SaaS Unicorn Chargebee Acquires numberz, Launches Receivables To Help Subscription Businesses Get Paid Faster

Chennai-based subscription management unicorn, Chargebee has acquired collections management platform numberz and launched its receivables that will help businesses get paid faster. 

With the latest development, subscription businesses would be able to automate their entire receivables process from purchase to payment, apart from managing subscription products and invoices, leading to better data collections and insights for more confident decision-making, according to the SaaS startup.

“With the acquisition of numberz, we are focused on solving bottlenecks that often occur due to clunky Accounts Receivable (AR) systems that leave collections delayed and bills unpaid. When businesses are growing fast, it’s critical that decision-makers have full visibility into receivables, so they have clarity into available working capital needed for growth,” informed Krish Subramanian, CEO and cofounder, Chargebee.

The acquisition comes on the heels of the recent additions of Brightback and RevLock to Chargebee, and various funding rounds with the latest being announced on February 1. 

Then, the unicorn has announced the closure of a $250 Mn funding round led by major VC funds Tiger Global and Sequoia Capital. With this round, Chargebee had more than doubled its valuation to $3.5 Bn in just nine months. Around $470 Mn have been poured into the startup by various investors so far.

Founded in 2011 by Krish Subramanian, Rajaraman Santhanam, Saravanan KP and Thiyagarajan T, Chargebee is a revenue management platform that automates revenue operations of more than 4,000 high-growth subscription-based businesses. It counts Okta, Freshworks, Calendly, and Study.com among its global customer base.

Over the last year, the SaaS startup has been focusing on strategic acquisitions that help the platform grow and solve a wide range of customer problems by building a unified solution that connects data points from all aspects of business, said Subramanian.

After the latest acquisition, Chargebee’s Receivables can help businesses in the following ways, as per its website:

•       Help make data-backed decisions that enable businesses to have timely and effective interaction with the clients
•       Align teams to collaborate and work seamlessly. So that the finance, sales, customer success, and operations teams work together, hassle-free
•       Clear disputes by providing clients visibility into their upcoming payments, means to escalate and resolve issues proactively
•       Integrate with the ecosystem tools across leading ERPs, accounting solutions, and payment gateways

With the acquisition of numberz, Chargebee Receivables will ensure that customers are billed on time accurately, while keeping them engaged and informed by offering incentives for them to pay easily and quickly. Users can manage the entire order-to-cash process with minimal effort, freeing up energy to focus on reporting and exceptional customer service, claimed the SaaS startup.

“Accounts Receivable Management capabilities will help finance leaders better manage their entire order-to-cash cycle, aid business growth and unlock massive value,” said Aditya Tulsian, cofounder and CEO of numberz.

Referring to an analysis of the Cloud Index Report, Chargebee said, on average, it takes about 72 days for the world’s fastest-growing SaaS companies to get paid on their invoices.

This is particularly significant in comparison to an average US company, getting paid in 45 days. Contrary to popular perception, the biggest reasons for late payments are neither customer intent nor their cash flow issues. These challenges arise due to the seller’s internal process inefficiencies that persist despite the usage of ERPs or accounting solutions, which account for as high as 50-60% of the delays, it said.  

Meanwhile, Chargebee became a unicorn in April last year, with its Series G Round. Then, it announced a fresh round of $125 Mn in series G funding, co-led by investor Sapphire Ventures and existing investors Tiger Global and Insight Venture Partners, with participation from another investor Steadview Capital.

In the past, Inc42 predicted that India will have 100 unicorns by 2025, but looking at the current pace with more than 80 startups in the list already, it’s likely that India may cross this number (100 unicorns) soon.