If you’ve been a regular follower of the SaaS weekly roundups, it’s evident that India is putting itself on the global map in the software-as-a-service industry. And if there was any doubt about that, then this week’s acquisition by Chargebee as well as several funding announcements for Indian SaaS companies put that to rest. So without further ado, here’s everything that happened in the past week that deserves your attention.
Table of Contents
News of the week
Zendesk terminates $4.1B SurveyMonkey acquisition after its own investors reject deal
As the reports were suggesting, Zendesk is walking away from the proposed buyout of SurveyMonkey’s parent firm. The deal was pegged at $4.1billion, but didn’t go through as Zendesk’s business is quite different and hence, shareholders didn’t vote for it.
Leading content delivery network software Cloudflare acquired Area 1 Security, which protects businesses from email-based security threats. The acquisition is expected to close in the second quarter of 2022.
Chargebee, a subscription billing software, is venturing into the account receivables space with the launch of Chargebee Receivables. This is at the back of acquiring numberz, a collections management platform. The terms of the deal weren’t divulged, but the addition of numberz will help Chargebee offer finance leaders better visibility and control of their receivables.
Related read: Every SaaS company will become a fintech: Chargebee co-founder and CEO Krish Subramanian
Vendr acquires Blissfully, combining its SaaS buying services with management tools
As the SaaS explosion continues, there are companies that help in purchasing SaaS offerings faster and at a lesser price. That’s what Vendr does, and now, it has acquired Blissfully, a startup that helps in managing SaaS software used by a company.
Aircall Announces a Strategic Investment From HubSpot Ventures
HubSpot, a popular CRM software, has invested in call center software Aircall. While the funding amount hasn’t been disclosed, the investment is strategic and shows that the two companies will work closely to offer fully integrated solutions.
After losing Five9, Zoom launches its own contact center service
Last year, Zoom’s planned buyout of Five9 failed, but now it seems that the video conferencing software is venturing into the space itself. It seems that Zoom is aiming to target its customers who want to add contact center capabilities, but aren’t necessarily keen to “add another vendor in their tech stack.” Initially, Zoom’s contact center offering won’t be able to compete with traditional players in terms of capabilities, but it’ll be adding them over time. Not to mention that its video prowess will give it a leg up against other players.
OwnBackup SaaS data protection expansion includes ServiceNow
Data protection software provider OwnBackup is moving beyond providing backup for Salesforce. It has now introduced data protection for ServiceNow, offering backup, recovery, security, compliance, and sandbox seeding. In an interview, its CEO Sam Gutmann also mentioned that the company is looking for potential acquisitions, and more SaaS platforms to protect while planning to go public at the same time.
SaaS companies that got the funding this week
Global cybersecurity leader eSentire raises $325million and achieves unicorn status
Managed Detection and Response (MDR) software eSentire has received $325million investment, vaulting it in the unicorn status. Led by Georgian and CPDQ, the company will be using the funds to scale go-to-market operations across Europe and APAC. The funding will also be utilized for expanding its Atlas XDR SaaS offering.
Hasura: announcing our $100million Series C funding
Open source projects have come a long way, and the funding announcements for such companies are the best way to understand that. Hasura is no different as it provides GraphQL API for databases, and has announced $100million in funding. Led by Greenoaks, the company is now a unicorn, and will be deploying the money for expanding its workforce, R&D, and customer acquisition.
Clickatell raises $91million to scale its chat commerce platform and US expansion
Clickatell is among the oldest companies in the mobile communications and chat commerce space. Established in 2000, it has just announced its Series C fundraise of $91million. Led by Arrowroot Capital, the company will be using the investment to increase its US footprint, and invest in sales and marketing efforts.
Tiger Global-backed proptech firm bags $35m in series B money
Facility management software Facilio has raised $35million in a Series B round. It provides AI-based solutions to firms helping manage and control real estate operations. Led by Dragoneer Investment Group, Facilio will be using the fresh capital for hiring, and extending its market leadership position.
Logistics platform Shipsy secures $25million in Series B for international growth
The logistics ecosystem is being SaaS-ified. Shipsy, which calls itself a smart logistics management platform, has closed a $25million Series B funding co-led by A91 Partners and Z3 Partners. It’ll be utilizing the investment for expanding to the Middle East, India, and Southeast Asian markets.
Vymo bags $22million funding to help enterprises automate sales engagement
San Francisco-based sales acceleration startup Vymo has nabbed $22million in Series C funding. Led by Bertelsmann India Investments, the startup will be using it for growth in key markets like the US and Japan.
India-based supply chain SaaS platform Increff has received $12million in Series B funding. Led by TVS Capital Funds, the amount will be spent towards expanding its international presence.
Must reads
What is a good customer churn rate?
Listen to
ProsperStack – the challenges of building a self-serve SaaS – with Tony Sternberg
In this podcast, ProsperStack’s co-founder and CEO Tony Sternberg share about the journey and evolution of his startup. He also talks about how he scaled up the self-serve model of ProsperStack, which aims to help companies reduce their churn by having a better cancellation flow.
How Help Scout’s online publication drove awareness with a new ICP
Help Scout’s Director of Content Marketing, Kristen Bryant Smith, shares about their ideology behind the brand marketing initiative dubbed “In the Works”. She shares why they started the online publication, how it helps in finding target customers, and how they managed to differentiate it.
The importance of churn and a content marketing success story
This podcast can be considered as a combination of the previous two podcasts in terms of the topic as it talks about customer churn and why content marketing plays a crucial role in establishing one in today’s market. In this episode, Slidebean’s CEO and co-founder Jose Cayasso discusses the origins of Slidebean, the early years, and how their YouTube channel helped them find customers.
Watch
SaaS sales models: product-led growth vs sales-led growth (go-to-market case study)
This question has become quite important for any SaaS company to know how they’d reach out to potential customers. In this podcast, host TK Kader brings Chen Zhang, founder and CEO of Aquifer Motion, to discuss why they choose sales-led growth and how that helped them get over 100 percent q-o-q growth, raise a $2million seed round, and more.
