Welcome back to the second edition of the SaaS weekly roundup for the new year. However, if you take a look at the news, acquisitions, and funding announcements, you might be wondering whether things have slowed down at all. So, without further ado, let’s begin this week’s roundup.
Table of Contents
News of the week
A SoftBank-backed education start-up could be Europe’s first major tech IPO in 2021
Gamification software Kahoot had the blockbuster year 2020 – be it in terms of acquisitions or its user growth. Now, the company is planning to list on the Norwegian stock market by the end of March. Worth noting that Kahoot is already listed on Oslo’s Euronext Growth market, and its shares have increased by more than 400 percent y-o-y.
Related tweet: https://twitter.com/GetBenchmarkCo/status/1341078005662289924
Virtual events platform Hopin acquires video streaming studio StreamYard for $250million
Hopin, a virtual event software, grew from strength to strength amidst the remote work era. Keeping the momentum going, the company has acquired streaming software StreamYard for $250million. Hopin will be migrating to StreamYard as a default option for livestreaming. Considering it has raised $171million in its lifetime, it’s evident that the deal was a mix of cash and stock.
Hootsuite acquires Sparkcentral to unify and automate social customer service
Social media management software Hootsuite has purchased Sparkcentral, an app that utilizes messaging apps for offering customer engagement. While the terms of the deal weren’t disclosed, the acquisition will help Hootsuite leverage messaging apps like WhatsApp, WeChat, Telegram, SMS, and more.
Substack is adding theming options to change the look of newsletters
Newsletter provider Substack has added a much-wanted feature to let writers customize the look of newsletters. It’ll also allow writers to create sub-lists to send certain newsletters to a particular list.
SaaS companies that got the funding this week
Quantum Metric raises $200million to help enterprises build digital products faster
Quantum Metric helps companies improve their websites and apps by getting real-time feedback from end users. It has raised $200million in a Series B round led by Insight Partners.
Mambu raises $135M at a $2billion+ valuation for a SaaS platform that powers banking services
We’re seeing a rise of new-age banking services, and now a SaaS banking platform, dubbed Mambu, has nabbed a $135million funding. The startup provides APIs to banks to power their lending, deposit, and other banking products. The round was led by TCV.
Dremio raises $135million to help companies rapidly analyze data
Dremio, a startup that offers tools to streamline and curate data, has announced $135million funding that takes its valuation to $1billion. The Series D round was led by Sapphire Ventures, and Dremio will use it to expand its engineering and customer support teams.
Atlanta’s SalesLoft raises $100million for its digital sales platform, now valued at $1.1billion
Sales engagement software SalesLoft has received $100million funding led by Owl Rock Capital, making it a unicorn with a valuation of $1.1billion.
Glia raises $78million for its integrated, hands-on, AI-based customer service platform
Glia integrates various customer support channels along with providing tools to help customer support executives quickly get into a customer’s app or webpage to find issues. The startup has closed a $78million Series C round.
OKR-focused Gtmhub raises $30million Series B after growing 3x in 2020
Gtmhub builds software to help companies in their corporate planning, has received $30million in Series B round. The OKR software startup has managed 400 percent growth in its ARR y-o-y.
Agritech startup CropIn raises $20million in Series C round led by ABC World Asia
CropIn uses AI and data intelligence to help the agriculture industry. It has now gotten $20million in a Series C round led by ABC World Asia.
Must reads
Revolutionary NLP Model GPT-3 poised to redefine AI and next generation of startups
The secret to success: Process Street’s customer success team tell all
Listen to
SaaS marketing as you scale to $10million: Dave Gerhardt in conversation with Stephen Cummins
A must-listen podcast where Privy’s CMO Dave Gerhardt shares his journey into the world of SaaS, and talks about how marketing teams should be structured to help the company scale to $10million and beyond.
The 7 deadly sins that kill your SaaS website conversion, with Helen Peatfield
In this episode, Helen Peatfield discusses seven things that SaaS companies shouldn’t do on the website as it affects the website conversion. These include poor positioning, understanding customer’s mindset properly, and more.
The secret sauce for scaling to $1billion with Sharon Prosser, VP, Global SMB GTM and Business Development @ Zendesk, and Astha Malik, VP, GTM Strategy, Planning and Enablement @ Zendesk
In this podcast, Zendesk’s senior executives talk about how companies can focus on enterprise deals. They share how Zendesk was able to balance the organization’s needs with its current set of customers, and yet able to focus on enterprises which helped the company cross $1billion in ARR.
Watch
Building an effective SaaS Go-To-Market strategy in 2021 (founder’s guide to a winning GTM strategy)
Distribution is really important for a SaaS company, and that’s what this video talks about. It shares how a company can create a GTM strategy to drive growth.
