Upekkha has selected the highest number of B2B SaaS startups for its accelerator program and fund since its inception in 2017. Through a stringent selection process and an acceptance rate of 8%, a total of 38 startups were hand-picked from among 500+ applications received for the accelerator program. 29 B2B SaaS startups got funded by Upekkha in the last year, despite funds slowing down globally.
The Indian SaaS ecosystem is on an upward and thriving curve despite the global economic challenges. This is evident from the sheer diversity of India’s vast pool of skilled and cost-effective tech talent. In fact, Upekkha received the highest number of applications ever in 2022. EdTech, SalesTech, MarTech, HRTech, FinTech, HealthTech, and Healthcare were some of the prominent sectors the SaaS startups catered to. The major category focus for these startups is Real Estate CRM, Visual Tools, Voice AI, Online learning, Consumer Data Platforms, and UX Monitoring—knowledge Management, work OS, etc.
Being the torchbearers of Value SaaS, aka capital efficient growth, Upekkha now has a thriving community of 250+ founders and 125+ startups. 100% of its first cohort has hit $1M ARR, and 90% of its initial 20 startups continue to grow at 50% YOY. Upekkha has been guiding its startups to scale and grow globally but in a profitable, sustainable, and capital-efficient way.
RippleHire, one of Upekkha’s earlier cohort startups, has garnered incredible success both in the Indian and global arenas. Sudarsan Ravi, Founder, RippleHire said, “ Upekkha is a SaaS University where you quickly discover how badly you are doing what you are doing and can then get on the conveyor belt to glory.”
From his experience of working with 100s of startups, Upekkha’s Partner Prasanna Krishramoorty observed that – “Indian SaaS founders usually have limited access to capital. So they build startups that have capital efficiency embedded in their DNA from the very beginning. This helps them tide past troubled waters and, in fact, thrive in this economic environment.”
For an early-stage SaaS founder looking to scale globally, Upekkha offers an investment of $100K, steep learnings via its 6-month accelerator program, and access to 250+ SaaS founders to help you build your revenue Flywheel. The applications for the autumn cohort have begun.
The EY and Upekkha 2023 report, which surveyed 140 CXOs, reveals that Indian SaaS is inherently capital efficient and going strong despite the macroeconomic troubles. 80% of the Indian SaaS companies studied are earning more than US$10 Million and have a burn multiple under 1.5X. These companies could generate wealth by remaining cost and capital efficient during economic shakeups. Alok Goyal, Partner at Stellaris Venture Partners, confirmed, “It’s a tough time for entrepreneurs. What is incumbent upon founders during this hard time is to take a deep look at their cost structure and cut the 10%-20% of your cost (fat) and make yourself a much better operator in the process.”
Despite uncertainties, Indian SaaS has demonstrated its ability to create globally competitive companies across various sectors. Upekkha is steadfast in creating a winning ecosystem for founders and startups to encash on the Trillion Dollar SaaS opportunity.
