Icertis turns unicorn in round led by PremjiInvest

BENGALURU: Icertis, an Indo-US contract management software maker, has emerged as the latest software-as-a-service (SaaS) unicorn, joining the likes of Freshworks and Druva. Based out of Pune and Seattle, Icertis has raised $115 million (close to Rs 790 crore) in a new financing round led by the US-based venture capital firm Greycroft and PremjiInvest (the family office of Wipro executive chairman Azim Premji).



The company’s existing investors B Capital Group (a venture fund started by Facebook co-founder Eduardo Saverin), Cross Creek Advisors, Eight Roads, Ignition Partners, Meritech Capital Partners and PSP Growth have also participated in the latest funding round. Icertis’ entry into the coveted club of unicorns marks the steady trend of Indian SaaS companies now being valued at $1 billion or more. In June, Druva raised a $130-million round led by US-based hedge fund Viking Global at a valuation of over $1 billion.

Talking to TOI, Icertis co-founder and CEO Samir Bodas said the new capital will be used for strengthening its tech platform and implement new technologies like artificial intelligence, machine learning and blockchain at a higher scale of involvement on the company’s operations. For Icertis, the US and Europe are its largest markets, accounting for 80% of the revenues.

“We are looking to expand in new geographies like China, Japan and Latin America while going deeper into existing markets. We are looking to double down on India where we are working with key clients like Airtel and Oyo, among others. At the end of December 2019, we are hoping to close with a revenue of $100 million,” Bodas said. He added the company will explore acquisitions to bolster its offerings to its 140 clients globally.



Icertis’ software helps clients increase compliance, improve governance, mitigate risk and enhance user productivity. Some of its global clients are Adobe, Daimler, Tokopedia and Sanofi. Out of the total team of 850 people in Icertis, 650 sit in Pune across functions like engineering and customer support. Bodas said the company will hire new people to meet overall expansion plans.

“I met them first in 2015 when they had only a few customers. The contract management category was still nascent at the time. The global-first approach is very important for us when we look at companies and they (Icertis) have leveraged cross-border capabilities incredibly well,” said Kabir Narang, general partner and co-head of Asia at B Capital. Narang sits on the board of Icertis and he had led the investment in Icertis on behalf of Eight Roads. He joined B Capital in 2017.