It is currently a young market with a good projection for the future. In previous posts we have known the concept of SaaS, so in this one we will distinguish the SaaS figure from other similar ones such as Paas and IaaS, and we will also describe the most active investors in the sector.
SaaS involves third-party providers hosting, maintaining and supporting software requirements with lower upfront costs and eliminates the need for organisations to install and run applications in their own environment or data centres. But, although the service is very similar, the main difference between SaaS, PaaS and IaaS is the degree of control and access the user has over the platform. While in SaaS you have little control and access, in IaaS you have a high degree of control and access.
The companies defined will be Sequoia Capital and The SaaStr Fund.
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Sequoia Capital
Founded in 1972 by Donald Thomas Valentine, Sequoia Capital is one of the giants in this type of investment. Headquartered in Menlo Park, California, Sequoia focuses its investments on finance, energy, corporate, healthcare and the internet.
Its business investments are now heavily weighted towards this market, taking ideas from all sectors and helping a small number of entrepreneurs reach their full potential each year.
In total, they have invested in 1,222 companies, with their portfolio including Zarget (acquired by Freshworks), a web optimisation and marketing platform; and, Namelya human resources platform.
The SaaStr Fund
The SaaStr Fund, a $90 million venture fund, was born out of the part that focuses on helping founders launch and scale companies in the market. This fund is pooling its resources and energy to assist in early-stage financing, aimed directly at startups: B2B and startups.
The fund dedicates between $500,000 and $6 million for each start-up, while providing expertise to support and promote their ventures. They will also assist their projects by appointing C-Suite staff to run the company's operations.
Among the new ventures in which they have been involved are Mixmaxa productivity-enhancing software; Automilea commercial fleet and asset tracking and management system; and Teamablea platform for employee referrals and more diverse recruitment.