[Funding alert] Whatfix raises $90M in Series D investment led by SoftBank Vision Fund 2

B2B Digital Adoption Solutions (DAS) provider Whatfix has raised $90 million in Series D funding led by SoftBank Vision Fund 2. The round also saw participation from Eight Roads Ventures, Sequoia Capital India, Dragoneer Investment Group, F-Prime Capital and Cisco Investments. This brings the total funding raised by Whatfix to $139.8 million to date. 

“We will be using the funds to continue growing our stronghold in the US market while also accelerating global expansion into new markets such as Asia Pacific and Europe. We will also invest the funds in product innovation, focusing on artificial intelligence (AI), enterprise solutions, and providing personalised experiences,” said Khadim Bhatti, Co-founder and CEO, Whatfix, in a conversation with YourStory. 

What it does 

Whatfix is a DAS provider that disrupts application training, learning, and support content by providing contextual, interactive, real-time, and autonomous user guidance - driving additional adoption and productivity gains. 

It provides in-app overlays and guidance for implemented software. It also provides services, including product adoption, user onboarding, employee training, self-service support, and performance support using enterprise web applications.

According to a statement shared by the startup, the company has witnessed explosive growth in the past two years, with revenue and headcount tripled. Whatfix opened three new offices - in the United Kingdom, Germany and Australia, and currently employs 500 people across six global offices.

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The pandemic push

Khadim explains that in the past year, organisations experienced tremendous disruption and introspection as they accelerated the pace of digital transformation to counter the challenges of a global crisis. 

“A typical enterprise deploys over 300 cloud applications and may have more than 900 overall. At the same time, a typical enterprise employee is exposed to over 15 applications,” he added.  

According to him, enterprises now understand that unless the software is effectively utilised, through personalised experiences and contextual guidance, simply adding more applications does not necessarily result in better business outcomes. 

The pandemic has catalysed the increased pace of investment in software. As hybrid-working starts becoming popular and mainstream, the need for digital adoption solutions will only increase further. 

“During this time, Whatfix has been continuously innovating and supporting the evolving needs of our customers. Our investments in technology and expansion into new markets has enabled us to equip our customers with the tools they need to navigate their digital transformation journey,” said Khadim. 

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Solving for digital adoption 

Munish Varma, Managing Partner, SoftBank Investment Advisers, said, “Digital Adoption Solutions are enhancing the growth and importance of SaaS products for enterprises globally. Whatfix makes it easier for companies to use SaaS products, which increases productivity. Whatfix, with its roster of global clients, is well placed to become a DAS leader, and we are excited to be part of their journey.”

With 500 global customers comprising more than 100 Fortune 1000 brands, some of Whatfix’s clients include - The Netherlands Red Cross, Experian, Sentry Financial Services, Cardinal Health Canada, BMC Software Inc., Bausch & Lomb, and more.

“Since Whatfix has been solving digital adoption challenges for enterprises remotely even before the pandemic, we have been well-positioned to continue supporting our customers through this pandemic. Whatfix plays a significant role in ensuring that an organisation’s entire employee base is onboarded and effectively using the tools at their disposal. Our SaaS offering is helping businesses increase the output of companies while reducing the costs of tech enterprise tools,” added Khadim. 

He further said, though digital transformation had been at the top of the boardroom agenda for a long time, the pandemic has boosted its pace greatly. The current crisis has especially put the spotlight on the need to enable entire workforces to work remotely. 

Given the shift in traditional learning and the support dynamics that many companies provide, remote working can be a complicated affair. In the current remote working environment, users no longer can turn to the person on their left, or easily reach out to a colleague to walk through sophisticated solutions. 

Sumer Juneja, Partner, SoftBank Investment Advisers, said, “Enterprises spend billions on applications across multiple functions and yet employee adoption is low. Quick adoption ensures payback on software investments. Whatfix’s solutions will be a key driver for enterprises to achieve this goal, which is reflected in their growth.”

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Focussing on digital transformation 

According to Khadim, during such a time, it becomes even more critical that independent production is enabled, and everyone is made more efficient to sustain business momentum. As organisations navigate their digital transformation journey and make significant investments in software solutions, the adoption and optimal utilisation of critical platforms will gain in importance.

“Leading Fortune 1000 enterprises have chosen Whatfix's digital adoption platform to help drive their digital transformation initiatives across numerous software tools used organisation wide. Having first invested in 2019, we are proud of their journey and happy to continue our partnership with Khadim, Vara and the entire team. Whatfix is well on its way to revolutionise software adoption and the future of work.” said Shweta Bhatia, Partner, Eight Roads Ventures.

Whatfix has been solving digital adoption challenges for enterprises remotely even before the pandemic, said Khadim, as the company plays a significant role in ensuring that an organisation’s entire employee base is onboarded and effectively using the tools at their disposal. 

Speaking of the future he said, “Our SaaS offering is helping businesses increase the output of companies while reducing the costs of tech enterprise tools. We shall continue to grow our teams to meet the high demand of the digital adoption space. Continuing to innovate is critically important to us, and we shall re-invest in the development and technology we provide – around 45 percent of our investments are towards R&D.”

“As Whatfix gets deployed widely, the platform will start owning not only user behaviour but also all applications usage data and cross-application process information, putting us in a unique position to build a Software Assistant platform for knowledge workers,” further added Khadim.