A pandemic-induced high over the past year ensured that the SaaS industry has grown by leaps and bounds to reach record highs. The success of the Indian SaaS market is testament to this boom in the industry – it is expected to be valued at $60 billion by 2030. Before the funding woes over the past months, the Indian SaaS market saw $4.5 billion worth of investments last year.
This steady growth has been beneficial to SaaS players such as CleverTap, which has bagged $105 million in a fresh financing round. The Series D funding round was led by Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec (CDPQ), a global investment group. IIFL, Tiger Global, Sequoia India and Recruit Holdings also took part in the round.
According to a person familiar with CleverTap’s fundraising plan, the SaaS-based customer lifecycle management and mobile marketing company was looking to enter the unicorn club and close the Series D round at a $1 billion valuation. Its plans were derailed due to the funding crunch and current market conditions, and it ended the round with a valuation of around $775 million.
This is an increase from the $385 million it was valued at three years ago, when it raised $35 million as part of its Series C round. The same was led by notable investors Sequoia Capital and Tiger Global.
If customers are looking to improve the retention of customers and better understand their users, CleverTap is the one for them. Founded by Sunil Thomas, Anand Jain and Suresh Kondamudi in 2013, the startup helps its clients in the creation of customized user experiences and drives user engagement, helping them with tools like real-time user behavioral analytics for better engagement and performance.
With CleverTap’s solutions, its clients can also personalise their outreach, while building automated campaigns and providing messaging capabilities across different channels such as email, in-app, and WhatsApp.
The global reach of the Mumbai and California-headquartered startup has helped it serve over 1200 customers across over 60 nations. This includes well-known names such as EA, Gojek, Mercedes Benz, Lenskart, PharmEasy, and Dream11. It also claims that over 10,000 mobile brands trust the startup to “boost app engagement and unlock growth.”
Today, CleverTap has an ARR of nearly $100 million, according to Thomas. It has also made two acquisitions so far – it acquired Patch last November and mobile marketing vendor Leanplum this May.
