In the last two decades, there has been a massive transformation in the technology industry. This includes both the Indian and the global space wherein Software as a Service is pushing the environment towards a cloud-based ecosystem. With the COVID-19 pandemic resulting in remote working, the reliance on SaaS has grown because it paves way for flexibility and productivity.
Several Indian SaaS companies have now reached the $1 billion club, and have joined the coveted space of ‘Unicorn’ firms. At present, Indian SaaS contributes 1 percent of the overall global share, and this number is likely to hit 4-5 percent in the coming years.
The SaaS offerings in India are broadly in the spheres of vertical solutions, horizontal business structures, and other key innovations. These services target not only large firms but small and medium enterprises in India as well.
According to India.NEXT, more SaaS startups are aiming to follow Freshworks’ model of business, right down to the company’s decision to go for a public listing.
In a conference held by India.NEXT, a diverse set of SaaS companies were hosted to draw inferences about the ecosystem. The takeaway was that a bulk of these companies have gained momentum due to the pandemic. Accelerated digitisation has helped them find a plethora of takers for their services.
Haptik, a conversational AI platform, is making strides through the medium of WhatsApp. It indicates the larger viability of the latter in the Indian Retail commerce business.
All this have pointed to the potential that Indian SaaS startups might join the race alongside Indian IT companies for global scaling. The reason behind it is that they offer unique solutions that are pioneered at offering quality service, and innovation. With a focus on eradicating pain points, Indian SaaS companies have a price model that is based on a per-use and subscription basis.
Data highlights that the revenue per employee is higher in SaaS compared to IT services, and this holds an interesting avenue for employees looking to transition through the industry. In terms of the number of unicorns, startups, and funding, India is positioned well within the top five SaaS ecosystems in the world.
Icertis, Fractal, Netcore Cloud, Haptik, Latent View Analytics, and Petpooja are some of the leading names in SaaS with an Indian foundation. India.NEXT’s discussion with these companies has revealed that their common thread includes plans of scaling up.
