Cloudy revenue forecast for SaaS as clients defer contract calls

In the first half of 2022, listed software-as-a-service startups were swept along in the global tech tumult, with public cloud’s market cap falling over 40% from its high November perch. The once-remarkable median revenue multiples, the measure investors use to bestow value on a company, languish in near-single digits now.

It’s been a “SaaSacre”, as US venture-capital firm Bessemer put it in a report in May.

Such a vertiginous slide would have sent many other tech sectors into deep despair, hollowing out interest in an instant (think quick delivery in the US and Europe). That hasn’t happened in this case; there is no domino effect yet. 

If anything, startup backers’ newfound distaste for risk and loss-making businesses has indirectly made Indian SaaS alluring, as evidenced by a flurry of early-stage funding deals in recent months. Software distributed through the internet remains a reliable revenue generator as companies of all manner need digital tools in a post-Covid-19 world.

But can this demand stay intact amid recession fears? There are some early signs of strain.