Browserstack, the software testing platform has made it to the Unicorn Club of 2021 becoming the highest valued Indian SaaS unicorn. It is the 15th startup to be valued over a billion dollars, the ninth SaaS startup and the second SaaS platform to achieve this in 2021.
Browserstack – About The Company
Browserstack is a software testing platform that provides a cloud-based infrastructure for users to test their software. The company was founded in 2011 by Nakul Aggarwal and Ritesh Arora and has offices in San Francisco, Dublin and Mumbai. The startup claims to cater to over 50,000 customers and 4 million-plus developer sign-ups. It is used by Microsoft, Twitter, Expedia and a multitude of other companies to accelerate app deployment by providing cloud testing platforms.
BrowserStack provides their clients instant access to over 2000 mobile devices and browsers, scalable cloud infrastructure and a seamless experience of testing and deployment. They are capable of interactive cross-browser testing, automates selenium and visual bug testing, and live, interactive and automated testing for Mobile Apps. They power over 2 million tests every day across 15 global data centres and are the industry leaders in their sector.
The Mission
Browserstack aims to become the testing infrastructure of the internet. They wish to launch new and innovative products to assist developers across cyberspace and tackle innate problems in the process. Their goal of taking over the cloud-based development space requires massive growth in capability and infrastructure to penetrate the global market. This is to be achieved by expanding product offerings and capabilities, global scaling, and strategic acquisitions.
Growth And Investments
With the latest valuation, Browserstack has become the most valued VC backed SaaS startup in India. The 9-year-old startup has had 2 institutional funding rounds so far, obtaining a total of $250 MIllion. Since its Series A round in 2018 which raised their valuation above the $500 million mark, they have seen an eightfold growth, beyond anything that has been observed in SaaS startups.
The company’s latest round of series B investments has raised $200 Million and was led by US Investment firm BOND, pushing its valuation to $4 Billion. The company is also backed by Accel and Insight Partners. This massive round fuels the company to accelerate its growth and achieve its goal of expanding the platform even further.
Future Scope
Cloud-based services are being heralded as the future for their reliability, portability, flexibility and ease of use. They help developers work remotely using cloud computing, accessing services online instead of having their domestic infrastructure set up. Especially in the face of Covid-19, cloud-based solutions allow developers to work from home, offering much needed flexibility without compromising on capabilities.
Conclusion
BrowserStack has ambitious goals for the future, looking to double its team size by the end of 2022. This is not far off, considering how they have gone from 300 to 800 team members in the last two years, and are looking to hit four digits in 2021. The same scaling is also planned for infrastructure, and also for the company via strategic acquisitions and hiring. Heavy investment in their product and engineering teams as well as exploration of new possibilities for products are also part of this growth.
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