SaaS Startups

TapInfluence is the first influencer marketing platform to reach Fortune 1000 companies, led by CEO Promise Phelon. The company achieved a 300% revenue increase in 2015, successfully transitioned from a services to a SaaS model, and raised $14M in Series B funding.

SafeGraph, founded by serial entrepreneur Auren Hoffman, is a data platform unlocking powerful location and business intelligence for machines and humans to solve complex problems. The company has received backing from notable investors including Naval Ravikant, SignalFire, IDG Ventures, and David Rodnitzky.

Lessonly is a modern learning software platform founded by Max Yoder that helps teams accelerate productivity by converting work knowledge into lessons. The company has raised funding from notable investors including Tim Kopp (former ExactTarget CMO), OpenView Ventures, and Jay Baer (New York Times Bestseller), and operates successfully outside Silicon Valley from Indianapolis.

Influitive, founded by Mark Organ (former founding CEO of Eloqua, which sold to Oracle for $810M), helps B2B companies mobilize customer advocates for revenue growth. The company has raised close to $50M in VC funding from top-tier investors including Lightspeed and First Round Capital, reflecting strong traction in the advocate marketing space.

Classy is the world's leading fundraising platform for nonprofit organizations founded by Scot Chisholm in 2011. The company has raised close to $50M in VC funding from Salesforce Ventures, BullPen Capital, Mithril Capital and others, and has helped more than 3,000 nonprofits and social enterprises raise hundreds of millions of dollars while earning recognition as one of 'The World's Most Innovative Companies in Social Good.'

Clari is a SaaS platform founded by Andy Byrne that helps sales teams improve forecast accuracy and drive revenue through better deal execution and predictive analysis. The company has raised over $30M in venture funding from top-tier investors including Sequoia and Bain Capital Ventures. Andy's prior founding experience—including growing Clearwell Systems from pre-product to $100M run rate before its Symantec acquisition—informed his approach to building Clari as an enterprise sales solution.

Turnitin is a SaaS platform revolutionizing the writing-to-learn experience, with backing from IVP, Norwest Venture Partners, and GIC. Under CEO Chris Caren's leadership since 2009, the company has scaled to serve over 25 million students and 2 million teachers across 15,000 institutions. The article focuses primarily on Chris's management philosophy and leadership lessons from his prior roles at Microsoft and Business Objects rather than the company's growth tactics.

Highfive is a video conferencing startup founded by Shan Sinha, a serial entrepreneur who previously founded DocVerse (acquired by Google) and led Google Apps for Enterprise at Google. The company has raised over $45M from top-tier investors including a16z, Lightspeed, General Catalyst, and notable individuals like Aaron Levie, Drew Houston, and Marc Benioff.

Harness.io is the industry's first continuous delivery as a service platform, founded by Jyoti Bansal, the former Founder & CEO of AppDynamics (acquired by Cisco for $3.7B). The company was launched as the first venture from BIG Labs, Bansal's laboratory for creating and launching innovative ideas. The source material focuses on Bansal's insights about scaling SaaS companies across different revenue stages rather than specific traction metrics for Harness.io.

MuleSoft is an enterprise integration platform founded by Ross Mason that connects applications, data, and devices. After raising over $250M in VC funding from top-tier investors like Lightspeed, Salesforce Ventures, Sapphire Ventures, and NEA, MuleSoft went public in March 2017 with a 45% pop on its first trading day.

FreshBooks is a cloud-based accounting SaaS platform built by Mike McDerment that grew from his parent's basement to serve over 10 million users worldwide. The company has raised over $75M in VC funding from investors like Accomplice and Georgian Partners, establishing itself as the #1 cloud accounting solution for service-based small businesses.

InsightSquared is a Boston-based sales intelligence SaaS startup founded by Fred Shilmover that raised over $25M in VC funding from top-tier investors including DFJ, Bessemer, Salesforce, and Atlas Venture. The company focuses on helping teams understand sales performance and metrics, with Fred advocating for a SMB-to-enterprise expansion strategy and challenging conventional SaaS wisdom around metrics like CAC/LTV.

Smartsheet is a SaaS platform that enables firms to plan, track, automate, and report on work. The company has raised over $105 million in funding from leading investors including Insight Venture Partners, with Mark Mader serving as CEO.

LeadGenius is a SaaS platform that combines human intelligence with machine learning to provide lead generation and data enrichment services. The company has raised $16 million in funding from prominent investors including a16z, Initialized Capital, and SV Angel. Mark Godley, the President, brings 25+ years of SaaS experience and advocates for founders to prioritize customer acquisition over fundraising.

SalesCollider is a sales advisory service founded by Ryan Williams, a veteran sales leader who scaled teams at AdRoll (growing ARR from $4M to $58M), advised InVision on enterprise deals, and grew enterprise sales by 400%+ at LeadGenius. The company helps technical founders navigate early-stage sales challenges and build effective sales functions.

Gremlin is a 'failure as a service' SaaS platform founded by Kolton Andrus, a former Chaos Engineer at Netflix who designed Netflix's failure injection service. The company has raised over $8M in VC funding from top-tier investors including Index Ventures and Amplify Partners. Kolton leverages his deep experience scaling reliability at Amazon and Netflix to help organizations proactively identify system weaknesses.

Sage Intacct is a global leader in financial software solutions serving finance teams of any size, with over 10,000 employees and 3 million customers. The company generates over $2 billion in revenue and was built on the foundation of Intacct's incredible 8-year journey that culminated in an $850 million acquisition by Sage in 2017.

Pendo.io is a SaaS platform that helps companies understand and guide their users to create engaging product experiences. The company has raised over $58M in VC funding from top-tier investors including Battery Ventures, Spark Capital, and Salesforce Ventures. Bill Binch, formerly Senior Vice President of Global Sales at Marketo, now serves as CRO and brings enterprise sales expertise to the organization.

Retention Science is an AI-powered marketing automation platform founded by Jerry Jao that uses artificial intelligence to deliver personalized customer experiences at scale. The company has achieved significant enterprise traction with clients including P&G, Unilever, and Olay, and has raised over $10M in VC funding from investors like Forerunner Ventures and Upfront Ventures. The company has been profitable since 2018 while maintaining a focus on enterprise sales and long-term customer relationships.

Moat is a SaaS analytics and intelligence company focused on transforming brand advertising online, founded by Jonah Goodhart. The company raised over $67m in VC funding and was acquired by Oracle for a reported $850m. Jonah brings experience from founding Right Media (acquired by Yahoo for $680m) and has invested in several successful startups.