Darwinbox is first Saas-based company to turn unicorn this year

Software as a service (SaaS)-based HR Tech platform Darwinbox has raised $72 million funding in series D round. It was led by Technology Crossover Ventures (TCV) along with existing investors Salesforce Ventures, Sequoia India, Lightspeed India, Endiya Partners, 3One4Capital, JGDEV and SCB 10X.

The company’s valuation, post this round, will cross $1 billion, making it the first unicorn in the SaaS sector for 2022.

The total investment raised so far by the company is over $110 million. It has grown 200 per cent since the last fundraise from Salesforces Ventures, exactly a year ago.

The funds raised will be used for expansion into new geographies, especially the US, where it plans to launch this year. It will strengthen its product, engineering and customer success teams along with scaling its go-to-market presence in South Asia and Southeast Asia, among others.

“We take care of the entire onboarding of an employee from payroll, reward, recognition and health. Additionally, we want to build out a platform where other products can also be added and customers can use these products at one click. That’s where we are investing heavily,” said Rohit Chennamaneni, co-founder Darwinbox.

He added that the company is looking for acquisitions, especially as it builds its platform strategy. “We may bring some of these niche tuck-in products and add to our products,” he said.

Darwinbox competes with players like SAP, Salesforce, Oracle and Workday. The company — founded in 2015 — has over 600 customers and more than 1.5 million employees.

“We get most excited investing behind visionary founders that are fundamentally transforming large industries with a highly resonant product,” said Gopi Vaddi, General Partner, TCV.

Darwinbox saw a huge uptick for its services as the pandemic forced employees to work from home.

“Putting employees squarely at the centre and crafting meaningful experiences for them have found resonance in this rapidly-evolving world of work over the last two years. Companies now have to rethink how they attract, manage and retain talent,” said Jayant Paleti, co-founder, Darwinbox.

The company stated that it grew almost 200 per cent in 2021 and expects to grow at 100 per cent for the next few years.

When asked how the concept of Metaverse can impact employee engagement and if Darwinbox is looking at incorporating some of the features into its products, Chennamaneni said, “There is a big push and demand for the experience layer. Metaverse will also be one layer trying to achieve that. But the technology is still early and one needs to watch.”