[Funding alert] Silicon Valley-based Gupshup raises additional $240M from Tiger Global, Fidelity, others

Conversational messaging company Gupshup, which became a unicorn in April this year, on Wednesday said it raised an additional $240 million in follow-on funding round from a group of investors, including Fidelity, Tiger Global, Think Investments, Malabar Investments, and Harbor Spring Capital, among others.

The current round — which also saw participation from certain accounts managed by Neuberger Berman Investment Advisers, White Oak, and Neeraj Arora — follows the $100 million the startup had raised in April from Tiger Global at a valuation of $1.4 billion.

Gupshup will use the fresh capital for product development and go-to-market initiatives besides exploring M&A opportunities to expand its business. It will also use this investment for the secondary purchase of shares from current and former employees and prior investors.

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Founded by IIT-Bombay alumni Beerud Sheth and headquartered in Silicon Valley with an India presence, Gupshup wrapped 2020 with an annual revenue run rate (ARR) of around $150 million.

Speaking on the investment, Beerud Sheth, Co-founder and CEO, Gupshup, said, “Conversations represent the new digital storefront for businesses — virtually every business will need to build them. We are transforming digital commerce around the world with conversational messaging. We look forward to partnering with our new investors, given their incredible track record of backing category-creating companies.”

With a presence in India, LATAM, South East Asia, Middle East, Eastern Europe, Africa, and the US, Gupshup's technology platform processes over six billion messages per month.

“We see substantial growth in India’s digital economy,” said Shashin Shah, Managing Principal at Think Investments. He added, “Gupshup’s platform is an essential tool for businesses building a digital footprint.”

“We have followed Gupshup’s progress for a long while and believe they are the most evolved customer communications platform In India and increasingly in other emerging markets, with a leadership position in the most attractive and fastest-growing sub-segments of the market,” said Sumeet Nagar, Managing Director, Malabar Investments.