Slack is finally a part of the Salesforce family. That wasn’t the only highlight of the past week, however. As has been the case this year, the past few days were packed with a lot of action for the SaaS world. Without any further delay, here’s everything you need to know.
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News of the week
Video conferencing software Zoom is aiming to become much more than just a way for people to video call each other. That’s why it has acquired a leading player in the cloud contact center space, Five9. The all-stock deal has been valued at $14.7billion. Zoom expects that the acquisition will help it break into the $24billion contact center market.
Zoom rival Kaltura’s stock pops 20+% after IPO values video-cloud firm at $1.2billion
The SaaS space also continues to see new IPOs. The latest addition to the list is Kaltura, a video-cloud company that saw its price increase by 20 percent to $12. Trading under the $KLTA symbol, it offers its customers the ability to create live, on-demand videos.
Qualtrics Q2 surprise profit blows away expectations, forecast higher as well
It seems that SAP’s decision to hive off Qualtrics has been working out well. The customer experience management platform IPOed earlier this year, and its Q2 results were quite impressive. It turned a profit while analysts were expecting a loss, and the net dollar retention rate also increased to 122 percent.
SaaS companies that got the funding this week
Capchase doubles down, raises fresh $280million to provide startups with alternative to VC funding
It seems that alternate forms for fundraising for SaaS companies are in demand. Hence, it isn’t a surprise to see Capchase, a non-dilutive capital provider, has closed a $280million funding round. The round was a mix of debt and equity, and the interesting thing is that it comes just seven weeks after a $125million investment.
Go1 raises $200M at a $1B+ valuation to boost its curated enterprise learning platform
Online learning has become mainstream not just for students, but also for professionals. Go1 provides curated online learning for businesses, and it has now got a $200million Series D funding. Based in Australia, the new unicorn will expand to other markets like Europe and the Asia Pacific.
Paris-based Spendesk raises €100million to bring spend management to every finance team in Europe
All-in-one expense management platform Spendesk has nabbed a €100million Series C financing. Led by General Atlantic, the company would be using the money for hiring, and improving its product features.
Visual collaboration software Mural reaches $2billion valuation after raising $50million
With collaboration software coming to the fore amidst the pandemic, it’s but natural to see new-age startups getting a huge push. Visual collaboration software Mural has received a $50million Series C funding to accelerate its growth. Led by Insight Partners and Tiger Global, Mural is now valued at $2billion.
Tailor Brands raises $50million, aims to be one-stop shop for small businesses to launch
Most of the software aren’t optimized for small businesses. Tailor Brands aim to change that by making it easier for a small business to automate their branding and marketing processes. It has gotten $50million Series C funding led b GoDaddy.
Cyprus-based LearnWorlds secures $32million investment
Another e-learning company that has gotten funding this week is LearnWorlds. It allows anybody to create interactive online courses. The SaaS platform has raised a $32million investment from Insight Partners.
B2B social management platform Oktopost raises $20M growth round with Expedition
Social media management platform Oktopost differentiates itself from the competition by specifically focusing on B2B. It has closed a $20million investment from London-based Expedition Growth Capital.
Must reads
Why helpdesks are proving to be the key to SaaS customer support
Marketing Qualified Lead: everything you need to know about MQLs
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Knight Capital’s Arthur Noble recently wrote a book on Leaders of Growth. In this podcast, he shares about his journey from an investor to a co-founder and an investor again, and what we should learn from various leaders about growth, among other things.
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