And the SaaS Company of the Year is… Sensedia
The winners for this year’s Global Business Tech Awards were announced this week. And coming out on top is Brazilian-based Sensedia. The connectivity and integration solutions expert achieved superb client support and growth in a tough pandemic environment.
The firm saw a 70% growth in revenue and increased their client base by 45 across 30 industries. And they increased their staff from 200 to 650.
Their services were key to payment platforms in South America — like Elo and Cielo — for creating QR code solutions to distribute emergency aid throughout the year. They also helped Brazil’s Central Bank to design interfaces for its Open Banking system.
The GBTA panel shortlisted almost 70 agencies in 25 different categories this year. And after 15 years in the industry, it’s a well-deserved award for the global company who now has offices in 9 countries spread out over three continents.
On the announcement of the award, Chief Growth Officer and co-founder Marcilio Oliveira said, “Winning the Software as a Service award recognizes our growth, innovative work and leadership in the efforts we make to help our clients operate in a more digital, open and connected world. We’re delighted and proud to receive this accolade.”
Paddle raises $200m in funding
Source: Unsplash
SaaS payments infrastructure provider Paddle announced it raised $200 million this week in a Series D funding round. Now, with $1.4 billion in valuation, they’re officially a unicorn.
The company intends to use the investment funds to grow its platform even more and place themselves as the key payment infrastructure provider for SaaS companies around the world. The global expansion will allow them to lower their prices and more easily sell their products with less risk.
Paddle integrates payments, checkouts, invoicing, subscription management, financial compliance and international taxes all into one SaaS payment infrastructure. This allows merchants to enter markets quickly and painlessly, without compliance and operational issues.
The funding round is perfect timing for the company as the SaaS industry is seeing tremendous growth after the pandemic.
Paddle CEO and co-founder Christian Owens stated, “The opportunity in software is enormous, with tens of thousands of incredibly innovative businesses bringing great products to market every year.”
Custom keyboard maker Fleksy moves to SaaS model
Barcelona-based Fleksy recently released a new software development kit to entice independent developers looking to integrate custom keyboard software on their applications. Instead of selling licenses directly to developers, the company will now provide a SaaS freemium model.
It’s a big deal as there’s a lot of demand for their customizable keyboard software that includes features like swipe to input and next word prediction. They’re getting a lot of looks from developers in Europe and the US from a wide range of industries.
The company is also attracting attention from non-mobile centric companies developing devices for virtual reality, home displays, and automotive displays. With a SaaS model, the company expects to get a leg up on its competition that typically focuses purely on licensing.
ATMOSai launches new business operations platform
There’s a new SaaS solution on the market for companies looking to boost their business operations. Wyoming-based ATMOSai announced the launch of their new platform that aims to increase sales and ROI and decrease expenses for small to medium-sized businesses.
Through strategic partnerships, their platform allows companies to use one tech stack to add fully integrated web applications and fulfill their SaaS ecosystem. Think of it as a business control center driven by AI that works for both teams and individuals.
According to ATMOSai CEO Weston Quintrell, “ATMOSai is a turnkey solution that lets you focus on what matters most – growing your company without the hassle of building an entire technical and operational infrastructure from scratch.”
Though founded last year, the company is already making waves in the SaaS world with its launch and is a program to keep on your radar.
Webflow brings in new Chief Marketing Officer
As a leading SaaS solution for website building and hosting, Webflow has carved a place for itself against competitors like Weebly and Wix. To continue on their upward trend, the company brought in seasoned SaaS scaler Shane Murphy-Reuter as their first Chief Marketing Officer this week.
After a successful Series C round in March that took the company’s valuation to $4billion, the hire aims to take things to the next level.
Murphy-Reuter has ample experience in scaling SaaS companies and will take a key role in increasing Webflow’s market share. He previously revamped brand marketing and helped scale companies like ZoomInfo and Intercom.
PocketLaw secures expansion funding
Contract automation will get easier for SMEs in Europe. Swedish SaaS startup PocketLaw just netted over $10 million in funding thanks to European venture capital firm Atomico.
Launched in March 2020, PocketLaw offers contract creation and management tools for small to medium-sized businesses in any industry. The service requires no outside legal help and allows businesses to save money in the long run. The company states customers could save up to $200k in legal fees every year.
The company was already gaining traction with over 6,000 customers. But now, Atomico is taking special interest in the growing SaaS company with partner Ben Blume joining the PocketLaw board as part of the investment.
Sheetgo raises funds and adds key members to advisory board
Based in Madrid, Sheetgo is a SaaS solution that helps connect spreadsheet data — Excel, .csv files, and Sheets — all through one application. And this week, the company received a nice boost in support by raising $2 million in funding to help with scaling its current customer base.
Their product has over 3.5 million downloads via the Google Workspace Marketplace. And with the addition of advisory board members from Microsoft and Dropbox, the company will now shift focus on releasing a product that goes beyond spreadsheets and securing third-party security certifications for a larger pool of clients.
Founder Yannick L. Rault van der Vaart stated “This investment, along with a strict focus on operations, will get us into the necessary growth mode to tackle the underserved no code market of the one billion Google Workspace and Microsoft Office users that need help to automate no code processes eliminating IT and engineering involvement.”