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This Week in Saas Oct 13 - 20, 2025

Major AI-driven raises, strategic M&A deals, SaaS IPO activity, sector benchmarks, and key founder takeaways on storytelling, AI readiness, and growth in an evolving enterprise landscape.

By
Ryan Allis
October 20, 2025

💸 Big SaaS VC Rounds

  1. Deel (global HR & payroll platform) raised a $300M Series E at a $17.3B valuation, led by Ribbit Capital with participation from Andreessen Horowitz, Coatue Management, General Catalyst, and Green Bay Ventures. Funds will fuel strategic acquisitions, AI-driven payroll innovation, and global expansion across 100+ countries.
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  2. OpenEvidence (AI medical assistant for physicians) raised a $200 M Series C, led by Sequoia Capital (with participation from Coatue, Conviction, Thrive.
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  3. General Intuition (foundational-model / general-agent startup) raised a $133.7M Seed led by Khosla Ventures, General Catalyst, and The Raine Group, with participation from SV Angel, Elad Gil, and other strategic investors.
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  4. LangChain (AI agent/developer tools platform) raised a $125 M Series B at a $1.25 B valuation, led by IVP with participation from Sequoia, Benchmark, CapitalG and ServiceNow Ventures
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  5. Reducto (AI document intelligence SaaS) raised a $75M Series B led by Andreessen Horowitz, with participation from Benchmark, First Round, BoxGroup, and Y Combinator. Capital will scale R&D for AI document understanding and expand enterprise go-to-market operations.‍‍‍
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  6. Dreamdata (B2B marketing-analytics SaaS) raised a $55M Series B led by Insight Partners, with participation from Seed Capital, Inventure, and Crowberry Capital. Funds will drive product innovation in revenue attribution, expand integrations with major CRMs and ad platforms, and scale global go-to-market operations across Europe and North America.
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  7. Viven (enterprise AI “digital twin” for internal knowledge) raised a $35M Seed, led by Khosla Ventures, Foundation Capital, FPV Ventures, Operator Collective.
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  8. HiveWatch (physical-security operations software) raised a $33M Series B, led by Anthos Capital (with Harmonic Growth Partners, Across Capital)
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  9. ExaCare AI (AI platform for post-acute care operations) raised a $30M Series A led by Insight Partners, joined by Foundation Capital and Bienville Capital. Funds will expand AI-driven workflow automation and integrations across the healthcare provider ecosystem.
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  10. Second Nature (AI role-play training for sales/service teams) raised a $22 M Series B, led by Sienna VC (with Bright Pixel, StageOne Ventures, Cardumen, Signals VC, Zoom)
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  11. Glue (AI-powered team collaboration / agentic chat platform) raised a $20M Series A led by Abstract Ventures, with participation from Chapter One, Hack VC, Goldcrest Capital, and Craft Ventures. Funding will accelerate product development, enhance agentic workflow features, and scale enterprise adoption.
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  12. Upciti (smart-city operations software) raised a $20 M Series A, led by Notion Capital (with Point Nine, Chalfen Ventures)
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  13. Resistant AI (fraud & compliance intelligence) raised a $25M Series B from DTCP Growth, GV, Experian, and Notion Capital. Funds will expand financial-crime prevention, improve model accuracy, and scale European operations.
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  14. FleetWorks (AI dispatcher/logistics platform) raised a $17M Series A, led by First Round Capital’s Bill Trenchard (with Y Combinator, Saga Ventures, LFX Venture Partners)‍
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  15. Strella (AI-powered customer research platform) raised a $14M Series A led by Bessemer Venture Partners. Capital will be used to advance AI-based customer insights and expand go-to-market teams.

🤝 SaaS M&A Deals

  • Capgemini Completes Acquisition of WNS (digital BPS / intelligent operations software & services) — Capgemini (Euronext Paris: CAP) closed its acquisition of WNS (NYSE: WNS) for $76.50 per share in cash (total $3.3B excluding net debt), creating a global leader in agentic-AI powered intelligent operations.
  • VIAVI Acquired Spirent’s HSE, Network Security & Channel Emulation testing business — enterprise test software in an all-cash deal valued at $425M
  • NAVEX Majority Stake Acquired by Goldman Sachs Alternatives–Led Consortium (ethics, risk & compliance SaaS) — NAVEX announced closing of a majority-stake sale to a consortium led by Goldman Sachs Alternatives, with Blackstone joining as a significant minority investor; BC Partners retains a minority stake. The deal backs NAVEX One’s GRC platform expansion.
  • IBM to Acquire Cognitus (SAP services + software assets) — IBM (NYSE: IBM) signed a definitive agreement to acquire Cognitus, an SAP S/4HANA specialist with industry-specific, AI-powered software assets, bolstering IBM’s capabilities in regulated sectors (A&D, Energy & Utilities, Manufacturing).
  • Devolutions to Acquire PowerShell Universal (IT automation platform; on-prem + SaaS) — Devolutions announced it is acquiring PowerShell Universal (creator Adam Driscoll joining Devolutions) to deepen intelligent IT automation integrated with Devolutions’ PAM and remote access products.
  • EYE World AB ➝ UK-based SaaS cybersecurity company — Vertical security SaaS. $20.7M (mix of shares, seller note, cash),
  • Constellation Software Inc. acquired TECVIA. The acquisition brings TECVIA’s mobility-sector digital platforms (including SaaS-style offerings like FUMO Solutions and DriversCoach) into CSI’s vertical-market software portfolio.

🚀 SaaS IPOs & S-1 Filings

  • Meesho (Indian e-commerce platform; SaaS-adjacent merchant tools) — IPO planned to raise ≈ $484 million via fresh issue.
  • Exzeo Group (U.S. insurance-tech firm with SaaS operations) — Filed for IPO targeting up to $176 million raise, with valuation up to ~$2 billion.
  • Infinity Infoway (Indian SaaS provider – ERP solutions) listing at ~90% premium vs issue price on BSE SME.

🧠 Key Founder / Operator Takeaways

  • Build the narrative early — not just the product. Founders are increasingly expected to own the story of their company, not just build the SaaS product. As one operator puts Paid media and trade-shows no longer guarantee reach… founders themselves are effective distribution channels.”
  • AI-first is becoming a de facto table-stake—but enterprise readiness wins the deal. Several recent large rounds emphasise AI-native value propositions and the supporting infrastructure around governance, SLA, RBAC, auditability. The re targeting mid-/enterprise, don’t stop at “we have AI”; also show how you deploy, measure and secure it.
  • Founder visibility and content strategy = distribution + capital + exits. One SaaS operator Content is more than marketing—it’s fundraising readiness, recruiting, and M&A strategy.” Founders building structured visibility channels (LinkedIn posts, Q&A, founder interviews) create multiple levers.
  • Salesforce’s ‘Agentforce 360’ and AI push at Dreamforce 2025 — During the event, Salesforce revealed its new “Agentforce” platform including voice/agent tools, an “agentic OS” via Slack, and a new enterprise licensing model (“Agentic Enterprise Licensing Agreement”). Customers from PepsiCo, FedEx, Dell etc. showcased how they’re embedding AI across sales, service, HR, and supply chain.
  • Growing concern that OpenAI could become a disruptive force for traditional SaaS companies — Analysts are raising alarms about how OpenAI’s move into enterprise applications might impact companies like Adobe, ServiceNow, and Salesforce. The reality of course is that OpenAI does and will power many of these platforms and likely improve results for those 3 larger legacy public SaaS firms.
  • SaaS sector consolidation and talent war intensify amid AI adoption — A report highlights that enterprise-software investment (apps) for 9 months of 2025 is down vs prior year, but M&A deals in SaaS rose ~6%. The broader trend suggests smaller raises and more strategic exits, with AI embedding becoming critical for survival.

📈 SaaS Multiples & Benchmarks

Public medians:

6.1x TTM Revenue

5.5x Forward Revenue

75% Gross Margin

19% Annual Revenue Growth

19% Net Profit/FCF

Private M&A medians:

4.7x TTM Revenue, 22.4x TTM EBITDA

📰 News from SaasRise

We provide communities for SaaS CEOs & Founders, B2B Marketers, and VC-Backed CEOs & Founders.

See you next Monday with the next edition of This Week in SaaS.

‍-Ryan Allis, CEO of SaasRise