In what has been the biggest news of the past week, India’s Freshworks has overtaken its rival Zendesk in terms of market cap. Zendesk’s market cap declined significantly after it announced the acquisition of Momentive (the makers of SurveyMonkey). This coming-of-age story is a true indicator that SaaS can be a level-playing field for companies across the globe, and not just those with headquarters in the US and UK. And that’s exactly why we bring you the news that deserves your attention in this space through this roundup. So without any further ado, let’s take a look at the news, funding announcements, and more from the last week.
Table of Contents
News of the week
Microsoft Loop is a Notion clone for Office lovers
The Redmond giant has a long-standing history of copying successful products. The latest software that it has copied is Notion. Its offering is dubbed as the Microsoft Loop, and it draws clear inspiration from collaboration software like Notion and Coda as it offers the ability to toggle between pages, include interactive elements like charts and task lists, among other things. Worth noting however, that the Microsoft Loop isn’t launched yet, and its availability hasn’t been disclosed either.
A new chapter for VMware: spin‑off from Dell Technologies completed
After being in the works for a while, Dell Technologies has successfully spun-off VMware. As per the terms of the spin-off, Dell will give an $11.5billion cash dividend to all VMware stockholders.
Citrix Q3 shows cloud promise as it plots restructuring in Q4
Speaking of VMware, its rival Citrix has announced its Q3 results. It achieved revenue of $778million, beating Wall Street’s expectations of $772.8million revenue. Citrix also highlighted that it’ll be undergoing a major restructuring exercise to improve its go-to-market efforts.
SaaS companies that got the funding this week
Timesheet tracking app When I Work raises $200million
Among the software that became popular amidst the remote work era are timesheet platforms. Taking advantage of the same, When I Work – a shift-based workforce management software – has closed a significant funding round of $200million. The round was led by Bain Capital Tech Opportunities, and the amount will be deployed for enhancing the product and pursuing M&A opportunities.
China’s HR tech startup Moka closes $100million led by Tiger Global
Continuing with our point in the beginning that SaaS is a global phenomenon – and it’s evident that China will also play a key role in the same. That’s why it isn’t surprising to see six-year old HR tech startup from China, Moka finalizing a $100million Series C investment. Led by Tiger Global, Moka has reached the coveted unicorn status, though it hasn’t shared its exact valuation.
Botkeeper to hire engineers with $42million round led by Paychex founder
Bookkeeping automation software Botkeeper has received $42million in Series C funding. Led by Grand Oaks Capital, the Boston-based startup will be using the amount for adding features to its software and add between 50 to 100 employees in the next year.
Data-driven sales engagement startup Apollo.io raises $32million in new round
Apollo.io, a software that helps businesses and salespeople find prospective clients, has raised $32million in its latest funding round. The startup highlighted that it has tripled its revenue within the last year, and currently has 9,000 paying customers. The investment will help the sales engagement software to hire for sales and marketing roles and also strengthen its executive leadership team.
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SaaS lifetime deals! When (and why) should your SaaS run a lifetime deal?
Love it or hate it, but you can’t ignore it. Lifetime deals for SaaS products aren’t new, but why should you consider them? In this video, SaaS Mantra’s Head of Growth Sampath discusses this in detail along with sharing examples.
