Welcome back to yet another edition of the SaaS weekly roundup, wherein you get all the news that matters in the world of SaaS.
Table of Contents
News of the week
Google Meet’s 60-minute limit on free calls won’t kick in until 2021
The search titan doesn’t want to back down in from of the juggernaut that Zoom has become. And that explains why the company has extended the 60-minute limit of free calls on Google Meet till the next year. Earlier, it has offered these premium features to everyone till September 30th only.
That’s not all, as the Alphabet-owned company is also adding new features to its video conferencing software. The latest update brings the ability to have Q&A and polls to increase engagement.
GitHub launches code scanning to unearth vulnerabilities early
The popular code repository software GitHub has launched a code-scanning tool to help discover unpatched vulnerabilities. The feature is available for free to use for all public repositories, and goes up against tools such as Snyk which find faults in codes.
DocuSign Analyzer aims to save legal costs, labor with AI-aided contract negotiations
Software companies are embracing AI, and the latest to do that is electronic signature software DocuSign which has released Analyzer. The service is designed to give insights about risks and opportunities with the particular deal. Not only this saves time, it also helps companies find potential errors that can hamper deals.
Salesforce launches clouds for media, communications, public sector, utilities
Thanks to the acquisition of Vlocity, Salesforce is focusing on individual sectors with its dedicated cloud offering. Media Cloud for example, has media-specifica data models along with launch subscription bundles.
eFounders unveils its next batch of enterprise SaaS startups
Europe-based eFounders has helped in launching 27 companies over the last decade, with the prominent names being Aircall and Front. The company has now announced the latest startups in its batch. These include Canyon, a product for legal teams to let them replace Word, PDF documents and emails with one offering, whereas Kairn is a task manager that lets you add tasks quickly.
Gusto is expanding from payroll into a full suite financial wellness platform
Popular payroll software company Gusto is aiming to become a well-rounded financial wellness platform as it has announced a number of new offerings. First and foremost is Gusto Wallet, which acts as a mini bank and financial health monitor. Then there’s Cashout, which as the name suggests, can accelerate a payday aheaed of time for an employee depending upon their history.
TravelPerk launches an open API platform to extend its work trip SaaS
TravelPerk, a SaaS-based business travel startup, has announced the launch of an open API, to allow its customers and partners build custom integrations and apps. Currently, the APIs are for HR and expense management, but going forward, the company will be adding more use-cases.
Ameyo integrates with Google’s Business Messages
Ameyo, a popular call center software, is adding more features to its suite to become an omnichannel marketing solution for its customers. It has now added support for Google’s Business Messages to let companies respond to users’ queries faster within Google Search and Maps.
Related read: Interview with Sachin Bhatia, Co-founder and Global Sales and Marketing Head at Ameyo
SAP continues to build out customer experience business with Emarsys acquisition
Traditionally an ERP company, SAP is focusing on customer experience as it has announced the acquisition of Emarsys. The Austria-based company offers an omnichannel marketing solution to reach the customers via email, mobile, social, SMS and the web.
VMware to acquire automation software provider SaltStack
Dell-owned VMware is continuing to add more capabilities by means of acquisitions. The latest one is SaltStack, an automation software provider. While the terms weren’t disclosed, the company says that it’ll be extend its automation capabilities beyond infrastructure.
SaaS companies that got the funding this week
Sendinblue secures $160million in Series B funding for marketing platform
Digital marketing platform Sendinblue has received $160million Series B funding. The company offers an all-one-one suite of tools for sales and marketing and has over 180,000 customers across the globe.
Papaya Global raises $40million for a payroll and HR platform aimed at global workforces
Israel-based Papaya Global provides cloud-based payroll along with hiring, onboarding, and compliance services for organizations to handle not only full-time employees but part-time and contract workers too. It has now gotten a $40million Series B round led by Scale Venture Partners.
PayCargo raises $35million from Insight for its cloud-based platform targeting the freight industry
Shipping hasn’t had much of a technological shift over the years, and that’s an opportunity for startups to disrupt the space. PayCargo, which has built a suite of cloud-based payment and financing services for the cargo industry, has closed a $35million funding from a single investor in the form of Insight Partners.
Online course platform Thinkific raises $22million
Online learning companies are growing at a fast clip amidst the ongoing situation, and hence it’s no surprise to see yet another company raising a new funding round. Thinikific, a platform that lets anyone build their own courses, has nabbed $22million funding led by Rhino Ventures.
Philippines payment processing startup PayMongo lands $12million Series A led by Stripe
It’s quite interesting to see payment company Stripe becoming a lead investor in startups. But that’s what has started happening as it has led a $12million Series A investment in the Philippines-based online payment platform, PayMongo.
Must reads
Where are China’s SaaS giants?
Turning a crisis into a win: Lessons from companies who beat the odds
Multi-cloud still front of mind for VMware
Listen to
How to effectively sell into mid-market, why SEO is the best kept secret in SaaS & how to show credibility to enterprise customers as a startup
Truework’s co-founder and CEO Ryan Sandler talks about his journey into the world of SaaS, how and why to sell into mid-market, his approach for pricing among other things. He also discusses why SEO is very important for any company.
Whooshkaa: launch & differentiate your SaaS in a crowded market – with Rob Loewenthal
While the name of the company is quite unusual – Whooshkaa – the space it operates in isn’t as it competes against a range of companies in the podcast creation space. Its founder Rob Loewenthal shares the inception of the business and what differentiates its platform that helps companies and creators product, host and monetize their podcasts.
How Supermetrics doubled their ARR from 10 to 20million in 12 months
Supermetrics, a marketing analytics company, doubled its revenue within an year. In this podcast, its Marketing Director, Edward Ford talks about how the company managed to grew so fast, how they moved from the self-serve model to enterprise sales, their experiments with Webinar and more.
Watch
How to create an Ideal Customer Profile for Your SaaS business (and accelerate growth in 2020)
Creating the ICP for your business is important to define the right go-to marketing strategy. Watch this video where the host TK Kader takes you through the three principles to create an ideal customer profile.
