Gupshup becomes latest unicorn, raises $100 million

Conversational messaging platform Gupshup on Thursday announced it has raised a fresh $100 million in funding from Tiger Global Management at a valuation of $1.4 billion. The US-headquartered company led by co-founder and CEO Beerud Sheth that has significant business operations in India is the tenth firm to join the local unicorn club so far this calendar year.

The current funding will be followed by a “second close with significant additional funds raised from more investors,” the company said in a statement. The firm plans to use the fresh funds to scale up product and go-to-market initiatives worldwide.

The firm develops solutions that allow businesses to interact with their customers seamlessly using various messaging platforms. Gupshup’s API (application programming interface), for instance, enables over 100,000 developers and businesses to build messaging and conversational experiences delivering over 6 billion messages per month across more than 30 messaging channels, the company claims.

Gupshup’s last funding round was in 2011. The company claims to have exited 2020 with an annual revenue run rate of approximately $150 million.
The firm said that most major brands in India across industries use its API for customer engagement across multiple channels, especially SMS.

Reportedly, India generates over 80% of the firm’s business. According to its website, Gupshup runs four offices in the country.

“The ubiquity of smartphones and dominance of messaging apps is forcing businesses to go where the consumers are: in their favourite messaging apps. Gupshup’s mission is to build the tools that help businesses better engage customers through mobile messaging and conversational experiences,” the company said.