(Reuters) – Enterprise software startup Chargebee has raised $250 million at a valuation of $3.5 billion, in a funding round lead by Tiger Global and Sequoia Global, the company’s founders said.
The latest round of funding more than doubles the company’s valuation in just nine months, highlighting the potential of its tools and services in helping companies manage their subscription-based models and integrate with payment networks such as Stripe and Paypal.
Founded in the southern Indian city of Chennai by two friends, Krish Subramanian and Rajaraman Santhanam, more than a decade ago, Chargebee caters to a range of companies from startups to big enterprises, including Study.com, cloud-based software maker Freshworks and lifestyle brand Goop.
“There is room for a lot of innovation in the B2C (business to consumer) side. In B2B, subscription is the norm,” Subramanian told Reuters.
Although business-to-business initiative accounts for about 70% of Chargebee’s volumes, a spurt in e-commerce-related activity is helping it add more clients on the business-to-consumer side.
“We believe every company will be a subscription company in the future. The predictability of a subscription business model is extremely attractive,” Sequoia India Managing Director Tejeshwi Sharma said.
Funds from the latest financing round will be used towards product innovation and global expansion, as well as corporate growth initiatives, Chargebee said.
(Reporting by Nivedita Balu in Bengaluru; Editing by Anil D’Silva)
