LeadSquared raises $153 million in Series C round, joins unicorn club

LeadSquared, a software as a service (SaaS) platform, has raised $153 million in a Series C funding round from WestBridge Capital. With a post-money valuation of $1 billion, the startup has become Indias 103rd unicorn.The Bengaluru-based platform had previously raised $32 million, led by Gaja Capital in 2020, and $3 million during its Series A, led by Stakeboat Capital in 2019.LeadSquared CEO and Founder Nilesh Patel told BusinessLine, With this financing, we will double down on growth investments in India and North America, start building in Asia-Pacific (APAC) and Europe, the Middle East, and Africa (EMEA), add new offerings to our product portfolio, and fund acquisitions.The company strives to be built into a globally significant business and intends to double the headcount in the next 18 months to support the growth, he added. We also plan on growing the customer base by 70 to 80 percent and expect to double the revenue, Patel said. It has built a CRM platform that takes away the guesswork from sales execution and makes efficiency the focus of customer interaction.Sumir Chadha, Co-founder and Managing Director, WestBridge Capital said, LeadSquared has shown a remarkable ability to scale and grow efficiently. It has significant potential for growth in the global market.LeadSquared has over 2,000 customers, including organisations from edtech, higher education, financial services, healthcare, marketplaces, and more.It is the third startup to achieve unicorn status this month.