- The startup charges their customers between 1% to 5% of their software spend.
- Vendr scaled the number of employees from 10 to 60 over the last year.
The outsized Series A shows up after Vendr raised $4 million in the mid-2020 seed round, where the company was still profitable at that time. Vendr raised over $6M before the latest round. According to an interview with the CEO of Vendr, Ryan Neu, the startup scaled five times in 2020 and was cash-flow positive for the last year. The startup model stood between SaaS buyers and sellers sped up the transactions which bring down the cost. This fits well with the 2020’s rising trend of software reliance and cost control.
Vendr’s revenue generation:
To explain the growth of the company, the CEO says that they charge the customers somewhere between 1% to 5% of their software spend. Generally, a standard 500-employee company may spend $2M to $3.5M on the software each year. Thus, at 1%, the company would make its worth for nothing less than $20000 to $35000 at 1% spend. With the Vendr’s midpoint at 2.5%, the figures would rise from $50000 to $87500.
At such a price range, Vendr was able to generate annual revenue easily and seamlessly. Vendr would pay the customer to handle their software spend to manage the savings. If the customers are able to save more than the charges Vendr offers, they will be more willing to buy from Vendr. The startup also claims that it eliminates the time spent to buy. This way, the customers would spend less time buying the tools and resources.
Everyone is winning except for the sellers of the software. The software sellers are losing out on the chance to get quality buyers who are willing to pay more for the coding behind the software. Neu says that the company’s model is not bad as the companies who sell the software close the deals pretty quickly. Also, all these things happen at a very higher rate. It also saves the time of the sales team which helps balance the difference in the price.
Vendr’s CEO’s statement:
When Neu was asked about what he would do for the software sellers, he chose to remain silent and declined any information about the future plans regarding them. When the CEO was asked why it conducted a round of funding when the company was performing well without the funding, he said that the staff grew from 10 employees to 60 employees a year ago. Moreover, he also stated that the company required a stronger balance sheet. The CEO was forced pressed to find out the startup whose team would not take a large check from Tiger. Also, this event would offer the valuation gain to Vendr. Thus, there is not much of a mystery to reveal.
Vendr will be able to maintain the hypergrowth where the investors will expect its new rounds. Only 2021 will tell about how the company functions and how much growth will it scale.
