Perfios, a business-to-business software-as-a-service (SaaS) firm that offers products for financial institutions, is looking to enter the public markets in the next 18-24 months and expects to clock $100 million Annual Recurring Revenue (ARR) by the end of FY24.
"We will be more focussed to get ready for an IPO. We will streamline our processes more. Closely monitor and evaluate the market. If everything works out, we will look for an IPO in the next 18-24 months," said Sabyasachi Goswami, Chief Executive Officer and Cofounder of Perfios in an exclusive interaction with Moneycontrol.
On September 11, Perfios announced raising $229 million from Kedaara Capital in its Series D funding round from private equity firm Kedaara Capital through a combination of a primary fund raise and a secondary sale.
Perfios became a unicorn after the fintech platform raised nearly $70 million from existing investors,Warburg Pincus and Bessemer Venture Partners, in a Series C round.
The new round is valued at around 100-120% of its previous valuation, Goswami said.
Entering more global markets
With the new funding round, Perfios plans to deploy the funds to fuel its global expansion plans in North America and Europe.
"We have had global ambitions for the past three-four years, we expanded to South East Asia (SEA) and Middle East (MENA) countries. We made very deep progress there. We have ensured our footprint is entrenched in these markets. One market that everyone aspires to be in is the US. It is a high risk, but high returns market and we want to enter. We want to enter North America and Europe," Goswami said.
Founded in 2008 by V.R. Govindarajan, and Goswami, Perfios is a B2B SaaS company serving the Banking, Financial Services and Insurance industry in 18 countries. Perfios acquired Karza Technologies in March 2022 and since then the combined entity is now the leading firm.
Perfios financial outlook
In FY22, the startup's operating revenue grew 88.1% to Rs 136.4 crore while its losses contracted 62.1% to 12 crores.
"In FY23, you will see that we are PAT positive. In FY22 we made a lot of investments for expansion, a lot of geographies that we entered and accounting norms have changed since we have grown. So we need to account for all that", Goswami said.
However, Goswami said that the firm has turned Ebitda and PAT positive in FY23 and will clock $100 million ARR by the end of FY24.
"We are close to about $100 million in ARR as of FY24. In terms of clients we will be roughly about 1,000 partners across. In India we work with almost everyone. In other markets we are achieving that. You will also see there will be aggressive hiring in the global markets for expansion. Generally our growth has been 100% year-on-year," he added.
Talking about the company's investment roadmap, Goswami said that the firm will focus on the fintech sector but also look at adjacent sectors like insurance.
"In adjacent areas of fintech there is a lot of opportunity but there is enough and more to do within financial services, " He said.
Management rejig
In August 2022, Perfios announced a new organizational structure. Former Chief Executive Officer and Co-founder, V.R. Govindarajan, took over the role of Executive Chairman of the Company, with a specific focus on curating strategic initiatives of the Company.
Sabyasachi Goswami, who earlier served as the Chief Business Officer at Perfios, was made the new Chief Executive Officer of the Company.
The main objective was to bring more younger population on top.
Goswami said that there are some changes in terms of investment focus and employee policies post the rejig. "More tech, more R&D investment, after the rejig I think, there are more innovation within and more employee friendly policies. It was always there but it has got shaped with the younger population coming on top," he said.
Talking about the product roadmap, Goswami said that the firm will bring in more products for financial inclusion.
"This time we are working on financial inclusion. Our products will focus on making financial credit and financial services accessible to not just people in India but also globally," he said.
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