Messaging platform Gupshup becomes 10th startup to join unicorn club in 2021

It’s raining unicorns this year! Conversational messaging platform Gupshup is the tenth startup to join the unicorn club this year after it raised $100 million in funding from Tiger Global Management. Of the ten startups in the list, Groww, Sharechat, PharmEasy, Meesho, and CRED turned unicorns this week.

Valuation at $1.4 b

The latest funding round has propelled the valuation of the messaging platform to $1.4 billion.

“This funding will greatly accelerate our R&D efforts and will also accelerate our go-to-market efforts globally. Gupshup’s mission is to build the tools that help businesses better engage customers through mobile messaging and conversational experiences. As we work towards our mission, we are delighted with this investment from Tiger Global, given its incredible track record of making big, bold, successful bets on innovative, category-defining companies worldwide,” Beerud Sheth, co-founder & CEO, Gupshup said in a statement.

Gupshup’s API enables over 100,000 developers and businesses to build messaging and conversational experiences delivering over 6 billion messages per month across 30+ messaging channels.

“Gupshup’s last funding round was in 2011. Gupshup grew rapidly over the last few years, exiting 2020 with annual revenue run rate of approximately 150 million dollars,” the company stated. It had raised $150 million in funding to date from investors like Helion Venture Partners and Globespan Capital among others.

Tiger Global said the unique market positioning of the company attracted them. “Gupshup is uniquely positioned to win in this market with a differentiated product, a clear and sustainable moat, and an experienced team with a proven track record. In addition to its market leadership, Gupshup’s unique combination of scale, growth and profitability attracted us,” John Curtius, Partner at Tiger Global Management, said.