After a bit of hiatus, we’re bringing the weekly roundup of all things SaaS to your browser (or inboxes if you’ve subscribed to us). While the buzz around SaaS might be muting because of the overall economic downturn, a lot is happening if you peek behind the proverbial curtain. So without further ado, here’s everything that happened in the past week in the software-as-a-service segment and deserves your attention.
Table of Contents
News of the week
Thoma Bravo picks up Ping Identity for $2.8billion in an all-cash deal
PE firm Thoma Bravo has been snapping up SaaS companies for a while. The latest on the list is Ping Identity, an identity management company. The deal is pegged at $2.8billion, and Ping Identity will be taken private after the acquisition.
Microsoft puts its RiskIQ acquisition to work
The Redmond giant acquired RiskIQ a year ago. Now, it’s bringing some of its capabilities to its Defender security platform. These include Microsoft Defender Threat Intelligence and Microsoft Defender External Attack Surface Management which will scan the internet to help secure the infrastructure and allow security teams to understand how a potential attacker sees their network, respectively.
SaaS companies that got the funding this week
Shopify makes $100mmillion strategic investment in marketing automation startup Klaviyo
Popular marketing automation software Klaviyo has gotten a $100million strategic investment for e-commerce software Shopify. The companies also announced that they will strengthen their existing partnership by making Klaviyo the recommended email product for Shopify Plus, along with providing them early access to upcoming features.
SaaS development platform Frontegg raises $40million in funding
User management platform Frontegg has announced a $40million Series B funding round. The investment was co-led by Stripes and Insight Partners, while the startup also announced that it provides user management infrastructure to over 150 B2B SaaS companies.
Axio lands $23million to help companies quantify cyber risk
Cybersecurity risk evaluation platform Axio has nabbed $23million in a Series B round. Led by Temasek’s ISTARI, the money will be used towards bolstering the product and engineering team along with supporting go-to-market functions, and expanding to more geographies.
B2B SaaS start-up WebEngage raises $20million in Series B funding
Marketing automation software WebEngage has closed a $20million Series B financing round. It’s worth noting that the startup already has $20million ARR and the funding will help it to double down on its growth. The round was led by Singularity Growth Opportunities Fund and SWC Global.
Employee benefits platform Ben raises $16million to cut HR admin
Ben is an employee benefits platform that allows companies to curate things like life insurance, health, and pension as well as good-to-have benefits such as gym memberships and work-from-home allowances. While it’s mainly targeted at the HR segment, Ben also has several fintech functionalities. For example, HR can set a budget and spend control for each employee, and the platform can also issue Mastercards for the employees. It has now raised $16million led by Atomico.
Must reads
Chargebee’s SaaS suite looks to help clients earn more
Moment of reckoning for SaaS firms with US market in a spot
Listen to
Why event marketing matters even more than before & the future of events with SaaStr CEO Jason Lemkin
A lot has been said about leveraging event marketing for SaaS companies. But what is it and how one can make its best use? In this podcast, SaaStr’s Jason Lemkin shares how SaaStr has evolved in the last decade and all you need to know about event marketing.
Five things you need to be doing to sustain ARR while the world is collapsing
Within the last few months, the world has changed significantly. Unlike earlier when there was a lot of buzz around startups, now everyone is focusing on profitability. So in such a scenario, how does a SaaS company maintain its ARR? In this podcast, co-founder and CEO of Juro, Richard Mabey shares 5 tips.
Watch
SaaS go-to-market strategy (scalable growth for B2B)
TK Kader has been sharing a lot of insights on how to build and market a SaaS startup based on his learnings from building ToutApp and selling it to Marketo (which later got acquired by Adobe). In this video, he shares the ultimate go-to-market strategy that any SaaS business can use to get to the next stage of growth.
