One month into the new year, it’s evident that the SaaS industry continues with its 2020’s momentum. Not only we’re seeing huge funding announcements, there are some interesting launches too along with acquisitions. Add to it the fact that the past week many companies announced their quarterly reports. So without any further delay, let’s take a look at things that are worthy of your attention.
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News of the week
Microsoft Viva: Empowering every employee for the new digital age
Employee communication has become more important in the age of remote working. Microsoft has been at the forefront of the same, be it its acquisition of Yammer or its own offerings in the form of Microsoft Teams. Now the Redmond giant is combining all this and more in the form of Microsoft Viva. Dubbed as an employee experience platform, it includes integrations with Microsoft tools like SharePoint and Yammer, connects with LinkedIn learning and other training platforms along with knowledge sharing features.
AWS has been a growth driver for retail giant Amazon, and its significance can be considered from the fact that its head will succeed Jeff Bezos as a CEO. AWS revenue reached $12.7billion, up from $9.95billion in the previous year.
Google Cloud lost $5.6billion in 2020
While AWS continues to deliver profits for Amazon, Google Cloud’s losses are increasing. That’s not to say that it’s not growing in terms of revenue. Alphabet announced that Google Cloud lost $5.6billion in the fiscal year 2020 on revenue of $13billion.
Related read: Google Cloud vs. AWS: Two vastly different profit pictures
Atlassian Cloud Enterprise now available to court large enterprises
Atlassian is a force to be reckoned with thanks to its range of software that is being used by over 190,000 customers. The company has now introduced Cloud Enterprise that brings Jira Software, Confluence, and Jira Service Management together to cater to the needs of the large enterprises.
Introducing the content cloud: Box announces intent to acquire e-signature innovator SignRequest
It’s interesting to note that e-signature software companies continue to find a niche of their own despite there being large players already. SignRequest, an Amsterdam-based company, has been acquired by Box for $55million. The cloud giant has announced that it’ll be launching the content cloud that will offer the ability to have secure and compliant e-signatures to its customers.
HubSpot signs agreement to acquire The Hustle, adding content to help scaling companies grow better
HubSpot is known for its content marketing efforts as much as it’s known for its software offerings. This week, the company took that to the next level as it acquired popular newsletter startup “The Hustle”. While the terms of the deal weren’t disclosed, it’s interesting to see how software companies are focusing on content more than ever before.
AppLovin said to acquire Berlin’s adjust in $1billion deal
Mobile analytics software Adjust is being acquired by AppLovin Corp for a deal that values the former around $1billion. The report also suggests that AppLovin has filed confidentially to go public in 2021.
Goldman-backed ON24 valued at over $3 billion after strong market debut
Webinar software ON24 has seen a blockbuster debut on the public market. Its IPO price was $50, while shares opened at $77, taking its market valuation to $3.42billion.
SaaS companies that got the funding this week
Databricks raises $1billion funding round at $28billion valuation
With Snowflake paving the path for data analytics companies, Databricks – one of the favorites for SaaS companies that will go public this year – has raised a $1billion funding. With a valuation of $28billion, Franklin Templeton led the Series G round.
Software maker UiPath raises funds at $35billion valuation
RPA company UiPath continues to grow at a fast clip, and that can be gathered from its funding announcements. It has raised $750million at a valuation of $35billion led by Alkeon Capital and Coatue.
Georgian doubles down on Top Hat with $130million USD investment as company swaps CEOs
Ed-tech company Top Hat has nabbed $130million Series E funding from Georgian Partners. The company also announced that the founding CEO Mike Silagadze will step down and former Bazaarvoice CRO Joe Rohrlich will become the new CEO.
Tealium raises $96million to automate customer tracking on the web
Tealium – a tag management software company – has closed a $96million round with a valuation of $1.2billion. It has mentioned that the amount will be used for hiring across its customer support and product development teams.
TouchCast raises $55million to grow its mixed reality-based virtual event platform
Video startup TouchCast lets companies produce virtual conferences that mirror real-life experiences. It has received $55million in funding, led by Accenture Ventures.
Rescale raises $50million to provide high-performance infrastructure-as-a-service to enterprises
San Francisco-based Rescale offers a software and hardware platform for scientific and engineering simulation. The company has gotten $50million Series C funding to focus on its R&D efforts.
Leadspace raises $46million to bring big data insights to B2B sales
Customer Data Platform Leadspace makes use of AI and big data for building customer profiles and help sales and marketing teams. The company has raised $46million funding led by Jerusalem Venture Partners (JVP).
Must reads
SaaS churn and short-term customers: the contrarian view
Dear B2B SaaS companies: mobile experience can’t be an afterthought
The 3-word billboard that launched one of America’s fastest growing tech companies
Listen to
Yamini Rangan (HubSpot): redefining growth
In this episode, HubSpot’s Yamini Rangan shares why she believes focusing on the customer is the best GTM strategy. She also highlights that SaaS companies have changed the notion of selling the product is the win; instead, she says that real effort starts once you’ve got users.
How to raise your next round. What it takes to really raise capital in 2021 with Christoph Janz, Co-Founder and Partner @ Point Nine Capital
Point 9 Capital’s Christoph Janz provides a detailed insights on how companies should go about their funding rounds, depending upon the round they’re trying to raise. The data Janz quotes comes from the survey Point 9 Capital runs every year among founders and investors.
How Paperform grows with optimized content for SEO and conversion
Paperform is a no-code tool that lets anyone build forms, payment or product pages easily. Its Growth Manager, Vrinda Singh, talks about how targeted marketing helps, how to create content pillars, leverage SEO and more.
Watch
Head in the clouds: understanding the future of SaaS industry
We’ve been highlighting how SaaS has grown exponentially over the past year. If you still want to have the context of how the industry is shaping up, and what the future holds, then this video is a good starting point.
