[Funding alert] Upekkha’s Up Funds invests in 8 SaaS startups

Up Funds, an early-stage fund by Upekkha Value SaaS Accelerator, has announced its funding into eight SaaS startups.

Up Funds has invested between $100k and $200k per startup. It has invested in VideoForm, IOTRL, Urban AI, EnrichVideo, Bynry, GOVeva, OceanFrogs, and Kloudle. These startups are a part of the Upekkha Accelerator Programme.

According to Up Funds, this funding round will help founders overcome early-stage growth bottlenecks while giving them the option to buy back equity long-term.

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Launched in January 2021, the goal of Up Funds is to invest $10 million in 100 startups every year, in its bid to fuel Indian-origin SaaS growth.

Prasanna Krishnamoorthy, Partner and Co-founder, Upekkha, said,

“As reported, in 2020 India SaaS had 1,000 funded companies, a combined revenue of $2-3 billion and 40,000 people employed. By 2030, the sector is slated to grow exponentially to $1 trillion valuation, combined revenue of $50-70 billion and 500,000 in new employment. Early-stage investors like Up Funds will fuel that growth momentum.”

Over the last four years, Upekkha has accelerated over 70 startups, six of which have crossed $1 million in ARR profitably. Its investors include Freshworks CEO Girish Mathrubootham, G2 Crowd CEO Godard Abel, Grasshopper Founder David Hauser, and Vymo CEO Yamini Bhat, among others.

Shekar Nair, Upekkha Partner and Co-founder, said,

“While we are seeing a gold rush in SaaS, early-stage growth is still one of the hardest things for a SaaS startup to solve and this is where capital is still scarce. With Up Funds investment, founders can stay focussed on early-stage growth problems without being distracted.”

The core philosophy of Upekka is to help startup founders to grow fast in a capital and equity efficient manner where they can sidestep the path of raising too much capital and losing equity in the process. It believes in value creation with founders having greater control on their future choices.