CNBC recently released its list of Disruptor 50 companies, and a lot of the names selected by the publication are in the SaaS vertical. If you’ve been following this space closely, then this isn’t a surprise considering a lot of private companies that are at the forefront of innovation are following the software-as-a-service delivery model. And this week’s SaaS weekly roundup is also a testament to that as we see public SaaS companies announcing breakout earnings in the previous quarter, whereas startups raising ginormous sums of money to expand their market share. Of course, as always, there were some acquisitions and companies that made their public debut this week too.
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News of the week
Paymentus stock surges nearly 40% percent in IPO debut
Paymentus, a payment-technology company that makes the process of bill payments easier, went public at $28.76 per share – much higher than its pricing of $21. The company raised $210million through its IPO, and is valued at $3.4billion.
Meet Flywire, the Boston tech scene’s newest public company
It seems a lot of payment firms are going public. Boston-based Flywire made its debut on Nasdaq as it raised $250million at a valuation of over $3billion. Its share price increased by 46 percent to $35.10 on the first day of trading.
Software provider Sprinklr reveals 19 percent jump in revenue in IPO filing
Social media management software Sprinklr has revealed its plans for going public. It did that while announcing its annual revenues, which saw a jump of 19.3 percent. The stock will be listed on NYSE with the ticker symbol CXM.
Google, Shopify extend ties in commerce blitz against Amazon
Just last week, at I/O 2021, Google had announced its partnership with Shopify to help merchants utilize various avenues to reach out to consumers. Now, it’s extending the capabilities to merchants using Square, GoDaddy, and WooCommerce as well.
Invoca + DialogTech: accelerating revenue with conversation intelligence
Just last year, Invoca had announced a marketing call analytics platform, and now it has made its first acquisition by acquiring DialogTech. DialogTech helps marketers analyze inbound phone calls for providing conversation intelligence. While the terms of the deal weren’t disclosed, reports peg it at $100million.
Facebook co-founder Saverin’s B Capital doubles down on SaaS in China
At SaaS weekly roundup, we’ve highlighted a number of times that Chinese SaaS companies don’t get as much attention. But that’s starting to change. Now, B Capital Group, a VC firm started by Facebook co-founder Eduardo Saverin has stated that it’s looking to invest as much as $500million to $1billion in the Chinese tech companies.
Zscaler stock surges on deal to buy active defense startup Smokescreen, upbeat quarterly results
Cybersecurity company Zscaler has announced the acquisition of India-based Smokescreen Technologies, which is known for focusing on active defense technology. The company also announced its Q3 revenue for the quarter ending in April, where it highlighted that its revenues rose to $176.4million, increasing 60% year-on-year.
Earnings corner
Salesforce growth accelerates as company offers strong guidance for coming fiscal year
SaaS pioneer Salesforce exceeded all expectations with its quarterly revenues. It achieved a revenue of $5.96billion, which grew by 23 percent year-on-year. For the entire 2022, the company expects revenue in the range of $25.9billion to $26.0billion.
VMware meets Q1 expectations with 9 percent revenue growth
Amidst the talks of VMware being spun off from Dell, the company announced an impressive performance in the first quarter of fiscal 2021. Its revenue was $2.99billion, which was up by 9 percent from the same period last year.
Snowflake reports financial results for the first quarter of fiscal 2022
Database management software Snowflake announced a y-o-y growth of 110% per its quarterly revenues of $228.9million. It also shared that its net revenue retention rate is 168 percent, which is nothing short of outstanding.
Box beats Q1 expectations, raises fiscal 2021 guidance
Cloud storage company Box has managed to beat expectations by announcing revenue of $202.4million. The company is forecasting Q2 revenue in the range of $211million to $212million.
Okta delivers strong Q1 results, expands public sector business
Identity and access management company Okta announced revenue of $251million, which rose 37 percent y-o-y. The company also announced that it’s deploying in Kansas and Iowa, along with working with the US Defense Department.
Other SaaS companies that announced their earnings
Workday reports strong Q1, sees subscription revenue accelerating
Veeva stock jumps on fiscal Q1 results above expectations, higher forecast
Zuora stock rises on fiscal Q1 revenue, profit beat, higher year view
SaaS companies that got the funding this week
Sinch, a Swedish customer engagement giant, raises $1.1billion, SoftBank and Temasek participating
Hailed as a Twilio competitor, customer engagement firm Sinch has raised $1.1billion by issuing its direct shares. The company trades on the Swedish stock exchange at a valuation of $11billion, and the infusion has come mainly from Temasek and Softbank.
SoftBank-backed Contentsquare Valued At $2.8B Following $500million Series E
Digital experience analytics company Contentsquare has closed a $500million Series E financing. Led by Softbank Vision Fund 2, the company is now valued at $2.8billion.
SpotOn raises $125million in a16z-led Series D, triples valuation to $1.875billion
SpotOn, a startup that provides software for restaurants and SMB’s, has become the newest unicorn as it received $125million Series D funding. The round was led by A16z and values it at $1.875billion.
Indian logistics SaaS startup FarEye raises $100million
Logistics startup FarEye has finished a $100million funding as part of its Series E round. Led by TCV and Dragoneer Investment Group, the company would be using the amount to expand its team and acquire smaller firms in the international markets.
Agicap raises $100million for its cashflow management service
France-based Agicap lets you track your cash flow in real-time and provides forecasting functionality too. It has gotten $100million funding in a Series B round led by Greenoaks. The startup will be using the amount to expand its team.
Salt Security lands $70million for tech to protect APIs from malicious abuse
The AI-based software provider for identify issues in APIs and stopping attacks, Salt Security has nabbed $70million in funding. The round was led by Advent International, and values the company between $600 and $700million, as per reports.
Yalo raises $50million to build ‘c-commerce’ services for chat apps like WhatsApp
c-commerce or chat commerce might have originated in China, but it seems startups want to bring this concept across the world. San Francisco-based Yalo has gotten $50million from B Capital to offer tools to businesses to use chat apps like WhatsApp.
Must reads
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I asked 50+ developers how they buy software. Here’s what I learned.
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The Twilio memo: Bessemer’s Byron Deeter on how a $125K initial check became Bessemer’s largest position, what the influx of late-stage capital means for venture today & why the incumbent advantage is now an incumbent disadvantage
Twilio is a leading cloud communications company. But when it was started, nobody knew how the space will evolve. In this podcast, Bessemer Venture Partners’ Bryon Deeter talks about why they got convinced about Twilio, what made the company go from strength to strength, what makes its CEO Jeff Lawson unique, and more.
SaaS for skill assessments | Amit D Mishra (Founder & CEO, iMocha)
When it comes to skill assessment, there are a lot of companies. Yet, iMocha (formerly Interview Mocha) has become a leading player. In this episode, its founder and CEO, Amit shares his journey, evolution of iMocha, what makes it different, challenges on the way, and more.
How this indie hacker blew past $10K MRR with Jon Yongfook of Bannerbear
In top SaaS trends to look out for in 2021, we had mentioned the rise of micro-SaaS, and Bannerbear is a perfect example of the same. Jon Yongfook talks about the idea behind Bannerbear, how he landed on this idea after several other side hustles, and its evolution, among other things.
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Data privacy in SaaS products
With SaaS applications growing, it’s also important to see whether they adhere to privacy standards. This webinar acts as a primer on understanding data, various laws associated with it, the relevance of privacy, and global privacy compliance management, among other things.
