Whatfix Inches Closer To Unicorn Status With $125 Mn Funding From Warburg Pincus, Others

SUMMARY

The latest round, which is a mix of primary and secondary deal, catapulted the startup’s valuation close to $900 Mn (around INR 7,524.4 Cr), a 50% jump from the earlier $600 Mn

While Warburg Pincus infused $100 Mn into Whatfix, SoftBank invested $25 Mn via its Vision Fund 2

Whatfix plans to use the fresh proceeds to expand into new geographies, including Southeast Asia and the Middle East while also adding new products to its portfolio

SoftBank-backed B2B SaaS startup Whatfix has secured $125 Mn ( around INR 1,045 Cr) as a part of its Series E funding round led by Warburg Pincus, along with participation from existing backer SoftBank.

The latest round, which is a mix of primary and secondary deal, catapulted the startup’s valuation close to $900 Mn (around INR 7,524.4 Cr), a 50% jump from the earlier $600 Mn.

While Warburg Pincus infused $100 Mn into Whatfix, SoftBank invested $25 Mn via its Vision Fund 2.

Whatfix plans to use the fresh proceeds to expand into new geographies, including Southeast Asia and the Middle East while also adding new products to its portfolio.

Besides, the funds will enable Whatfix to enhance its integrated product suite through both organic growth and strategic acquisitions.

Founded in 2013 by Khadim Batti and Vara Kumar, Whatfix earns revenue by selling subscriptions and professional services to other businesses. The digital adoption platform offers solutions for onboarding new customers, effective training and better support to users through contextual content display at the time of need.

Whatfix’s founder Bhatti told Inc42 that the company aims to break even in the next eight quarters without compromising on growth.

As per the company, $67 Mn and $58 Mn were made via primary and secondary investments.

Notably, Whatfix trimmed its net loss by 53% in FY23, bringing it down to INR 328.33 Cr on the back of a reduction in finance costs.

Khadim added that for FY24, the startup reported a 45% increment in revenue from INR 284.74 Cr reported in FY23.

In terms of subscription revenue, the founder revealed that the startup achieved an annual recurring revenue (ARR) of around 75 Mn.

He further outlined that 50% of this revenue came from the newly launched products over the past three years which include products in the lines of mobile adoption, simulation and data analytics.

Geographically, the US accounts for 67% of Whatfix’s revenue, while Europe contributes 27-28%.

Khadim also noted that the company logged a net revenue retention (NRR) rate of 115% for the past three years, while the Average Revenue Per Account (ARPA) for the same period was 135%.

In terms of its diversification in its product offerings, Khadim said, “In the past 3 years, we have grown from single product offering to multi-productsuite. From becoming a full stack adoption solution in the mobile, desktop and web, we added a data product line like product analytics and product insights while also adding a simulation product called Mirror”

The web and desktop adoption product lines were developed in-house, while the mobile adoption offering was included through the acquisition of mobile-first onboarding platform Leap in 2022.

The startup claims to offer its solutions to several Fortune 500 companies.

This funding round comes three years after Whatfix’s $90 Mn Series D round led by SoftBank Vision Fund 2 in 2021.

Before that, the startup raised raised $32 Mn in Series C funding round led by Sequoia Capital India, Eight Roads Ventures, F-Prime Capital, and Cisco Investments.

To date, the startup has raised over $265 Mn in funding.

This funding comes at the heart of growing digital adoption in India due to huge smartphone penetration and affordable internet charges. As a result, enterprises are also doubling down on their digital adoption play to optimise their productivity.

Whatfix claims to further enable digital adoption for these enterprises and it claims to have contributed to the industry by developing over 4,100 DAP experts since 2021.

As per a report by Fortune Business Insight, the global digital adoption platform market was valued at $702.0 Mn in 2023. The market is projected to be worth $943.6 Mn in 2024 and reach $3,660.4 Mn by 2032, exhibiting a CAGR of 18.5% during the forecast period.