Marketing automation and customer-relationship platform LeadSquared has raised $3 million (Rs 21 crore at current exchange rate) in a Series A funding round led by Stakeboat Capital, a mid-market private equity firm launched by Chennai-based serial healthcare entrepreneur GSK Velu.
The round was joined by previous investor Jyoti Bansal, who sold his app performance manager AppDynamics to networking gear maker Cisco Systems Inc. for $3.7 billion in 2017. The same year, Bansal had invested an undisclosed sum in Bengaluru-based LeadSquared as part of his focus on startup investment.
The startup, owned by MarketXpander Services Pvt. Ltd, said it will use the money to expand operations and acquire customers globally. LeadSquared chief executive Nilesh Patel said the funding has come at an appropriate time for the company. “We have seen an outpouring of interest from US, Southeast Asian and Middle Eastern markets, and we plan to invest more in those regions,” he added.
Stakeboat Capital managing partner Chandrasekar Kandasamy said LeadSquared is “well-poised to succeed in global markets”, adding, “We look forward to working with the team and helping them grow.”
LeadSquared 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 also has offices in Noida, Hyderabad, New Jersey and Mumbai.
The company claims it has worked with over 800 clients across different sectors, and says its solutions have helped its customers achieve better lead generation and higher returns from digital channels. The company reported net sales of Rs 11 crore for the financial year ended March 2017. (source?)
In December last year, Bengaluru-based Stakeboat Capital reduced the size of its debut fund with an aim to mark final close by March. At the time, Velu said that the fund was not able to meet its original target of Rs 500 crore because it had only focused on domestic investors. Back then, the fund had raised Rs 270-280 crore.
Earlier this month, Stakeboat led a $14 million (around Rs 97 crore) Series E funding round in financial-inclusion services provider Dvara Kshetriya Gramin Financial Services Pvt. Ltd. Stakeboat has also invested in Sankalp Semiconductor Pvt. Ltd and Leixir Resources Pvt. Ltd, among others.
