction in recurring payment,” said Upekkha’s Thiyagarajan Maruthavanan.</li><li>Industry experts believe that this move will push more SaaS companies to move overseas and chase international clients.</li></ul>The new auto-debit guidelines for<a href="https://businessinsider.in/business/ecommerce/news/what-is-e-mandate-or-upi-autopay-and-how-to-enable-it-for-jio-hotstar-and-others/articleshow/86650600.cms?_ga=2.76036176.459036666.1632714936-227132192.1626769520"> recurring payments</a> kicked in from today, October 1, but the Indian software-as-a-service (SaaS) industry expects this new regulation to have a much deeper impact on their businesses. Before getting into this, it is important to understand what the guidelines really say. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has decided to do away with automatic recurring payments by adding a layer of authentication for transactions. A user will have to manually mandate such transactions every month, dropping the idea of recurring payments altogether. Now where does the <keyword id="11064864" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="SaaS-industry" source="Orion">SaaS industry</keyword> come into play? The <keyword id="4360787" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Indian-saas-companies" source="Orion">Indian SaaS companies</keyword> — which are poised to meet a fifth of world’s software demand and pocket a revenue of <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/enterprise/news/amazon-twitter-hyundai-and-dominos-are-buying-indian-software-fuelling-a-75-billion-dream-chased-by-top-vcs-like-sequoia-and-tiger-global/articleshow/85646116.cms">$75 million in the next four years</a> — are worried that this would lead to default or delayed payments, impacting their revenue. Suresh Sambandam, founder of work management software company Kissflow, in a conversation with Business Insider, explained that any small ticket-size SaaS companies in India — whose payments range between $5 to $500 a month — go through a credit card-enabled payments system that is recurring in nature. The latest step, which adds an additional layer of authentication, is going to introduce default in payments, a lot of paperwork and a lot of human involvement to follow up with customers on past payments. “Earlier it was a smooth transaction and now it's overcomplicated,” he added. Thiyagarajan Maruthavana, partner at Upekkha Value SaaS Accelerator, told Business Insider said, “In the last 15 years, while the global SaaS market grew manifold to $200 billion in revenue, the domestic SaaS market failed to take off due to lack of easy collection of recurring payments. Many global SaaS startups and corporations have dialled back their India market plans in the last 5 years due to this issue.” “The current RBI guidelines place more friction in recurring payment,” he further added. Both Sambandam and Thiyagarajan reiterated that this move will push more SaaS companies to go after international clients as well as headquarters. “However it does not impact the SaaS industry from India as these Indian SaaS companies had already moved away from serving the domestic market to the global market. The guidelines impact only a handful of SaaS businesses that focus on Indian customers. These companies will now be forced to move their geography focus elsewhere,” Thiyagarajan said. Ankur Bansal, co-founder of BlackSoil Capital, in a previous conversation with Business Insider, had highlighted that SaaS business margins are really high and they are even higher from customers based out of the US or Europe. This is why most SaaS companies — such as Zoho, Freshworks, Postman, MindTickle and others — usually go after clients in international markets. This, in turn, also increases their valuation in the eyes of the investors significantly. These companies, along with many others, do have a portion of their customers coming in from India as well, which is going to get impacted now. The latest move will leave Indian SaaS companies with little reason to actually operate in India. What do other experts have to say? <div type="image" title="India’s new guidelines on recurring payments sends SaaS industry in a turmoil" msid="86679002" hostid="261" caption="&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;Anand Jain, cofounder and chief strategy officer at CleverTap&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;"></div> “Recurring services don’t need the friction of executing the payment on a recurring basis — that friction makes business, especially SaaS business, tougher… The requirement for banks to provide at least 24 hour notice before a recurring payment is executed also ensures that unnecessary payments or buyers’ guilt are reduced. The only challenge I see is that this will need better help and training by financial institutions for their end users in setup. But India is getting much more savvy with these things.” — Monish Darda, cofounder and chief technology officer at Icertis, said. “These are a matter of habit, for instance, when RBI made 2FA [two-factor authentication] mandatory, we all thought that it would dent online transaction volumes. While there was some inconvenience felt initially, digital transactions (one-time password et al) have grown manifold in recent times and are set to continue to grow. In fact, the safety net provided by these checks and balances will only bring new users to the fold. Having said that, this will [be an] inconvenience [to] merchants and customers both for pre-existing debit mandates, since the card issuers will have to revalidate the mandates now.” — Shishir Mankad, managing partner and head of financial services at management consulting firm, Praxis Global Alliance said. SEE ALSO <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/startups/news/ritesh-agarwal-led-oyo-files-preliminary-papers-for-its-1-2-billion-ipo/articleshow/86674003.cms">Ritesh Agarwal-led OYO files preliminary papers for its $1.2 billion IPO</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/stock-market/markets/news/zee-entertainment-falls-nearly-3-in-trade-as-board-refuses-to-hold-egm/articleshow/86678219.cms#:~:text=to%20hold%20EGM-,Zee%20Entertainment%20falls%20nearly%203%25%20in%20trade,board%20refuses%20to%20hold%20EGM&amp;text=Zee%20Entertainment%20has%20declined%20to,board%20to%20consider%20the%20demand.&amp;text=Post%20the%20development%2C%20Zee%20Entertainment's,3%3A30%20p.m.%20on%20Friday.">Zee Entertainment falls nearly 3% in trade as board refuses to hold EGM</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/corporates/news/air-india-gets-a-saviour-in-tata-sons/articleshow/86675842.cms#:~:text=The%20government%20has%20reportedly%20accepted,was%20also%20among%20the%20bidders.">Tata Sons reportedly wins bid to takeover the ‘Maharaja’</a>

New guidelines on recurring payments may send SaaS companies out of India, say experts

<ul><li><keyword id="2645087" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="rategain" source="Orion">RateGain</keyword> intends to raise over ₹400 crore through its fresh issue, which will be used for investments and acquisitions.</li><li>Rate Gain has over 1,434 customers, spread across 110 countries.</li><li>The company counts Lemon Tree, OYO and several other hotels and OTAs as its clients.</li><li>It will continue to focus on the US market after its public listing as well.</li></ul>Software-as-a-service startup (SaaS) RateGain Travel Technologies — which has less than 1% business coming from India — had decided, earlier this year, that it will get listed in its home country. This is rather odd as several tech entrepreneurs dream of getting their startups listed in American stock exchange Nasdaq. It’s not just a matter of pride, but also a strategic move. There are majorly two reasons for Indian tech startups to explore a Nasdaq listing — retail investors have better understanding of tech business in the US and/or majority of their revenue is coming from that market. Besides this, international listing gives Indian companies a larger and more diverse pool of capital. Whether it's the already listed Freshworks or soon-to-be-listed Icertis, <a href="https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/tech/startups/inmobi-prepares-for-nasdaq-listing-to-seek-15-billion-valuation/articleshow/81789159.cms">InMobi </a>or <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/startups/news/pine-labs-reportedly-joins-the-long-list-of-indian-tech-startups-heading/articleshow/81760763.cms">PineLabs</a> — one of these three factors are the driving force of listing abroad. So it is quite amusing why RateGain would choose to get itself listed in India and that too in 2021 — potentially the worst time for any travel tech business due to the ongoing pandemic. Bhanu Chopra, the chairperson and managing director of RateGain told Business Insider that there were three reasons why the company decided not to go for a Nasdaq listing. First, the ability to drive up brand value being a local company is much higher. Second, they wanted to be the torchbearer of the first product SaaS company to list in India. Third, there were several logistical issues that couldn’t have been solved without making some organisational changes and it was quite cumbersome. Therefore, the company decided to stick to its home market and be the first SaaS company to list in India. Rate Gain has over 1,434 customers — across the hotel, hospitality and online travel agency (OTA) segment — spread across 110 countries. In order to serve the customers in these locations, RateGain has set up its subsidiaries in the United Kingdom, United States and Spain. It has also acquired three companies to date — US-based DHISCO and BCV, and<a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/news/ipo-bound-rategain-acquires-germany-based-myhotelshop/articleshow/86454447.cms"> Germany-based myhotelshop</a>. About 65% of RateGain’s revenue comes from the US market, while nearly 2% comes from India. The company will continue to focus on the US market even after the public listing as the majority of its customer base is settled or registered there. <div type="image" title="Despite majority of its revenue coming from the US, this is what compelled RateGain to be the first SaaS company to list in India" msid="87269616" hostid="261"></div> The company — founded in 2004 and bootstrapped till 2017— intends to raise ₹400 crore through its fresh issue. Besides, the company will also sell 2.26 crore as offer for sale (OfS). This capital will be used to make strategic investments, acquisition and fund inorganic growth initiatives. Its last reported valuation was $133 million in 2015. But why now? <div type="image" title="Despite majority of its revenue coming from the US, this is what compelled RateGain to be the first SaaS company to head for an IPO in India" msid="87286549" hostid="261"></div> It’s no secret that the travel and hospitality segment was severely hit since March 2020, when the world stepped into pandemic-induced lockdowns. As the entire segment was suffering, RateGain was bound to suffer too as they comprised its clients. The company decided to take a pause and arm itself with better products to meet the pent-up demand that may come back soon as people indulge in revenge travel and COVID-related restrictions are lifted. The company counts Lemon Tree, OYO and several other hotels and online travel aggregators (OTAs) as its clients. Besides this, the company believes that Indian investors are now ready to invest in tech businesses. Chopra believes that the investors' interest in Indian startups have increased in both private as well as public markets. This can be seen in terms of the number of unicorns -- private firms valued at or more than $1 billion -- that are being created as well as the number of companies hitting the public market. “My sense is that the Indian investor is now ready and they understand the future of any industry is digitisation. Now, RateGain is leading that effort in digitisation of the travel and hospitality industry” Chopra added. The pent-up demand of the travel industry and the positive global outlook is driving 26% compound annual growth rate (CAGR) growth. “Retail investors understand that the travel industry is recovering very fast and it is going to be the fastest growing industry in the next four-five years,” he added. Chopra believes that the ecosystem has developed enough for retail investors to understand the upcoming trends. In a <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/startups/news/droom-founder-explains-why-he-is-considering-a-us-ipo-and-where-he-intends-to-spend-the-money/articleshow/84917608.cms">previous interaction</a> with Business Insider, Droom’s founder and CEO Sandeep Aggarwal highlighted that Indian investors now have a stock appetite to invest in tech businesses. Earlier, he was of that view that Indian new age businesses are not rewarded in the Indian stock exchange. WATCH ALSO: <div type="Video" msid="84897976" hostid="261" title="India's latest unicorn is prepping for an IPO now" dataSource="BUSINESSINSIDER" thumbUrl="https://denmark.timesinternet.in/cmslite/api/app/images.jpg?msid=84897976"></div> SEE ALSO <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/stock-market/news/bharti-airtel-tech-mahindra-bajaj-finance-and-other-top-stocks-to-watch-out-for-on-october-26/slidelist/87268702.cms" data-type="tilCustomLink">Bharti Airtel, Tech Mahindra, Bajaj Finance and other top stocks to watch out for on October 26</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/international/news/elon-musks-wealth-surged-by-36-billion-the-largest-single-day-gain-bloombergs-ever-recorded/articleshow/87267131.cms" data-type="tilCustomLink">Elon Musk's wealth surged by $36 billion, the largest single-day gain Bloomberg's ever recorded</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/finance/news/opinion-the-next-four-letter-word-taking-the-world-of-finance-by-storm/articleshow/87260681.cms" data-type="tilCustomLink">OPINION: The next four-letter word taking the world of finance by storm</a>

Despite majority of its revenue coming from the US, this is what compelled RateGain to be the first SaaS company to head for an IPO in India

<ul><li><keyword id="3156357" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Rivigo">Rivigo</keyword> is the latest startup to attain the $1 billion valuation.</li><li>This year, India has already seen 8 <keyword id="6362513" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="startups">startups</keyword> joining the unicorn club. </li><li>With 3 months left for 2019, this year could break 2018’s record of 8 unicorns.</li></ul>India’s unicorn club seems to be having a good year as eight startups joined the coveted club In 2018, eight startups turned unicorns basically reached $1 billion in valuation. Here’s a look at all the startups that have crossed the valuation mark so far in 2019. Rivigo The latest startup to join the unicorn club is logistics startup Rivigo. The logistics sector had long been in the limelight after Delhivery turned unicorn. After this, both Rivigo and Blackbuck raised funds, heating up the race to being a unicorn. Now, Rivigo has managed to be a unicorn after it raised $4.9 million from South Korea's KB Platform Fund. After the deal closed, it is valued at $1.05 billion. Delhivery In March this year, Delhivery became 2019’s first unicorn. This was after the logistics tech startup raised $395 million from SoftBank. After its funding in March, it’s valued at $1.6 billion. The logistics solutions company was founded by Sahil Barua, Mohit Tandon, Suraj Saharan, Kapil Bharti and Bhavesh Manglani. They created a stronghold in the market by partnering with e-commerce majors like Flipkart and Paytm amongst others. Big Basket The grocery retail startup became a unicorn in March 2019. Bigbasket closed its Series F round of funding with an investment of $150 million, which valued it at $2.3 billion. The funding was led by Bigbasket’s earlier investor Alibaba, along with a new investor – Mirae Asset. The grocery sector which is now buzzing with new entrants like Swiggy. Grofers too turned its finances around, and has recently turned a soonicorn after the latest round of funding in May 2019. Ola Electric Ola’s subsidiary Ola Electric also turned a unicorn like its parent company. Its growth has also been fast as most of Ola’s existing investors placed their bets on the company. In July, it became a unicorn after raising $250 million from Softbank. In May, Ola Electric also raised funds from former Vodafone Group CEO Arun Sarin. Some of its other illustrious investors include Chairman Emeritus of Tata Group, Ratan Tata. In March, it had raised ₹4 billion from Ola’s existing and early investors – Tiger Global and Matrix India. Dream 11 India’s first gaming unicorn is Dream11, a fantasy gaming startup. It announced a secondary investment from Steadview Capital, an Asia-focused alternative asset manager in April 2011 which gave brought it its unicorn status. The 11-year old startup had a dream run in 2019, after signing up with IPL and the BCCI as its official partners. The cricket world cup along with IPL helped it clock in stellar numbers. In an interview with Business Insider, one of its founders Bhavin Sheth said that the startup hopes to hit 100 million users by the end of the year. Icertis In July 2019, India and US-based Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) platform Icertis became a unicorn. It raised $115 million in funding from Azim Premji’s Premji Invest and US-based VC firm Greycroft. The company, which offers contract management, has 5.7 million contracts across 90 countries. Some of its are Adobe, Airtel, Cognizant, Infosys, and Microsoft. Druva The Indo-US startup Druva entered the unicorn club in June 2019. The cloud data protection startup raised $130 million in a round that was led by Viking Global Investors. It also saw participation from funds like Neuberger Berman and Atreides Management. Existing investors Riverwood Capital, Tenaya Capital, and Nexus Venture Partners too participated in the round. Druva is a SaaS (Software as a Service) startup which was founded by Jaspreet Singh and Milind Borate in 2008. Its patented cloud architecture enables cyber governance, improves cyber resiliency, and helps customers gain critical insights. Citius Tech The healthtech company was a lesser known startup which gained unicorn status. The company provides healthcare solutions, using technologies like business intelligence, mobility and IoT, Big Data, cloud computing, predictive analytics and data science. The company was acquired by Baring Private Equity Asia in July 2019, which gave it a valuation of $1 billion.

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After Freshworks, Icertis is looking for an IPO for next year in the US

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