SaaSBOOMi Looks To Strengthen SaaS Community With Awards For Indian Startups

The SaaSBOOMi community has decided to recognise and reward Indian software-as-a-service (SaaS) companies and startups that have been working to set India on the global tech map.

The award is aimed to add incremental value to the startups in multiple ways. Beyond recognising well-deserved startups, it will also bring them to the public’s attention, build a comprehensive directory of SaaS startups in India, collate credible and up-to-date information about SaaS startups and help SaaS community to come together and self-organise under one unified shield.

“Most startup awards in India hitherto have been either self-serving, lacklustre, or opaque. We want to change this norm and create a new brand of awards that exemplify authenticity and integrity,” the SaaSBOOMi said. 

The SaaSBOOMi award will be given across eight categories, omc

1. SaaS startup of the year: For startups that have achieved great traction at a global level, and serves as a milestone to be achieved for other entrepreneurs in India.
2. Breakout SaaS startup of the year: Startup that has achieved great traction in the recent past, whether through a paradigm shift or focused execution.
3. Bootstrapped SaaS startup of the year: Startup that has scaled without raising any institutional money over $100K. The company should only rely on its revenue to fund and grow operations.
4. Deeptech startup of the year: Startup that is solving deep technical problems through extensive research and development (R&D). The company should intend to commercialise the product or should have already done so.
5. Category creator SaaS startup of the year: The startup that is solving completely new pain points for their customers and has created a new category out of that.
6. Vertical SaaS startup of the year: The startup that operates in a vertical domain, and has achieved great traction within that domain. This traction can also be in terms of revenue or customers.
7. Moonshot startup of the year: This title will be awarded to the “most ambitious startup idea”, which is trying to achieve a milestone crossed by few companies. This award can also be received by an early-stage startup.
8. B2D SaaS startup of the year: The startup that builds tools, libraries, or systems for developers, sells to a global audience and has received critical acclaim for the same. 

Interested SaaS startups can fill out the application before December 20, 2020. The startups can either nominate themselves or others for a maximum of two categories. SaaSBOOMi will announce five finalists for each category on January 15, 2021. The winners will be announced in March 2021, during SaaSBOOMI’s Annual.

Along with a trophy, the winners will also receive PR, investor and media attention. Besides that, the winner will get recognition in SaaSBOOMi’s website and ebook, along with an award batch that can be featured on their website, and marketing materials.

The winners will be selected by an independent jury through a voting mechanism. The jury includes Capillary Technologies’ CEO and cofounder Aneesh Reddy, Mad Street Den’s CEO and founder Ashwini Asokan, Freshworks’ founder and CEO Girish Mathrubootham, Eka1’s CEO and founder Manav Garg, Kissflow’s CEO Suresh Sambandam, Chargebee’s cofounder and CEO Krish Subramanian, and Charts.com’s founder and CEO Pallav Nadhani, who had previously founded and headed FusionCharts (acquired by Idera).

“SaaSBOOMi Awards is an endeavour to celebrate our SaaS companies and their founders – to recognize and laud their achievements, to bring to light little-known gems, to inspire others to follow their path… SaaSBOOMi Awards is the first awards program in India that is shaped and judged entirely by the community. You will be judged and recognized not by corporate sponsors or VC investors but by your peers in the Indian SaaS community,” Nadhani said in a blogpost.

Indian SaaS companies are estimated to have an annual recurring revenue (ARR) of over $3.5 Bn representing a 30% annual growth. According to a NASSCOM report, there are more than 1K SaaS companies in India, out of which, about 150 companies generate an ARR of over $1 Mn. Many companies like FreshWorks, Druva, Zoho have also hit the unicorn club.

[Update: 28th Nov – Publishing date updated]