Marketing automation and customer-relationship platform LeadSquared has raised $32 million (Rs 235 crore) in its Series B round of funding led by mid-market private equity firm Gaja Capital.
The round was joined by existing investors GSK Velu-led Stakeboat Capital and Jyoti Bansal, who sold his app performance manager AppDynamics to networking gear maker Cisco Systems Inc. for $3.7 billion in 2017.
The software as a service (SaaS) platform will utilise the capital for global expansion, product innovation and hiring more professionals.
"We have seen a step change in interest from North America and Southeast Asia markets, as customers drive digital transformation in response to the pandemic outbreak," said Nilesh Patel, CEO at LeadSquared.
LeadSquared, owned by MarketXpander Services Pvt. Ltd, was co-founded in 2012 by Patel, Sudhakar Gorti, Prashant Singh, Sukhbir Kalsi and Anand Kumar, and launched in 2013. Apart from Bengaluru, the company has offices in Noida, Hyderabad, New Jersey and Mumbai.
LeadSquared has over 1,000 customers globally across industries like edtech, higher education, financial services and healthcare. It counts the likes of BYJU’S, Acko, Amity University, OLX, Dunzo, Practo among its clients.
The company had raised $3 million in its Series A round of funding led by Stakeboat Capital last year.
Gopal Jain-led Gaja Capital primarily focuses on consumption-driven companies, with an emphasis on education, financial services, consumer goods and healthcare sectors.
Early this year, VCCircle reported that the PE firm kicked off the process of raising capital for its third fund, aiming to mop up far more money than it did in its previous outing.
The firm has been an active investor in the education sector, having previously invested in CL Educate, Educational Initiatives Pvt. Ltd, Eurokids International, Junior Sports and Services, SV EduSports and Educomp Solutions.
It has also placed some significant bets on financial services firms apart from Navi Technologies and Suryoday Small Finance Bank. These include RBL Bank, investment banking firm Avendus Capital and non-bank lender Kinara Capital.
Deals in SaaS
The investment in Toppeq is the latest example of a startup operating the SaaS model raising funds.
Early this month, mid-stage-focussed venture capital firm Iron Pillar made debut bet from its second fund on CoreStack, a cloud governance and compliance SaaS startup.
Last month, people analytics-focussed InFeedo Tech Inc. raised $3.2 million (around Rs 23.91 crore) in a round led by San Francisco-based Bling Capital. Freshworks founder Girish Mathrubootham and Citibank Asia-Pacific managing director Simon Yoo also participated.
Also last month, client lifecycle firm Clientjoy raised $800,000 in a pre-Series A round from GVFL Ltd (formerly Gujarat Venture Finance Ltd).
In October, supply chain automation platform Supplynote raised $600,000 in a bridge funding round from a clutch of investors including US-based SOSV and Australia’s Artesian Ventures.
