IPO-Bound Capillary Appoints Sameer Garde As CEO, Cofounder Aneesh Reddy Steps Down

Bengaluru and Singapore-based Capillary Technologies has appointed Sameer Garde, an independent director and board member at the startup, to the CEO post. Garde will be taking over from Capillary’s cofounder Aneesh Reddy.

The Warburg Pincus and Sequoia-backed startup stated that Reddy will take up the role of vice chairman and managing director.

“We became one of the first SaaS companies in India to penetrate not only India but the wider Asian market, and also had the privilege to serve some of the largest customers globally, attracting marquee investors along the way,” said Reddy.

An IIT Delhi and IIM Calcutta alumnus, Garde has previously held positions at Nestle, Pepsi, Whirlpool, Dell India, Samsung and Phillips. His most recent non-startup role was at CISCO, where he was the president of the India and SAARC regions.

“Capillary Technologies is a market leader in the loyalty and engagement space and has been acknowledged by leading industry analysts and Fortune 500 customers globally. I look forward to providing the guidance and vision for this new chapter in Capillary’s story,” said Garde of his appointment.

Founded in 2012 by Reddy Ajay Modani and Krishna Mehra, Capillary Technologies is an omnichannel engagement and commerce solutions startup. The startup serves several regions such as the United States, India, the Middle East, and Southeast Asia. In all, Capillary claims to have served companies across 30+ countries.

Capillary’s AI-based solutions help businesses develop customer and partner loyalty. The startup offers end-to-end loyalty solutions and unified strategies that deliver a real-time omnichannel experience for customers.

The startup claims to have served more than 250 brands, with more than 875 Mn customers on its platform. Capillary has more than 100 loyalty programs which have been deployed across 124,000 customer touchpoints.

The development comes nine months after Capillary filed papers with India’s securities and exchange board, SEBI, for an initial public offer (IPO). Inc42 exclusively reported in December 2021 that the profitable SaaS startup was headed for a domestic IPO. It was confirmed days later when Capillary filed for an INR 850 Cr IPO.

In FY21, the startup’s profits stood at INR 17 Cr, 82X higher than INR 20.6 Lakh for FY20. Capillary saw its total income decline 26.5% to INR 123.15 Cr in FY21. The startup’s revenue from operations also fell 30.8% to INR 114.9 Cr in FY21.

“With an impending IPO and aspirations to build Capillary into a world leader in the space, Sameer will contribute towards fulfilling these ambitions by building a company that delivers predictable growth profitably and constantly whilst also exceeding customer and partner expectations,” a company statement said.

The startup’s last funding round came in 2018 when it raised $20 Mn from Warburg Pincus and Sequoia Capital. Last year, it acquired US-based customer experience platform Persuade for an undisclosed amount.