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<ul><li><keyword id="3077592" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Zenoti">Zenoti</keyword>, a Software-as-a-Service startup catering to the beauty and wellness industry, has raised $160 million in a series D round of funding.</li><li>The round was led by Advent International, while it also saw participation from existing investors Tiger Global and Steadview Partners. </li><li>With this, Zenoti becomes the fifth SaaS-based Indian startup to become a unicorn.</li></ul>Zenoti, a Software-as-a-Service startup catering to the beauty and wellness industry, has <a href="https://www.livemint.com/companies/news/zenoti-enters-unicorn-club-with-160-million-fundraise-11607954375274.html">raised </a>$160 million in a series D round of funding with a valuation of over a billion dollars. The round was led by Advent International, while it also saw participation from existing investors Tiger Global and Steadview Partners. With this, Zenoti becomes the fifth SaaS-based Indian startup to become a unicorn, the previous ones being Zoho, Freshworks, Druva and Icertis. All of these <keyword id="6362513" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="startups">startups</keyword> have found a major customer base in the United States. Zenoti, which is based out of Hyderabad and Bellavue, Washington, offers cloud-based software solutions for the spa, salon and medspa industry and counts over 12,000 outlets across 50 countries as its clients. With the latest investment, the startup now aims to fuel Artificial Intelligence-led innovations while also scaling up operations. The company also aims to hire new employees to double its headcount to 900 from the current 550 by 2022. The 10-year old startup had also ranked 316 in the Deloitte’s Technology Fast 500™, which is a ranking of the 500 fastest-growing technology, media, telecommunications, life sciences and energy tech companies in North America. The company’s founder Sudheer Koneru had also said that the company’s revenue had registered a 320% revenue growth in the last year. SEE ALSO: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/startups/news/steadview-capital-invests-in-softbank-backed-logistics-unicorn-delhivery-founder-eyes-an-ipo-in-the-next-15-months/articleshow/79732530.cms">Steadview Capital invests in SoftBank-backed logistics unicorn Delhivery – founder eyes an IPO in the next 15 months</a>

Another unicorn – Indian SaaS startup Zenoti enters the coveted club with a $160 million funding

<ul><li><keyword id="2933867" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="leadsquared" source="Orion">LeadSquared</keyword> has raised $153 million from WestBridge Capital in a Series C round.</li><li>It is the sixth Indian unicorn this year and sixteenth startup to do so overall.</li><li>The company now plans to expand to the Middle East, Africa and Europe.</li></ul>Bengaluru-based sales automation startup LeadSquared is the latest software-as-a-service (SaaS) company to enter the unicorn club. The company raised $153 million from WestBridge Capital in a Series C round. A unicorn, in startup parlance, is a company valued at over a billion dollars. “With this financing, we will double down on growth investments in India and North America, start building in APAC [Asia-Pacific] and EMEA [Europe, the Middle East and Africa], add new offerings to our product portfolio, and fund acquisitions. To support our growth, we plan to double our headcount in the next 18 months,” Nilesh Patel, CEO and Founder of LeadSquared, said. LeadSquared is the sixth Indian startup to enter this elite club this year and the sixteenth startup to do so overall. The list also includes MuSigma, Druva, Icertis, Postman, Zenoti and now publicly-listed company Freshworks. Sridhar Vembu-led Zoho Corp is not a part of India’s unicorn list as the company is still bootstrapped and has not disclosed its valuation publicly. Zoho is one of the oldest SaaS companies in India and is estimated to have a higher valuation than $1 billion. <table style="border-width: initial; border-style: none; table-layout: fixed; width: 468pt;"></colgroup><tbody><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Company </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Unicorn List Entry Year </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Current Valuation </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Mu Sigma </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">2013 </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">$1.5 billion+ </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Freshworks* </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">2018 </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">$3.2 billion* </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Druva </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">2019 </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">$2 billion </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Icertis </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">2019 </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">$2.8 billion </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Postman </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">2020 </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">$5.6 billion </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Zenoti </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">2020 </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">$1.5 billion </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Innovaccer </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">2021 </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">$3.2 billion </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">ChargeBee </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">2021 </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">$3.5 billion </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">BrowserStack </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">2021 </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">$4 billion </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">MindTickle </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">2021 </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">$1.2 billion </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Fractal </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">2022 </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">$1 billion </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">DarwinBox </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">2022 </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">$1 billion </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Uniphore </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">2022 </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">$2.5 billion </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Hasura </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">2022 </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">$1 billion </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Amagi Media </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">2022 </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">$1 billion </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">LeadSquared </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">2022 </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">$1 billion </td></tr></tbody></table>*Freshworks is a publicly listed entity Source: Venture Intelligence LeadSquared is a sales automation platform, which helps more than 2000 organization globally to drive sales efficiency. The company — founded by Nilesh Patel, Prashant Singh, and Sudhakar Gorti in 2011 — claims to have clients from different industries like edtech, financial services, healthcare, marketplaces and more. A quick survey of its website reveals that Amity University, NIIT, Byju’s, Unacademy, Clear, Aditya Birla Capital and Angel Broking are its clients. The company has raised $188 million to date, with $32 million raised in 2020 and $3 million in 2019. Sumir Chadha, co-founder and Managing Director at WestBridge Capital said, "LeadSquared has shown a remarkable ability to scale and grow efficiently. Its core SaaS metrics are unique and best-in-class in the industry. Its focus on building an easy-to-use platform that transforms sales processes through automation delivering unparalleled efficiency has significant potential for growth in the global market.” SEE ALSO <a class="tout-title-link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/enterprise/news/indias-tech-talent-pool-is-from-vizag-indore-and-warangal-thats-where-infosys-tcs-and-others-are-heading/articleshow/92351346.cms">India’s tech talent pool is from Vizag, Indore and Warangal — that’s where Infosys, TCS and others are heading</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/stock-market/news/ril-vedanta-tata-steel-yes-bank-among-stocks-to-watch-out-for-on-june-21/slidelist/92349563.cms" data-type="tilCustomLink">RIL, Vedanta, Tata Steel, Yes Bank among stocks to watch out for on June 21</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/mobile/news/oneplus-nord-2t-smartphone-india-pricing-and-launch-date-leaked/articleshow/92352401.cms">OnePlus Nord 2T India pricing and launch date leaked – here’s everything you need to know</a>

LeadSquared is the sixth Indian SaaS unicorn of 2022

<ul><li><keyword id="55847" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="postman" source="Orion">Postman</keyword> has overtaken BrowserStack in valuation with this round.</li><li>The company has now raised more than $430 million across four rounds, and was valued at $350 million in 2019.</li><li>Postman will use the funding to hire across multiple verticals like sales, marketing, product and engineering.</li></ul>San Francisco and Bengaluru-based software-as-a-service (<keyword id="6395918" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="SAAS" source="Orion">SaaS</keyword>) platform Postman has raised $225 million in a Series D round, at valuation at $5.6 billion. The round was led by existing investor <keyword id="7496169" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="insight-partners" source="Orion">Insight Partners</keyword>. New investors like Coatue, Battery Ventures, BOND, DoorDash product leader Gokul Rajaram and Freshworks founder Girish Mathrubootham also participated in the round, along with existing investors CRV and <keyword id="175881" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Nexus-Venture-Partners" source="Orion">Nexus Venture Partners</keyword>. Founded in 2014 by Abhinav Asthana, Abhijit Kane, and Ankit Sobti, Postman helps developers and companies simplify their application programming interface (API) workflow. It also enables the companies to streamline collaboration and create API faster. The company has over 17 million developers and 500,000 organisations on its platform. Postman will now use this Series D funding to hire across multiple verticals like sales, marketing, product and engineering. The company will also invest in its community of developers across the globe, support students through innovative APIs and contribute towards open source projects. The company has now raised more than $430 million across four rounds. Postman had raised $150 million in 2020 at a valuation of $2 billion valuation in its Series C investment round led by Insight Partners. It was valued at $350 million in 2019. In June 2020, BrowserStack was positioned as the highest valued venture capital (VC) funded SaaS company in India. The company had raised $200 million in a Series B round led by US-based investment firm BOND, at a valuation of $4 billion. Postman has overtaken BrowserStack in valuation with this round. Other Indian highest valued <keyword id="3499933" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="SaaS-startups" source="Orion">SaaS startups</keyword> are Zoho, Freshworks, Icertis, Druva, Postman, Zenoti and ChargeBee in the ‘unicorn club’. A unicorn is a privately valued company with a valuation of over $1 billion. Zoho is not venture capital-backed and its valuation is not publicly known. <table style="border-width: initial; border-style: none; table-layout: fixed; width: 468pt;" class="redcator-table-advance"></colgroup><tbody><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">SaaS unicorns </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Valuation </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Postman </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">$5.6 billion </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">BrowserStack </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">$4 billion </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Freshworks </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">$3.5 billion </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Icertis </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">$2.8 billion </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Zenoti </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">$1.5 billion </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Chargebee </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">$1.4 billion </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">MindTickle </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">$1.2 billion </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Highradius</td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">$1 billion </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Druva </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">$1 billion </td></tr></tbody><tbody></tbody><tbody></tbody><tbody></tbody></table>SEE ALSO <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/retail/news/a-third-of-internet-users-would-be-actively-shopping-online-by-the-end-of-this-decade-offline-retail-to-take-a-back-seat/articleshow/85390712.cms">A third of internet users would be actively shopping online by the end of this decade, offline retail to take a back seat</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/startups/news/with-pharmeasy-mobikwik-and-ixigo-all-set-to-hit-the-public-market-orios-plans-to-go-deeper-into-pre-ipo-bets/articleshow/85359703.cms">With PharmEasy, MobiKwik and ixigo all set to hit the public market, Orios plans to go deeper into pre-IPO bets</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/auto/news/tamil-nadu-government-is-upset-about-losing-money-on-luxury-cars/articleshow/85322536.cms">Tamil Nadu government is upset about losing money on luxury cars</a>

Postman is now the highest valued VC funded-SaaS startup in India, after a $225 million fundraise

<ul><li><keyword id="9700532" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="indian-saas" source="Orion">Indian SaaS</keyword> companies are expected to raise a whopping $6.5 billion in 2022.</li><li>Approximately 8-12 more <keyword id="6756963" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="saas-companies" source="Orion">SaaS companies</keyword> are expected to turn unicorns this year.</li><li>Such companies are expected to generate a revenue of $100 billion in the next four years.</li></ul>There is no denying that the Indian software-as-a-service (SaaS) industry has seen the best-recorded growth in the last two years, with the entry of companies like PostMan, MindTickle, Browserstack and many others into the unicorn club. Not only that but <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/thelife/news/meet-girish-mathrubootham-founder-and-ceo-of-freshworks/articleshow/86453777.cms">Girish Mathrubootham</a>-led Freshworks also made a stellar debut on Nasdaq last year. The same boom is expected to continue this year as well. Indian SaaS companies are expected to raise a whopping $6.5 billion in 2022, a recent report by investment firm Chiratae Ventures and management consultancy firm Zinnov has revealed. This represents a 55% increase from the $4.2 billion that such companies raised in the previous year. The report, titled ‘India SaaS: Punching through the global pecking order’, also mentioned that 1,150 Indian SaaS companies generated a revenue of $8 billion in 2021. The report also emphasized that Indian SaaS companies are poised to pocket $100 billion in revenue by 2026. “Post surpassing UK this year in the number of SaaS unicorns, India is all set to leapfrog China and become the second-largest SaaS nation by 2026,” the report noted. A unicorn, in startup parlance, is a company valued at over a billion dollars. India is currently home to 17 SaaS unicorns. About 15, or 90%, of which have achieved unicorn status in the last four years. <table style="border-width: initial; border-style: none; table-layout: fixed; width: 468pt;" class="redcator-table-advance"></colgroup><tbody><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Year </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Total SaaS Unicorns </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Names </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Before 2012 </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">2 </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">InMobi, Zoho (Boot Strapped) </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">2018 </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">1 </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Freshworks </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">2019 </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">2 </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Icertis, Druva </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">2020 </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">3 </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Highradius, Postman, Zenoti </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">2021 </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">5 </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Innovaccer, Gupshup, chargebee, MindTickle, Browserstack </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">2022 till March 2022 </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">4 </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Amagi, Uniphore, Hasura, Darwinbox </td></tr></tbody><tbody></tbody><tbody></tbody></table>Source: India SaaS: Punching through the global pecking order Approximately 8-12 more SaaS companies are expected to turn unicorns this year, the report added. This list may include companies like Carestack, CleverTap, Deskera, FarEye, Fourkites, Hevo, Kissflow, Loginext, Moengage, Pixis, Shiprocket, Whatfix and Yellow.ai. SEE ALSO <a class="tout-title-link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/stock-market/news/as-travel-and-tourism-bounce-back-investors-of-this-travel-firm-mint-huge-profits/articleshow/90935507.cms">As travel and tourism bounce back, investors of this travel firm mint huge profits</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/finance/news/rbi-thinks-that-risk-of-inflation-may-continue-to-rise-as-export-declines/slidelist/90932616.cms" data-type="tilCustomLink">Here’s what is worrying RBI as India faces the double whammy of rising inflation and declining exports</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/finance/banks/news/hdfc-out-of-top-10-largest-companies-in-india/articleshow/90933474.cms" data-type="tilCustomLink">HDFC twins wipe out ₹2.5 lakh crore investor wealth, push HDFC out of top 10 largest companies in India</a>

Indian SaaS boom to continue as Indian startups are projected to raise $6.5 billion in 2022

<ul><li><keyword id="2463144" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="BrowserStack">BrowserStack</keyword> has become the most valued VC-backed SaaS company to enter the Indian <keyword id="3009432" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="unicorn-club">unicorn club</keyword>.</li><li>The company is valued at $4 billion, followed by Girish Mathrubootham-led Freshworks valued at $3.5 billion.</li><li>BrowserStack will be accelerating its acquisition plans in order to expand its global presence and product offerings.</li></ul>BrowserStack has become the most valued venture capital-backed software-as-a-service (SaaS) company in India. The Mumbai-based startup has raised $200 million (₹1,474 Cr) in a Series B round led by US-based investment firm BOND, at a valuation of $4 billion. Insight Partners and existing investor Accel also participated in the round. BrowserStack will be joining SaaS firms like Freshworks, Icertis, Druva, Postman, Zenoti and ChargeBee in the ‘unicorn club’. A unicorn is a privately valued company with a valuation of over $1 billion. BrowserStack is going to be a leader in terms of valuation, among the other SaaS unicorns in India. Notably, companies like Icertis, Zenoti, Postman and few others are registered in the United States, but are considered by many as Indian startups due to their Indian roots. Some of these companies also have the majority of their offices and workforce in India. Notably, Sridhar Vembu-led Zoho Corp is also one of the biggest SaaS companies in India and is estimated to be valued at over $1 billion, given it has over 45 million customers across the globe and has earned a profit of<a href="https://inc42.com/buzz/what-the-financials-zohos-profit-streak-continues-as-fy20-revenue-crosses-inr-4300-cr/"> ₹800 crore </a>in FY20. The valuation has, however, never been accorded to the company as it continues to be bootstrapped since its inception in 1996. According to a <a href="https://www.sify.com/finance/indian-saas-firms-may-clock-20bn-in-revenue-by-2022-report-news-news-umbpOObeijgje.html">report</a> by Bain &amp; Company, the Indian SaaS companies have the potential to capture a 7-9% share of the global SaaS market by 2022. Such an expansion would also aid Indian SaaS firms to reach a combined revenue of $18 billion to $20 billion in the same timeline. BrowserStack’s entry into the unicorn club further proves the interest of the investors in the Indian SaaS sector. Commenting on the same, BOND’s general partner, Jay Simons, said, "As software continues to rewire everything, the bar on speed and quality continues to rise, and testing software across the expanding number of browsers and devices is a huge and expensive challenge for development teams to manage on their own." Founded in 2011 by Ritesh Arora and Nakul Aggarwal, BrowserStack is a software testing platform used by developers to test their websites or mobile applications across browsers, operating systems and devices. The company claims to have over 50,000 customers and over four million developer signups. The company’s clientele also includes over half of Fortune 500 companies like Microsoft, Twitter, Barclays and Expedia, and claims to power over two million tests every day across 15 global data centres. <table style="border-width: initial; border-style: none;"></colgroup><tbody><tr><td colspan="4" style="border-left:solid #cccccc 0.75pt;border-right:solid #cccccc 0.75pt;border-bottom:solid #cccccc 0.75pt;border-top:solid #cccccc 0.75pt;vertical-align:bottom;background-color:#cfe2f3;padding:2pt 2pt 2pt 2pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">BrowserStack's Raises $250 Mn To Date </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #cccccc 0.75pt;border-right:solid #cccccc 0.75pt;border-bottom:solid #cccccc 0.75pt;border-top:solid #cccccc 0.75pt;vertical-align:bottom;padding:2pt 2pt 2pt 2pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Series </td><td style="border-left:solid #cccccc 0.75pt;border-right:solid #cccccc 0.75pt;border-bottom:solid #cccccc 0.75pt;border-top:solid #cccccc 0.75pt;vertical-align:bottom;padding:2pt 2pt 2pt 2pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Funding </td><td style="border-left:solid #cccccc 0.75pt;border-right:solid #cccccc 0.75pt;border-bottom:solid #cccccc 0.75pt;border-top:solid #cccccc 0.75pt;vertical-align:bottom;padding:2pt 2pt 2pt 2pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Investors </td><td style="border-left:solid #cccccc 0.75pt;border-right:solid #cccccc 0.75pt;border-bottom:solid #cccccc 0.75pt;border-top:solid #cccccc 0.75pt;vertical-align:bottom;padding:2pt 2pt 2pt 2pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Year </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #cccccc 0.75pt;border-right:solid #cccccc 0.75pt;border-bottom:solid #cccccc 0.75pt;border-top:solid #cccccc 0.75pt;vertical-align:bottom;padding:2pt 2pt 2pt 2pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Series A </td><td style="border-left:solid #cccccc 0.75pt;border-right:solid #cccccc 0.75pt;border-bottom:solid #cccccc 0.75pt;border-top:solid #cccccc 0.75pt;vertical-align:bottom;padding:2pt 2pt 2pt 2pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">$50 Mn </td><td style="border-left:solid #cccccc 0.75pt;border-right:solid #cccccc 0.75pt;border-bottom:solid #cccccc 0.75pt;border-top:solid #cccccc 0.75pt;vertical-align:bottom;padding:2pt 2pt 2pt 2pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Accel </td><td style="border-left:solid #cccccc 0.75pt;border-right:solid #cccccc 0.75pt;border-bottom:solid #cccccc 0.75pt;border-top:solid #cccccc 0.75pt;vertical-align:bottom;padding:2pt 2pt 2pt 2pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">2018 </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #cccccc 0.75pt;border-right:solid #cccccc 0.75pt;border-bottom:solid #cccccc 0.75pt;border-top:solid #cccccc 0.75pt;vertical-align:bottom;padding:2pt 2pt 2pt 2pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Series B </td><td style="border-left:solid #cccccc 0.75pt;border-right:solid #cccccc 0.75pt;border-bottom:solid #cccccc 0.75pt;border-top:solid #cccccc 0.75pt;vertical-align:bottom;padding:2pt 2pt 2pt 2pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">$200 Mn </td><td style="border-left:solid #cccccc 0.75pt;border-right:solid #cccccc 0.75pt;border-bottom:solid #cccccc 0.75pt;border-top:solid #cccccc 0.75pt;vertical-align:bottom;padding:2pt 2pt 2pt 2pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">BOND, Insight Partners, Accel </td><td style="border-left:solid #cccccc 0.75pt;border-right:solid #cccccc 0.75pt;border-bottom:solid #cccccc 0.75pt;border-top:solid #cccccc 0.75pt;vertical-align:bottom;padding:2pt 2pt 2pt 2pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">2021 </td></tr><tr><td colspan="4" style="border-left:solid #cccccc 0.75pt;border-right:solid #cccccc 0.75pt;border-bottom:solid #cccccc 0.75pt;border-top:solid #cccccc 0.75pt;vertical-align:bottom;padding:2pt 2pt 2pt 2pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">*Source: BrowserStack </td></tr><tr></tr></tbody></table> BrowserStack has raised about $250 million in funding till date, with $50 million coming in from Accel as a part of its <a href="https://www.browserstack.com/press/browserstack-announce-50-million-investment-accel">Series A</a> round raised in 2018. It plans to use the latest capital infusion to scale its global presence, expand product offering and also enable strategic acquisitions. Prior to this, the company <a href="https://www.browserstack.com/percy">acquired</a> San Francisco-based visual testing platform Percy in July last year. "We will continue to scale rapidly across functions to accelerate the rate at which we take new products to market. This funding will allow us to explore the different ways in which we can bring new products to market -- via acquisitions, via acqui-hires, or by investing more heavily in our product and engineering teams," Ritesh Arora, cofounder and chief executive of BrowserStack, said in statement. SEE ALSO: <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/retail/news/bigbasket-makes-more-revenue-than-32-year-old-spencers-retail/articleshow/83570315.cms">Did you know? BigBasket makes more revenue than 32-year old Spencer’s Retail</a> <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/startups/news/paytm-has-appointed-goldman-sachs-and-jp-morgan-as-the-bankers-for-its-upcoming-ipo/articleshow/83574242.cms">EXCLUSIVE: Paytm ropes in Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan as bankers for upcoming IPO ⁠— there may be more along the way</a>

BrowserStack’s unicorn status further strengthens India’s SaaS club

<ul><li><keyword id="3457278" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="darwinbox" source="Orion">Darwinbox</keyword> made its entry into the unicorn club after raising $72 million in a round led by TCV.</li><li>The company builds cloud-based human resources softwares that are used by giants like Adani Walmart, Tata and others.</li><li>It has taken Darwinbox seven years to look towards the US whereas for most software companies, the US is their biggest market right from the beginning.</li></ul>India’s latest software-as-a-service (SaaS) unicorn DarwinBox has started to test the waters in the USA and expects to clock a revenue of $10 million from America in the next two years. A unicorn, in startup parlance, is a private firm valued at or more than $1 billion. The odd bit is that it has taken Darwinbox seven years to look towards the US whereas for most software companies, the US is their biggest market right from the beginning. Market leaders like Freshworks, BrowserStack, Postman, Zenoti and others — <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/news/new-guidelines-on-recurring-payments-may-send-saas-companies-out-of-india-say-experts/amp_articleshow/86679020.cms">usually focus on the American market as it houses all their target customers</a>. The combined revenue of all SaaS companies in the US is<a href="https://www.globenewswire.com/news-release/2022/01/10/2363666/0/en/Software-as-a-Service-SaaS-Market-to-Hit-USD-716-52-Billion-by-2028-Increasing-Digitalization-to-Augment-Market-Growth-Fortune-Business-Insights.html#:~:text=In%20its%20report%20titled%20%E2%80%9CSoftware,primary%20components%20of%20cloud%20computing."> $57 billion</a> (2020). "It is a much larger market and much more competitive market, so we probably have to find our niche to enter the market with," Darwinbox’s Founder Rohit Chennamaneni told Business Insider. Ankur Bansal, co-founder of BlackSoil Capital, in<a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/news/new-guidelines-on-recurring-payments-may-send-saas-companies-out-of-india-say-experts/articleshow/86679020.cms"> a previous conversation with Business Insider</a>, had highlighted that SaaS business margins are really high and they are even higher from customers based out of the US or Europe. This, in turn, also increases their valuation in the eyes of the investors significantly. However, the HR solutions provider was able to resist the lure for seven years so far. "We want to be the number one player in Asia, this is more of a long-term horizon thing. But because we are already getting some traction there [USA] that is why we want to launch there," Chennamaneni added. So what changed now? Currently, 60% of its revenue comes from India, nearly 33% from Southeast Asia and nearly 7-8% from the Middle East. "We have always sold to Asian headquartered companies that have offices in the US. Now, as an opportunity we can go and sell to US-based companies, which have a strong Asia presence. It will just change the number of companies I call to sell to, as a product we are ready,” Chennamaneni said. Darwinbox — that builds cloud-based human resources softwares — believes that there are three aspects that may work in their favour. First, the <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/startups/news/zoom-dropbox-backer-salesforce-ventures-makes-its-first-investment-in-india-in-hr-tech-startup-darwinbox-which-claims-to-have-grown-by-200-during-lockdown/articleshow/80341562.cms">investments they have raised </a>from US-based Salesforce, one of the most valuable brands in the world. Second, being featured on market research report ‘Gartner Magic Quadrant 2021’, which has increased the company’s inbound inquiries. Third, its existing clientele in Asia who already have offices in the US. The company has over 650 clients, namely Mcure, Adani Walmart, Tata, Paytm, BigBasket, Cred and others. Some of these also have offices in the US. What’s the action plan? The company has decided to spend the next two years building a strong foundation. It will start off with a short pilot programme in the world’s biggest SaaS market with five undisclosed companies and look to expand its offering to 30 players. DarwinBox is looking to hire two sales people, who will work with the company’s founder Chennamaneni directly, to get more understanding on the needs of the market and create a unique preposition for the customers. The company will be competing with SAP SuccessFactors, Workday Human Capital Management, Ceridian Dayforce, Workforce Now and others in the US market. Darwinbox hopes to lead Asian market Darwinbox has been following a different trajectory so far. The company started in India, expanded in India and then expanded in the Southeast Asian and Middle Eastern markets, before making any progress towards the United States. The company does agree that the American market has the potential to be its largest market and make a majority of its revenue, if approached correctly, Chennamaneni said. Darwinbox is looking to further scaling its product offerings to provide better employee experience. The company plans to make its conversational bot advances by enabling it to have more personal conversations. The existing chat bot "eases the life of the person, what we are focusing on is user experiences. How the person is feeling, how engaged the person is, etc.," Chennamaneni added. The company <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/startups/news/saas-company-darwinbox-is-the-third-unicorn-of-2022/amp_articleshow/89107496.cms">raised $72 million</a> recently, at a unicorn valuation, to fund these ambitions. It has previously raised $15 million from Salesforce in January 2021. SEE ALSO <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/startups/news/future-groups-kishore-biyani-mohandas-pai-and-68-others-invest-in-former-twitter-india-heads-latest-startup/articleshow/89403045.cms" data-type="tilCustomLink">Future Group’s Kishore Biyani, Mohandas Pai and 68 others invest in former Twitter India head’s latest startup</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/stock-market/news/macquarie-slashes-paytms-target-price-to-700-goldman-sachs-upgrades-it/articleshow/89401105.cms" data-type="tilCustomLink">Macquarie slashes Paytm’s target price to ₹700, Goldman Sachs upgrades it</a> <a class="tout-title-link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/stock-market/news/tata-steels-stock-on-a-gaining-spree-led-by-doubling-profits-huge-debt-reduction-and-hopes-from-the-union-budget/articleshow/89398818.cms">Tata Steel is on a gaining spree. Thanks to doubling profits, huge debt reduction, and hopes from the union budget</a>

INTERVIEW: India’s latest software unicorn is wetting its feet in America after holding its horses for seven years

While inviting the participation of foreign investors into India's economy, Union Minister <keyword id="6355222" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="piyush-goyal">Piyush Goyal</keyword> on Tuesday said during April-September period, the country received <keyword id="44528" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="FDI">FDI</keyword> inflows worth $40 billion. Addressing the inaugural session of CII's Partnership Summit 2020, through virtual means, Minister of Railways, Commerce &amp; Industry, Consumer Affairs and Food &amp; Public Distribution Goyal invited foreign investors to be a part of India's growth story. The Minister said continuing on an open path, India has been systematically opening up new sectors of the economy. He said that FDI (Foreign Direct Investment) flows in India have been continuously growing. "During the first nine months of this year, at the peak of Covid-19 pandemic, our FDI has grown. We have one of the most facilitative FDI policies in the world. During the April-September period, FDI inflows are at $40 billion, which has been higher than last year by about 13 per cent," he said. "Last year, we announced one of the most attractive tax rates available anywhere in the world at 22 per cent tax for businesses in India and 15 per cent tax for new manufacturing facilities set up after October 2019." Besides, Goyal cited that a number of new schemes have been introduced, including 'Production-Linked Incentive' scheme to attract industries to come to India. "We have investment promotion cells in all the ministries. Central government and the states are working together to attract and promote investments even before the onset of the pandemic, India was rapidly announcing a slew of reform measures aimed at improving the economy and productivity levels in the economy. "India is introducing conducive reforms and facilitation measures to encourage greater global involvement in our V-shaped recovery. I invite you to board the bus of development, growth and prosperity that Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi is crafting for the people of India," said Goyal. SEE ALSO: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/startups/news/steadview-capital-invests-in-softbank-backed-logistics-unicorn-delhivery-founder-eyes-an-ipo-in-the-next-15-months/articleshow/79732530.cms">Steadview Capital invests in SoftBank-backed logistics unicorn Delhivery – founder eyes an IPO in the next 15 months</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/startups/news/indian-saas-startup-zenoti-enters-the-unicorn-club-with-a-160-million-funding/articleshow/79734387.cms">Another unicorn – Indian SaaS startup Zenoti enters the coveted club with a $160 million funding</a>

Piyush Goyal invites foreign investors to India citing $40 billion in FDI between April and September

<ul><li>Indian <keyword id="1464841" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Edtech">edtech</keyword> startup <keyword id="2008319" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Upgrad">upGrad</keyword> has acquired a <keyword id="6359973" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="recruitment">recruitment</keyword> and staffing solutions firm Rekrut India.</li><li>The acquisition will make way for learners on upGrad to take advantage of Rekrut’s hiring network. </li><li>Even with the 100% acquisition, the Mumbai-based recruitment firm will continue to operate separately.</li></ul>Indian edtech startup upGrad has acquired a recruitment and staffing solutions firm Rekrut India. With this acquisition, upGrad goes from being just an edtech platform to one with hiring solutions and competing with market leaders like Naukri.com. The acquisition will make way for learners on upGrad to take advantage of Rekrut’s hiring network. “Rekrut will now open the floodgate of career opportunities for upGrad learners. Hence, we are thrilled to announce the onboarding of the team, a significant step in making upGrad a career powerhouse for professionals. This move is integrally aligned with our company’s vision of powering career success for every member of the global workforce as their trusted lifelong learning partner,” said upGrad co-founders <keyword id="25725" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Ronnie-Screwvala">Ronnie Screwvala</keyword>, Mayank Kumar, and Phalgun Kompalli, in a joint statement. The Mumbai-based recruitment firm will continue to operate separately. “The upGrad-Rekrut synergy will disrupt the ecosystem and build an end-to-end supply chain of manpower, where Rekrut is the demand partner providing cutting-edge jobs and upGrad will supply the highly skilled, and future-ready talent,” said, Ajay Shah, Managing Director, Rekrut. The latest acquisition is a part of the Mergers and Acquisitions strategy by the edtech firm. Last month, the startup had acquired Bengaluru-based The Gate Academy for an undisclosed amount. The startup had then said that there were many acquisitions lined up in the allied fields of higher education. upGrad had recently raised a ₹50 crore debt fund from IIFL Asset Management. The startup now expects a ₹1,200 crore annual run rate with profitability and also expects a 100% increase in repeat enrollments in the portal. SEE ALSO: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/startups/news/steadview-capital-invests-in-softbank-backed-logistics-unicorn-delhivery-founder-eyes-an-ipo-in-the-next-15-months/articleshow/79732530.cms">Steadview Capital invests in SoftBank-backed logistics unicorn Delhivery – founder eyes an IPO in the next 15 months</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/startups/news/indian-saas-startup-zenoti-enters-the-unicorn-club-with-a-160-million-funding/articleshow/79734387.cms">Another unicorn – Indian SaaS startup Zenoti enters the coveted club with a $160 million funding</a>

Edtech giant upGrad buys a recruitment firm – pitting it against the likes of Naukri.com

<ul><li>Indian foodtech unicorn <keyword id="6358977" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="swiggy">Swiggy</keyword> is reportedly scaling down its grocery and fresh produce deliveries. </li><li>However, the $3.6 billion startup said that it will continue to focus on meat, seafood, gourmet and its instant grocery delivery service — Instamart.</li><li>Even though Swiggy operates food delivery services in 500 cities, its grocery delivery service will now be restricted to 20 cities.</li></ul>Indian foodtech unicorn Swiggy is <a href="https://entrackr.com/2020/12/exclusive-swiggy-moves-away-from-grocery-and-fresh-produce-delivery/">reportedly</a> scaling down its grocery and fresh produce deliveries. “We expanded our services across the country during the lockdown as consumers turned to Swiggy not just for food but also other essentials. Given that movement restrictions have been eased, we are rolling back grocery delivery and focusing on offerings like <keyword id="9167642" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="Swiggy-Genie">Swiggy Genie</keyword> where consumers can shop from any store in the city including groceries &amp; essentials or pick-up and drop-off packages,” said a Swiggy spokesperson. However, not everything will be toned down. The $3.6 billion startup said that it will continue to focus on meat, seafood, petcare gourmet and its essential delivery service Instamart, which delivers products like groceries, fresh fruits &amp; vegetables, personal care items among other things. “With a delivery promise of 30 to 45 minutes, Instamart is rapidly becoming a favourite among consumers (in Bangalore and Gurgaon) while unlocking a new dimension of convenience retailing in India,” said the spokesperson. Even though Swiggy operates food delivery services in 500 cities, it has said that it will restrict grocery to about 20 cities. “Pre-COVID, 80% of Swiggy’s business was food delivery, and the remaining came from other segments. The company expects this ratio to change to 50-50 in the next 2 to 3 years, with increased contribution from grocery, cloud kitchen, etc,” said a Goldman Sachs report from November, 2020. Interestingly, Swiggy’s rival <keyword id="830092" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Zomato">Zomato</keyword>, which had also forayed into grocery delivery with the Zomato Markets feature had earlier said that it was scaling down the service. Both the unicorns had ramped up their offerings in <keyword id="1392240" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="grocery-retail">grocery retail</keyword> during the coronavirus lockdown when the segment saw a massive boom. This leaves the market with players like JioMart, Amazon, Flipkart, Grofers and BigBasket, which is reportedly in talks with the Tata Group for an investment. SEE ALSO: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/startups/news/steadview-capital-invests-in-softbank-backed-logistics-unicorn-delhivery-founder-eyes-an-ipo-in-the-next-15-months/articleshow/79732530.cms">Steadview Capital invests in SoftBank-backed logistics unicorn Delhivery – founder eyes an IPO in the next 15 months</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/startups/news/indian-saas-startup-zenoti-enters-the-unicorn-club-with-a-160-million-funding/articleshow/79734387.cms">Another unicorn – Indian SaaS startup Zenoti enters the coveted club with a $160 million funding</a>

After Zomato, Swiggy scales down its grocery marketplace operations – leaving more space for JioMart, BigBasket, Amazon and others

<ul><li><keyword id="9700532" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="indian-saas">Indian SaaS</keyword> segment employs a workforce of over 50,000.</li><li>Indian <keyword id="6395918" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="SAAS">SaaS</keyword> industry has the potential to clock revenue of $75 billion by 2025.</li><li>The SaaS sector, globally, has the potential to surpass IT industry’s valuation this decade.</li></ul>The Indian software-as-a-service (SaaS) segment could employ over 260,000 people in the next four years (by 2025), representing a five fold increase from the current employee base of 50,000. This hiring spree would mostly be accelerated by the segment’s fast-paced growth and the influx of global funding. Indian SaaS segment has the potential to clock a total turnover of $75 billion in the next four years and capture a fifth (19%) of the global demand for <keyword id="6361043" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="software">software</keyword> products, as per a report by investment firm Chiratae Ventures and consulting firm Zinnov. The Indian SaaS segment is poised to create a market capitalisation of more than $1.3 trillion by 2025. This is the best-case scenario for India’s fast-growing SaaS industry. Even if the industry continues to grow at the current compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 51% in the next five years, the country’s SaaS revenue could grow as much as $42 billion by 2025. This is about an eight fold increase from the current $5.3 billion in revenue cumulatively. “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, said. SaaS is a software distribution model in which software is licensed to users on a subscription basis and is centrally hosted. This is also known as “on-demand software”. There are over 1,000 players in the Indian SaaS segment, which has received $6 billion in investment in the last decade (2010-2020) as per the report. A few key players in the Indian SaaS segment are Zoho Corp, Freshworks, Browserstack, Postman, Zenoti, Chargebee, HighRadius, Icertis and Druva. The report also adds that sales management platform MindTickle, conversation automation platform uniphore and workforce management software FarEye may be entering the unicorn club soon. Globally, the SaaS segment has the potential to take over the information technology (IT) industry in terms of valuation this decade. The report notes that the SaaS segment will cross $1.8 trillion valuation by 2030, compared to the $1.6 trillion valuation of IT services. “IT Services has been foundational to Indian progress and rising footprint in the global market. We are seeing this sector in SaaS, which is growing and providing India the spotlight that Indians deserve in the global market. So this is the second industry, after IT service, which is really powering through. 2025-2030 will be the year when Indian SaaS would become mightier in terms of market value,” Praveen Bhadada, managing partner at Zinnov, told Business Insider. The revenue per employee for IT services companies in 2020 was around $47,000. Meanwhile, the revenue per employee for SaaS firms grew 30% to $100,000 last year. Notably, Indian SaaS sector earns 70% of their revenue from global markets, and it is bound to grow further to 85% by 2025. SEE ALSO <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/news/youtube-is-testing-shopping-feature-on-live-streams-for-select-creators/articleshow/84628204.cms" data-type="tilCustomLink"></a><a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/news/byjus-acquires-us-based-epic-plans-to-invest-1-billion-in-the-north-american-market/articleshow/84612303.cms" data-type="tilCustomLink">BYJU's acquires another American startup, plans to spend $1 billion on US expansion</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/news/youtube-is-testing-shopping-feature-on-live-streams-for-select-creators/articleshow/84628204.cms" data-type="tilCustomLink"></a><a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/news/youtube-is-testing-shopping-feature-on-live-streams-for-select-creators/articleshow/84628204.cms" data-type="tilCustomLink"></a><a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/news/youtube-is-testing-shopping-feature-on-live-streams-for-select-creators/articleshow/84628204.cms" data-type="tilCustomLink"></a><a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/news/youtube-is-testing-shopping-feature-on-live-streams-for-select-creators/articleshow/84628204.cms" data-type="tilCustomLink">YouTube is testing shopping feature on live streams for select creators</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/startups/news/sequoia-capital-india-invests-7-3-million-in-sales-engagement-platform-outplay/articleshow/84617329.cms" data-type="tilCustomLink">Sequoia Capital India invests $7.3 million in sales engagement platform Outplay</a>

India’s SaaS sector to hire more than 260,000 people by 2025

<ul><li>This is SoftBank’s second bet in <keyword id="2000014" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="MindTickle" source="Orion">MindTickle</keyword>, which helps enterprises improve their sales.</li><li>MindTickle will use this funding to expand its presence, acquire companies and hire aggressively.</li><li>The company has over 200 clients across the globe, including Dabur, Johnson &amp; Johnson, Wipro</li></ul>MindTickle, a startup that helps small and large enterprises improve their sales, is the latest entrant to India's <keyword id="3009432" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="unicorn-club" source="Orion">unicorn club</keyword>. The decade old startup on Thursday, August 8, announced a $100 million Series E funding round led by existing investor SoftBank, at a valuation of $1.2 billion. Existing investors Norwest Venture Partners, Canaan, NewView Capital, and Qualcomm Ventures also participated in the Series E round. This makes MindTickle the third Indian software-as-a-service (SaaS) startup to become a unicorn in 2021, after Chargebee and BrowserStack. Overall, there are over nine venture capital (VC) funded SaaS unicorns in India. A unicorn is a privately valued company with a valuation of over $1 billion. <table style="border-width: initial; border-style: none; table-layout: fixed; width: 468pt;" class="redcator-table-advance"></colgroup><tbody><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">SaaS unicorns </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Valuation </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">BrowserStack </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">$4 billion </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Freshworks </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">$3.5 billion </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Icertis </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">$2.8 billion </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;"> Postman </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">$2 billion </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;"> Zenoti </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">$1.5 billion </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Chargebee </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">$1.4 billion</td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">MindTickle </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">$1.2 billion </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Highradius </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">$1 billion </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Druva </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">$1 billion </td></tr></tbody><tbody></tbody><tbody></tbody><tbody></tbody><tbody></tbody><tbody></tbody><tbody></tbody></table> MindTickle wants to gain greater momentum in international markets MindTickle was founded by Krishna Depura, Mohit Garg, Deepak Diwakar and Nishant Mungali in 2011. It helps companies build sales capabilities. It also offers solutions for onboarding, micro-learning and skills development. MindTickle plans to use this funding to expand its presence in multiple verticals as well as markets like Europe and Asia. A part of the funding would also be used to acquire more companies and expand their technology stack, MindTickle’s chief executive officer (CEO) and cofounder Depura told Business Insider. “So a reasonable chunk of [the] money will go into global expansions, getting into more territories and geographies. The second amount [sic] will go into R&amp;D [research and development], which we’ll use to develop our stack. I think $100 million is a lot of money and it’s not like we’ll deploy the money in the next six months or one year. But it’ll give us sufficient power to plan for the next three-four years to set up our base and continue to think over the horizon,” Depura added. He also highlighted that the company has a good presence in India at the moment, especially in the automotive and pharmaceutical sectors. MindTickle will also use a part of the funding to go aggressive on hiring across geographies and functions. It has already hired over 100 employees in 2021 and has openings for 115 positions. The company has a workforce of 500 employees. MindTickle’s current clientele has already set its global presence This is SoftBank’s second investment in the Pune and San Francisco-based startup. The Japanese conglomerate had previously led MindTickle’s $100 million round raised in November 2020. Existing investors Norwest Venture Partners, Accel Partners, Canaan, NEA, NewView Capital, and Qualcomm Ventures had also participated in the round. The SaaS startup has raised over $281 million to date. Its clientele includes 200 enterprise companies like Johnson &amp; Johnson, Splunk, Wipro, Ola, Cloudera, Dabur and United Colors of Benetton. Its customer base includes a few dozen Fortune 500 and Forbes Global 2000 companies, which is an annual ranking of the top corporations worldwide measured by revenue. MindTickle claims to have presence in over 115 countries as its clientele has subsidiaries across the world. “We continue to be impressed by Mindtickle’s performance in creating and becoming a category leader in the sales readiness space. The product has become an essential part of any sales organisation and we are excited to support the company in its growth,” Munish Varma, managing partner with SoftBank Investment Advisers, said. SEE ALSO <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/startups/news/ipo-bound-ixigo-acquires-bus-ticketing-platform-abhibus-to-strengthen-its-footprint/articleshow/85062903.cms" data-type="tilCustomLink">IPO-bound ixigo acquires bus ticketing platform AbhiBus to strengthen its footprint</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/ecommerce/news/flipkart-and-tiger-global-have-a-billion-dollar-notice-to-respond-to-in-the-next-90-days/articleshow/85059732.cms">Flipkart and Tiger Global have a billion dollar notice to respond to in the next 90 days</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/startups/news/whitehat-jrs-ceo-karan-bajaj-quits-exactly-a-year-after-byjus-acquisition/articleshow/85029450.cms">WhiteHat Jr’s CEO Karan Bajaj quits exactly a year after Byju’s acquired the company</a>

MindTickle is the third SaaS firm from India to enter the unicorn club in 2021

<ul><li>In 2021, <keyword id="8990323" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="indian-VCs">Indian VCs</keyword> (venture capitalists) believe that the investment deal flow will continue as global funds too jump in for a pie of the Indian startup ecosystem.</li><li>Indian investors say they will continue to bet on sectors like e-commerce, edtech, fintech and SaaS, while there’s room for sectors like SpaceTech and Agritech to grow.</li><li>The year ahead could see consolidation in India’s tech ecosystem as well. Investors believe more mergers and acquisitions are on the cards in 2021.</li></ul>India’s tech ecosystem is riding into the new year with a lot of enthusiasm. There are multiple <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/startups/news/2021-could-finally-be-the-year-of-indias-tech-ipos-as-startups-like-zomato-delhivery-policybazaar-head-for-the-public-markets/slidelist/80019978.cms">startup IPOs</a> on the cards, investments are flowing in, and the spirit of recovering in a post-pandemic era is high. In 2020, despite the coronavirus pandemic PE-VC (private equity and venture capital) deals hit $39 billion across 814 deals led by the onslaught of deals by Mukesh Ambani’s Jio Platforms and Reliance Retail. And in 2021, Indian VCs (venture capitalists) believe that the investment deal flow will continue as global funds are eyeing a slice of the Indian startup ecosystem. “2021 will be a watershed year for the tech economy in India. While foreign investors have been extremely bullish about it, domestic investors and even large corporates have been largely bystanders past 10 years waiting for the change to reach a certain critical mass. They will now jump in or be left out of the handsome gains that will be accrued in the next 10 years, by participating in the tech economy,” said Anup Jain, Managing Partner at Orios Venture Partners. India’s internet ecosystem in numbers <table style="border-width: initial; border-style: none; width: 468pt; table-layout: fixed;"></colgroup><tbody><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Internet Subscribers </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Smartphone devices </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Social media users </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Daily mobile time </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">749 million </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">500 million </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">376 million </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">4.8 hours </td></tr></tbody></table>Source: HDFC Securities report dated December 17, 2020 And to ride this internet growth of India, here are the sectors that Indian VCs are betting on in 2021. Edtech will continue to shine 2020 was the year of <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/startups/news/india-edtech-in-charts-how-the-shift-to-online-learning-meant-money-valuation-and-users-for-the-likes-of-byjus-unacademy-and-others/articleshow/80040270.cms">edtech</a> in India. With schools and colleges shut due to the COVID-19 pandemic, India’s educational technology <keyword id="6362513" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="startups">startups</keyword> stood at the forefront of online transition of schools. In 2020, edtech startups raised a total of $2.2 billion, and VCs believe that the money will continue flowing into the sector. Fintech is the next big bet As the internet penetrates India's hinterlands, the adoption of digital payments, financial tech instruments will increase across the country. And VCs believe that fintech cos will drive the growth. "If 2020, the year of the pandemic, was all about edtech and health tech, 2021 will be the year of Fintech in India. Consumers and businesses alike have made substantial changes to the way they lead their lives and businesses and set new goals and practices for saving, investing and spending," said Jain. Jain lists that financial services or neo-banking ecosystem, wealth creation and management will reign big in fintech along with "the use of tech by consumers, just like in e-commerce, will be reflected in discovery and purchase of financial products and services." E-commerce boom to linger With the coronavirus pandemic, offline retail was hit in a big way, which also led to India's e-commerce firms' boom along with grocery retail, which saw their numbers multiply. From Amazon and Flipkart seeing the number of sellers grow on their platform to JioMart, BigBasket, Grofers, saw their average order volumes and app downloads grow during the pandemic. This e-commerce boom will continue to linger in the new year, believe VCs. The durable shift to online has gone well beyond just the top 50 million users, and all incumbents brands have embraced it and are providing a good experience. The sector will keep expanding, and new retail (formats+omnichannel), Social commerce, warehousing, etc should see innovation," said Deepak Gupta, Founding Partner, WEH Ventures. Within e-commerce, Direct to Consumer or DTC brands that sell directly from their websites saw massive growth in 2020. And that has seen investor appetite also grow, with brands like boAt raising over $100 million in funding already in 2021. SaaS to ride on the benefit of digitization One of India’s best performing bets has been in the SaaS (Software as a Service) sector with unicorns like Freshworks, Zoho, Druva, Zenoti, Icertis. And experts believe that the offerings in SaaS are far from over. “We expect adoption of SaaS (software-as-a-service) products to become more widespread as people realized the benefits of digitization during the COVID 19 pandemic. Cyber Security companies would have tailwinds as data leaks / data thefts have made sure people take this aspect into cognizance,” said Jatin Desai, Managing Partner at Inflexor Ventures. Space, agri and electric vehicle infra are among other sectors to watch out for Here are the other sectors that VCs are betting on <ul><li>SpaceTech</li><li>AgriTech</li><li>InsurTech</li><li>Electric Vehicles Infrastructure</li></ul>Pankaj Makkar, MD of Bertelsmann India Investments, sums it up that sectors like e-commerce, e-commerce logistics, direct-to-consumer, Edtech, HealthTech, and some portions of FinTech will do well in the new year. But he also sees consolidation in India’s tech ecosystem. “We will also see Mergers and Acquisitions happening as competitors may join hands because there is less space to grow,” he said. SEE ALSO: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/apps/news/with-whatsapp-popularity-hit-zoho-plans-to-launch-arattai-messaging-app/articleshow/80206802.cms">Zoho plans to woo WhatsApp defectors with its own messaging app Arattai</a>

You Searched For "Zenoti" and got 12 results

Another unicorn – Indian SaaS startup Zenoti enters the coveted club with a $160 million funding

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Indian SaaS boom to continue as Indian startups are projected to raise $6.5 billion in 2022

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Edtech giant upGrad buys a recruitment firm – pitting it against the likes of Naukri.com

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MindTickle is the third SaaS firm from India to enter the unicorn club in 2021

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