How SaaS Central is accelerating the growth of India’s early-stage SaaS startups

The Indian software-as-a-service (SaaS) industry has been thrust into the limelight

on the back of changing trends and pandemic-induced circumstances, which have propelled its rapid growth.

According to an E&Y report, the Indian B2B SaaS industry is optimistic about its prospects for 2023, despite challenges faced globally. The growth of SaaS in India is inherently capital-efficient at all stages and has not been significantly impacted by the recent economic downturn. Furthermore, the report noted that 80% of Indian SaaS companies have a burn multiple of 1.5x or lower, indicating that these companies are financially and operationally prudent in their growth strategies. This demonstrates a strong focus on building and scaling capital-efficient businesses, which balances the growth outlook with responsible financial management.

With advantages such as access to engineering talent and a large pool of customer support representatives, India has the edge over other countries in providing high-quality and multichannel customer support quickly and efficiently. 

However, Indian SaaS startups need to stay on the right track to attain a global leadership position. 

To this end, SaaS Central has been supporting Indian SaaS startups in accelerating their growth journeys for the past three years. The three-day programme lets participating startups leverage the expert guidance from a combined team of AWS experts, Prime Venture Partners and established SaaS founders.

The growth of SaaS unicorns in India can be attributed to several factors — a strong technology ecosystem, with a large pool of skilled software developers and engineers, rising demand for cloud-based software solutions that are cost-effective, and government initiatives including funding support, tax incentives, and easier access to capital.

Indian SaaS startups have gained global recognition for innovative solutions, leading to increased investment and partnerships with global companies. This has helped them expand their market reach and accelerate growth.

“Hundreds of SaaS Indian startups have scaled up well, and Prime has been fortunate to partner with few. For the last three years, the SaaS Central programme has curated a small cohort of startups and seasoned entrepreneurs, operators, and experts from Prime have shared learnings that can help Indian SaaS companies scale globally,” says Amit Somani, Managing Partner, Prime Venture Partners. 

The intensive three-day programme will cover Customer Discovery, Global GTM, Product, Pricing, Organisation Building, and more.

“Combining this with AWS’ Global Go-To-Market access and deep technology expertise makes the programme applicable for early-stage SaaS businesses,” Somani says.

Why attend SaaS Central 2023? 

From facilitating opportunities to connect with industry experts, potential customers, partners, and investors to enabling valuable relationships that can help grow the business, SaaS Central 2023 will help early-stage startups learn about the latest trends, best practices, and success stories in the SaaS industry.

Some of the speakers contributing to this year’s programme include April Dunford, Product Positioning Expert; Jen Abel, co-founder of JJELLYFISH; Kellan Carter, Partner at Fuse VC, Shripati Acharya, Managing Partner at Prime Venture Partners, Amitabh Nagpal, Head of Startup Ecosystem, India and many other industry leaders shaping the SaaS landscape.

What can participants look forward to? 

01. Intensive three-day programme with focused sessions by SaaS founders and operators on company-specific use cases

02. Learning from leading SaaS founders, operators, and investors about building a global SaaS business in India

03. Discussions by Prime’s investment team to understand what VCs look for when investing in SaaS

04. Sessions by AWS Tech and GTM experts who have helped scale SaaS startups

05. Interacting with some of the best startups on the same trajectory

06. A zero equity-cum-zero fee programme where you stand to receive AWS credits 

Amitabh Nagpal, Head of Startup Ecosystem, AWS, India, says India’s hypergrowth SaaS startups are developing innovative products with a vision of scaling internationally right from the start.

“At AWS, we provide the broadest and deepest range of cloud products and services that enable customers to go global within minutes. We have deep expertise in supporting the unique needs of SaaS startups as they build, grow, and scale. This is the genesis of SaaS Central, and we are delighted to launch its fourth edition, which is designed to offer early-stage SaaS startups with business and technical mentorship from industry leaders in India and the US.

“With SaaS Central 4.0, we will continue to support early-stage SaaS startups in India, with insights to scale and succeed on the global stage,” Nagpal said.