Decoding the Indian SaaS Report 2022: Key Takeaways & Learnings for Start-ups

The Indian SaaS Report 2022 was out today and is available here.

The report provides many insights into the world of Indian Start-up industry, the global industry trends and provides some key insights on what areas aspiring Indian SaaS companies could focus on to grow their business. In this article we help summarize the report published today and highlight the key takeaways for Indian SaaS companies and start-ups. We also are going to talk about some Indian SaaS start-ups who have made it big at the global SaaS stage and their strategy to help them do so.

Summarizing the 2022 Indian SaaS Report

Indian SaaS Ecosystem on the Rise    

• The Indian SaaS ecosystem is rapidly growing, becoming a global leader behind only the US in scale and maturity.
• Total annual recurring revenue (ARR) is expected to reach $12 billion-$13 billion in 2022, an increase of four times over the past 5 years.
• Investment in Indian SaaS reached an all-time high of ~$5 billion in 2022.

New SaaS Companies Proving They Have a Right to Win

• Indian SaaS companies are being founded in record numbers and are proving they have a right to win in the global market.
• 14 of the 1,600 Indian SaaS companies that have been funded over the past five years exceed $100 million in ARR and are reaching this growth milestone as quickly as their US counterparts.
• Indian SaaS companies win using a variety of approaches, including product leadership, attractive pricing, and service quality.

Investment in Indian SaaS Remains Strong

• Despite a decline in investment in the second half of 2022, growth remains at the top of the agenda for Indian SaaS companies.
• Proven revenue growth combined with attractive margins has made SaaS a comparative bulwark for investors, with Indian SaaS venture capital (VC) investment up 10% over quarters one through three in 2022.
• More than 70% of investors expect to increase their investment in Indian SaaS going forward.

Indian SaaS Companies Going Global

• Selling into scaled SaaS markets such as the US (close to $150 billion in SaaS spending) is a strategic imperative for Indian SaaS companies.
• Today, just around 20% of revenues for Indian SaaS companies are generated from India.
• Indian SaaS companies are increasingly refining their enterprise go-to-market (GTM) playbooks to go global.

The Future of Indian SaaS

• Indian SaaS is in its early stages and is expected to reach ~$35 billion in ARR and capture ~8% of the global SaaS market over the next 5 years.
• Despite near-term turbulence, Indian SaaS remains a promising sector with world-leading companies emerging across categories.
• Efficiency, cost and liquidity management will be critical for the success of Indian SaaS companies going forward.

Key Learnings for Indian SaaS Businesses

Below we summarize the key takeaways for Indian SaaS companies from the above report.

• Product Leadership: Indian SaaS companies need to ensure that they have a competitive product offering that can stand up against the best in the global market. This means investing in R&D and product development to stay ahead of the curve and offer unique features and capabilities that set them apart from the competition.
• Attractive Pricing: Indian SaaS companies need to offer competitive pricing for their products, especially when entering new markets. This can be achieved by leveraging economies of scale and finding ways to reduce costs while maintaining quality.
• Service Quality: Indian SaaS companies need to provide excellent customer service and support to their customers. This includes providing clear and accurate information, responding quickly to customer inquiries, and ensuring that any issues are resolved in a timely manner.
• Enterprise Go-to-Market (GTM) playbooks: Indian SaaS companies need to have effective GTM strategies in place to enter new markets. This includes understanding the local market dynamics, identifying key customer segments, and developing targeted marketing and sales strategies to reach them.
• Efficiency, cost, and liquidity management: Indian SaaS companies need to focus on efficiency, cost and liquidity management as part of their management strategy. This will help them navigate the economic reality of the market and continue to grow and thrive in the global SaaS landscape.

Indian SaaS companies making it big in the global SaaS industry

Here are some examples of Indian SaaS companies making it big in the global SaaS market and what strategies have helped them achieve this success.

• Freshworks: Freshworks is an Indian SaaS company that offers a suite of customer engagement software. The company has been able to make it big in the global SaaS market by focusing on product leadership, offering a wide range of features that cater to different customer needs. Additionally, Freshworks has used an effective enterprise go-to-market (GTM) strategy, focusing on building a strong sales and marketing team to target different customer segments in new markets.

• Zoho: Zoho is an Indian SaaS company that offers a wide range of business software, including CRM, project management, and accounting software. The company has been successful in the global SaaS market by focusing on product leadership and offering a wide range of features that cater to different customer needs. Additionally, Zoho has built a strong brand and has a loyal customer base, which has helped the company expand into new markets.

• Druva: Druva is an Indian SaaS company that offers data protection and management solutions. The company has been successful in the global SaaS market by focusing on product leadership, offering a wide range of features that cater to different customer needs and verticals. Additionally, Druva has been able to expand into new markets by building a strong brand and leveraging its reputation for excellent customer service and support.

• Icertis: Icertis is an Indian SaaS company that offers a cloud-based contract management platform. The company has been successful in the global SaaS market by focusing on product leadership, offering a wide range of features that cater to different customer needs. Additionally, Icertis has been able to expand into new markets by building a strong brand and leveraging its reputation for excellent customer service and support.

• InMobi: InMobi is an Indian SaaS company that offers a mobile advertising platform. The company has been successful in the global SaaS market by focusing on product leadership, offering a wide range of features that cater to different customer needs. Additionally, InMobi has been able to expand into new markets by building a strong brand and leveraging its reputation for excellent customer service and support, as well as through strategic partnerships and acquisitions.

Conclusion

In summary, Indian SaaS companies have been successful in the global SaaS market by focusing on product leadership, offering a wide range of features that cater to different customer needs, building a strong brand and leveraging its reputation for excellent customer service and support, and using effective enterprise go-to-market (GTM) strategies to target different customer segments in new markets.

SaaS is a lucrative space for Indian entrepreneurs to get in because it is a high-growth market that offers a lot of potential for scaling and global expansion. Additionally, the Indian market provides a large and growing customer base for SaaS companies, as well as a large and talented pool of engineers and developers to build and support their products. The Indian government and private sectors are also promoting the growth of SaaS companies, with various initiatives and schemes to support the growth of the ecosystem in the country.

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