This SaaS start-up reveals how to survive during COVID-19  

Over the last five years, the Indian SaaS industry has witnessed an unprecedented bull run. SaaS companies are a testament to this exponential growth, which has been built on the track record of the industry’s high capital efficiency, according to Indian SaaS Revolution – Rising Trillion Dollar Global Opportunity report.

The growth in the SaaS industry continues at a massive 51% CAGR, with the possibility of it becoming a trillion-dollar-valued industry by 2030. It is the epicenter of a major revolution, with Indian SaaS players poised to fulfil 19% of the global SaaS demand by 2025, it added.

In a recent interview with IIITM Gwalior alumni Pranjal Prashar, CIOL uncovers how the hospitality industry and his SaaS-based start-up Xperium was affected during the pandemic.

“I come from a working middle class family in Bihar. My mother and aunts were teachers so I grew up reading a lot of books and listening to classical music,” Pranjal said.

Problem solving approach and creative thinking was strongly encouraged at home. My father was working with the Air force so I moved to a small town called Sirsa in Haryana for education. I was really fascinated with Microsoft’s DOS in childhood, so my willingness to study computers was there.

Since my elder brother was studying in IIT Delhi at that time, chasing IIT JEE was mandatory. I studied IT systems at IIITM Gwalior. Started building products in college, loved the power of technology. I got introduced to startups in my college days, he added.

What would you rather do than running this company?

I would rather be working in the Information security domain.

Who motivated you the most in your life?

I have been a fan of captain Gopinath. I look upto Zoho and Freshdesk for SaaS success from India.

What made you choose this industry?

We (the co-founders) loved the hospitality industry. Before Xperium, we were running hardware products for the travel and leisure industry. COVID-19 has given us reasons and bandwidth to diversify outside travel and hospitality. Now we are working in the retail industry also.

Can you talk about your journey in this industry?

We realized that India's opportunity is limited. Then we focused on enterprise and started SEA expansion in 2018. During the pandemic, our revenues dropped drastically.

Why do you think that there is a need for your company to exist in today’s market?

Over the last 20 months we have asked these questions repeatedly. COVID-19 was a testing time, we spent time on solutions for COVID scenarios. We knew there will be bigger opportunities in vertical SaaS and new types of solutions will be required.

Can you describe your products?

We provide guest-facing technologies. Sentiment analytics, upsell, CRM and marketing automation, guest messaging, and contactless suite are some key modules.

Can you describe your business model?

We are a SaaS platform. We charge a fixed or variable amount based on transaction volume. Entire delivery is self-serve through our cloud solution. We have a network of resellers in major markets.

What are your views on this industry and can you give me any insights?

Travel segment is recovering faster now but the trend is fragmented. People have learnt to live with COVID-19. It reflects in technology requirements also. Travel businesses with poor tech infra have suffered and seen the impact, while others relying on technology are able to reap the benefit during the recovery phase.

What would you like to change about this industry?

The industry needs to speed up tech adoption.