Postman, a Software as a Service (SaaS) startup which was valued at $350 million just a year ago, may clock a nearly six-fold jump in its valuation as it looks to raise $150 million from Insight Partners.
If the deal goes through, it will be one of the biggest jumps in valuation for an Indian startup. This will also catapult the company into the growing Indian SaaS unicorn club comprising Freshworks, Druva and Icertis.
Postman funding
The Bengaluru and San Francisco-based collaboration platform for managing, developing and testing application programme interface (APIs) is in final discussions with New York-based investment fund Insight Partners to raise around $150 million. It counts Microsoft, Twitter, PayPal and DocuSign as customers.
Why it matters
India’s SaaS industry clocked $1.5 billion in revenues in 2019, and is expected to grow to $10 billion by 2025, controlling around 8% share of the global SaaS market from 2.6% currently, according to SaaSBOOMi, a community for SaaS companies in the country. Read more.
Restaurants vs delivery apps
Evoking the force majeure clause that frees both parties from liability when an extraordinary event occurs, Zomato and Swiggy have begun renegotiating exclusivity contracts with a slew of restaurants citing a downward impact on business due to the ongoing pandemic, further exacerbating strained relations between the food delivery platforms and restaurants.
Stung by the move, several of the country’s top restaurant chains including Olive Group’s Fatty Bao, SodaBottleOpenerWala, and MonkeyBar, Mukesh Bansal backed Eat.Fit and regional chains like A2B, Truffles, Pista House, Crepe-fe, and Gupta Teas have decided to either walk out of negotiations or not renew contracts with the food delivery apps. Read more.
Jio’s sixth investor
Jio Platforms has scooped up Rs 9,093.60 crore from Abu Dhabi-based sovereign investor Mubadala Investment Company, marking the sixth investment in the holding company of Reliance Jio less than two months.
Reliance Industries has so far raised Rs 87,655 crore by offloading 18.97% stake in Jio Platforms, paving the way for the oil-to-telecom conglomerate to achieve zero net debt ahead of the March 2021 target. Read more.
Google tax
The government is exploring changes to the equalisation levy, and may stop charging the tax on digital transactions either partially or in its entirety for a year as it works on the options.
Why it matters
Companies fear that all kinds of online transactions including hotel bookings, software purchase and even buying certain components from overseas could come under the gamut of the 2% levy introduced this year due to the way the law has been worded. The government is doing a cost-benefit analysis and has reached out to stakeholders to figure out if it needs to suspend or shelve the 2% equalisation levy imposed this fiscal year on any purchase by an Indian or India-based entity through an overseas ecommerce platform. Read more.
Unacademy fundraising
Edtech platform Unacademy is said to be in talks to raise $100-$150 million in fresh funding, at a valuation that could catapult the educational technology firm into the unicorn club. The financing bid comes less than four months after the Bengaluru-headquartered firm closed a $110 million round led by social media giant Facebook and blue-chip private equity firm General Atlantic.
Unicorn club
Existing investors, including General Atlantic and Steadview Capital, are likely to double down on their stake, while a host of global strategic and financial investors, including US-based hedge funds and China’s Tencent have booked interest in the five-year-old company at a potential valuation of more than $1 billion. Read more.
(Illustrations and graphics by Rahul Awasthi)
Leave a Reply