SaaS Startup Draup Secures $20 Mn From US-Based Private Equity Firm HKW

B2B SaaS startup Draup has raised $20 Mn (about INR 152 Cr) from US-based private equity firm HKW to accelerate its AI capabilities and expand product portfolio.

Draup now seeks to grow its customer base globally across America, Europe, and Asia while continuing to build a world-class technology team.

Founded in 2017 by Vijay Swaminathan and Vamsee Tirukkala, the duo earlier cofounded management consulting firm Zinnov and Talent Neuron, a web-based talent platform that was acquired by CEB later. 

“We have taken a disruptive approach to problem-solving by developing custom Machine Learning models to get insights from sales and talent data. Over 10 Mn data points from over 8,000 sources are fed into these models each day to empower customers with intuitive and actionable sales intelligence and talent insights,” said Vijay Swaminathan, CEO and cofounder, Draup.

Draup offers an AI-powered sales intelligence platform that empowers sales teams with industry, account, and stakeholder intelligence. 

“Draup’s unique data collection, integration, and modeling platform enables enterprises to make critical go-to-market and talent management decisions with confidence and precision,” said Daniel Kim, partner, HKW. 

The startup claims to be a key enabler of revenue growth and the trusted intelligence platform for enterprise sales teams that generate more than $400 Bn in global revenue and HR leaders who manage a global workforce of over 9 Mn employees.

Investments in Indian SaaS Startups in 2021 

Indian software-as-a-service (SaaS) startups have raised a record $4.5 Bn from investors in 2021, nearly three times the previous year, led by innovation, access to capital, and a larger market size, according to a report from consultancy firm Bain and Company.

With strong investor support, SaaS companies could well reach $30 Bn in revenue by 2025, capturing an 8%-9% share of the global SaaS market, analysts at the consulting firm have said.

More than 35 Indian SaaS companies—those grew seven-fold over five years—had an annual recurring revenue (ARR) of more than $20 Mn in 2021, said the report.

Last year also created six SaaS unicorns being valued at more than $1 Bn or more. 

Funding & Acquisition Of SaaS Platforms In 2022 So Far

Agritech startup Ninjacart has acquired SaaS-based smart solutions provider, Tecxprt, for an undisclosed amount on March 10, this year.

Further, industry veteran and former managing partner at Arka Venture Labs, Radhesh Kanumury would set up a new venture fund, Suvan Ventures, focused on B2B early-stage and Indian cross-border SaaS startups as reported on March 4, 2022. The fund size is expected to be $10-15 Mn, making 20-25 investments.

Another development in this arena is, IPO-bound Ola’s cofounder Ankit Bhati would launch a new SaaS venture, Amnic Technologies, with $20 Mn seed funding, as reported in January this year. 

Indian B2B marketplace IndiaMART invested INR 13.35 Cr (~$1.79 Mn) in SaaS startup EasyEcom in January this year through its wholly-owned subsidiary Tradezeal Online to acquire a 26.01% stake.

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