Sales acceleration platform SquadStack on Tuesday said it has raised Rs 140 crore (around $18 million) as a part of its Series B funding round, led by Bertelsmann India Investments, with existing investors Chiratae and Blume Ventures.
The Noida-based startup will deploy the fresh proceeds to onboard top talents, boost sales expert base and expand new verticals.
Founded by Apurv Agrawal, Kanika Jain, Vikas Gulati and Rishabh Ladha in 2014, SquadStack helps consumer businesses that sell high-ticket products and services across the real estate, financial services, education, healthcare, and retail sectors to improve their sales conversions and funnel efficiency.
“Our solution solves a negative ROI problem for businesses and financially uplifts sales talent. We believe that in the long run, good products and profit are the byproduct of a team and work culture,” said Apurv Agrawal, co-founder and chief executive officer, SquadStack.
“We have a bullish thesis on ‘future of work’ and SquadStack fits in that. We have strong convictions in their data and product driven approach to this problem,” said Rohit Sood, Partner, Bertelsmann India Investments.
Bertelsmann India, which is the strategic investment arm of Germany-headquartered media firm Bertelsmann SE & Co. KGaA, doesn't have an India-dedicated fund per se and invests from a balance sheet. The venture capital firm, which started investing in India since 2013, previously had an investable capital of $200-250 million translating into a $300-million fund after fees, etc. It has backed unicorns such as Licious and Eruditus, among others.
SquadStack raised $5 million in a Series A funding round led by Chiratae Ventures in September 2020. The round also saw participation from existing investor Blume Ventures.