Venture fund and accelerator for early-stage SaaS (software-as-a-service) startups Upekkha has raised $15 million, first close of its 40 million Upekkha fund. The investment was led by private equity firm WestBridge Capital. Other LPs (limited partners) in the first close included Godard Abel, CEO of G2.com, the largest B2B SaaS marketplace.
Upekkha said the fund will back more than 70 early-stage startups in 2024, at a time when “larger investor sentiment is that of caution and betting on truly promising ventures post scrutiny. 2024 will see returning focus on unit economics and capital efficiency.”
“Indian SaaS, now powered by AI will grow fast and as a result attract greater investment. At Upekkha, we find great founders and help them reach their potential. The investment from WestBridge shows their confidence in India SaaS and gives us more dry power to be the leading accelerator & SaaS fund for early-stage startups building from India to win globally,” said Prasanna Krishnamoorthy, Managing Partner, Upekkha.
Upekkha provides $125K pre-seed funding, SaaS-specific coaching, and community access to startups. Currently, Upekkha’s portfolio includes over 165 startups comprising more than 300 SaaS founders.
Sumir Chadha, Co-founder & Managing Partner at WestBridge Capital said, “Prior to Upekkha, India did not have a robust ecosystem and platform that assisted early-stage SaaS entrepreneurs in building strong successful businesses. We continue to see Upekkha as a key partner bridging that gap and enabling founders to build global SaaS business from India.”
WestBridge Capital is a late-stage India US crossover investment fund managing over $8 billion of capital to back private and public companies. Over the last 20 years, it has invested in more than 160 companies across various geographies.
As per estimates from management consulting firm McKinsey, the Indian SaaS market is expected to be worth $50-70 billion by 2030, up from $7 billion in 2022. However, India would still be under 5 per cent of the global SaaS market, which is likely to grow from $450 billion to $1.3-$1.6 trillion during the same period.