Weekly SaaSology β‘ 01.09.22
Health and Wellness Apps π±, Data Privacy Restrictions π, and Zero Party Data π
Hope you all had a wonderful (and safe) break and start to 2022 π. Very excited to return after some quality time off to kick off this year with fresh content and ideas π‘
One of my 2022 resolutions is to read more so please send over your favorite non-fiction reads π. Iβll share a list of all the recommendations in next weekβs issue!
Top Five Investments π
Exotel, a Banglore-based customer engagement platform, raised $40 million in Series D funding led by Steadview Capital. It offers a full-stack platform with contact center services, APIs, voice, and chat bots π€, so businesses can enable AI-powered omnichannel engagement. Exotel currently generates ~$50 million in ARR and serves more than 1,000 customers. It differentiates by focusing on the emerging markets π and providing an end-to-end communication stack.
Little Otter, a San Francisco-based personalized mental health platform, raised $22 million in Series A funding led by CRV. Based on co-founder Dr. Eggerβs clinical expertise π©Ί, the platform provides virtual, on-demand, and integrated care with parenting specialists, childhood-trained and couples therapists, and pediatric psychiatrists. Little Otter boasts that 85% of families using its care plans have reached clinical improvements merely within six sessions β.
MicroAcquire, a San Francisco-based startup acquisition marketplace, raised $7 million in seed funding at a $110 million valuation led by Shrug Capital. Since its founding in 2020, MicroAcquire has listed over 2,000 companies for sale and 100,000 buyers. The marketplace is aimed at small-scale, bootstrapped startups that havenβt picked up funding and may be unsure how to access venture capital. It monetizes by charging investors a premium fee giving them instant access to new listings and detailed insights on startups for sale π·οΈ.
Mineβd, a New York City-based emotional wellness platform π±, raised $3.5 million in seed funding led by Listen Ventures. It features interactive and short-form live and on-demand classes for users based on a wide range of topics, including dating, breakups, career, and purpose. Since launching six months ago, it has built a community of more than 100,000 users and 1 million videos.
Ocurate, a San Francisco-based customer lifetime value prediction platform, raises $3.5 million in seed funding led by 8-Bit Capital. It calculates the potential customer lifetime value for B2C companies using a SaaS deep ML framework on customer data π that supposedly exceeds 90% accuracy at predicting user behavior. Ocurate currently generates ~$400,000 in ARR.
Top Two Trends βοΈ
Data Privacy π
Dramatic changes to data privacy imposed by the EU and companies like Apple tanked a key source of customer data π for several businesses. For instance, when Apple allowed users to opt out of data tracking on iOS 14.5, Facebook lost access to valuable user behavior data, which is the backbone of Facebookβs ad targeting π―. It resulted in many brands witnessing a large decrease in effectiveness of their marketing campaigns. Brands heavily reliant on Facebook ads saw a dip in revenue and an increase in marketing costs. This year will see brands rapidly adapt to this change and react to an even bigger change, the eventual demise of third-party cookie support on Google Chrome π».
Zero Party Data Collection π±οΈ
A key solution for businesses to adapt to data privacy laws and restrictions, specifically the loss of third-party data from giants like Facebook and Apple, is data collection directly from their customers (zero-party data). Implementing this will not only help drive revenue π, but will also future-proof a business from further data privacy restrictions. Businesses can usually collect and collate zero-party data across channels (especially social media) using key tools like surveys, quizzes, and conversational pop-ups. They can then use this data π to increase the effectiveness of marketing campaigns (especially email and SMS).
Startup Spotlight β¨
Founded in 2014, Framer is an Amsterdam-based interactive design, prototyping, and collaboration platform used by design and product teams at organizations of all sizes including Google, Facebook, Dropbox, Twitter, and Snap. With 151 employees and ~$33 million in funding, Framer allows designers and product managers to seamlessly create app designs and prototypes that are visually polished as a production app π±.
As consumers become more accustomed to high-quality apps and websites, there is a growing need for digital as well as product-first businesses to offer simple yet desirable digital experiences π». Framer differentiates from other UI design and prototyping tools like InVision, Figma, and Adobe XC by providing APIs, complete integrations, and no-code capabilities, allowing designers to easily import production components and assets for re-use without re-inventing the wheel.
VC Topic of the Week π
Every time you see a new deal announcement, you may notice that there is usually a lead investor(s) π¨ββοΈ. A lot of investors strongly prefer to lead rounds. On the flip side, some funds and angel investors prefer to take the back seat by participating in rounds where the lead plays quarterback and steers the discussions, diligence, and execution.
Lead Investor is an individual or an organisation that will lead a funding round and is saddled with the responsibility of representing the interests of other investors
The lead investor often provides the highest share of capital in the funding round, but in some cases, it might be an investor agreed upon by an investor group to lead the transaction. When anchored by a lead, all the investors put their faith in the leadβs due diligence π. A lead could also be a team of people or a pair of co-lead investors.
A lead investor plays an active role before, during, and after a funding round π°:
They are willing the spend time validating the business plan of the startup
They set the valuation and terms of the investment for the current round
They need to be available and accessible to other investors. A leadβs reference and endorsement can influence investor confidence to a great extent
They often represent the syndicate by taking a board position in the company
They play a vital role in the ongoing governance and reporting of the company
They provide support with any future funding rounds and strategic decisions
Tweet of the Week π¦
Hope you have a wonderful week ahead, and Iβll see you again next Sunday βοΈ
Feel free to reach out to me by replying to this email or @dhruvcashpoor on Twitter!
This newsletter is intended for informational purposes onlSouSources: TechCrunch, Twitter, Giphy, Tenor, Axios, Framer, YourStory, Axios, Ocurate, Mineβd, Little Otter