Bangalore: Upekkha, a SaaS fund and accelerator for early-stage SaaS startups from India with a deep focus on AI, announced that it has completed the first close ($15 million) of its ($40 million) Upekkha Fund.

Upekkha Fund

The funding was led by WestBridge Capital, Godard Abel, CEO of G2.com – the largest B2B SaaS marketplace is among the LPs in the first close. Showing bullish confidence in India’s SaaS and AI, the Upekkha Fund will invest in more than 70 early-stage startups this year.

Upekkha’s fundraising comes when large investor sentiment is a bit cautious and betting on truly promising ventures post scrutiny. 2024 will see a return focus on unit economics and capital efficiency. It remains confident in its selection and mentoring of the best SaaS startups from India to beat global odds.

Early-stage SaaS entrepreneurs

“WestBridge was started to help Indian startups go global. Prior to Upekkha, India did not have a robust ecosystem and platform that assisted early-stage SaaS entrepreneurs in building strong successful businesses. We continue to see Upekkha as a key partner bridging that gap and enabling founders to build global SaaS business from India,” said Sumir Chadha, Co-Founder and Managing Partner – WestBridge Capital.
 
Since 2017, Upekkha has been the first choice accelerator for Indian SaaS founders helping them build a large global SaaS winner. It is on its 13th cohort and currently works with 165+ startups and a robust 300+ strong SaaS founder community. It has grown steadily and has become the go-to fund and accelerator for early stage India SaaS startups.

SaaS Outlook

Managed by Prasanna Krishnamoorthy, Shekar Nair, Thiyagarajan Maruthavanan and Gokul KS. Upekkha’s SaaS Outlook 2023 report stated that the funding landscape for SaaS startups is undergoing a dynamic transformation. As per projections, it is betting on India, pre-seed and seed investments continuing to grow.
 
Indian SaaS, now powered by AI will grow fast and attract greater investment, according to Prasanna Krishnamoorthy, Managing Partner – Upekkha.

“At Upekkha, we find great founders and help them reach their potential. The investment from WestBridge shows their confidence in India SaaS and gives us more dry power to be the leading accelerator and SaaS fund for early stage startups building from India to win globally,” said Krishnamoorthy.
 
“We joined Upekkha due to their SaaS focus and are very happy with the support we got. I would rate Upekkha along with YC regarding the quality of partners, founder peers and support systems they have created for founders in their programme,” said Nitthin Chandran, CEO of Medpiper.

A recent report by Bessemer Venture Partners expects Indian SaaS to be worth $25 billion by 2025.