SaaS start-up Zarget raises US$ 1.5 million from Accel Partners and Matrix Partners

Bengaluru: Zarget, a start-up that makes technology for marketers to optimise web pages and increase the number of visitors on a page that become paying customers, has raised $1.5 million in seed funding from venture firms Accel Partners and Matrix Partners and from Freshdesk Inc.’s chief executive officer Girish Mathrubootham.

This is the first round of funding for the Chennai-based firm, run by Osmnez Technologies Inc., which was started in February 2015 by three former Zoho employees.

Zarget makes a tool that captures a website visitor’s exact usage patterns—from how much they scroll, to the interactive elements they engage with, and identifies where users leave the website as well. This would be particularly useful for marketers who have to sell products online, like those in software-as-a-service (SaaS) companies where the entire sales process can happen online.

“With this funding we will invest our money and resources in research and development. We won’t stop with one product. We will get into marketing automation and are planning to build more marketing related tools,” said Arvind Parthiban, chief executive officer, Zarget, in a phone call on Monday.

Zarget’s tool also allows companies to perform A/B testing, a process where two versions of a webpage are compared to see which performs better.

Zarget competes with global companies such as Optimize.ly and Indian start-ups such as Wingify. It has around 400 active customers who use the product for free, and garnered 20 premium customers last month, said Parthiban.

The current tool can be used not just by executives within companies but individual bloggers and website owners who need to better their site experience. It can also be integrated using a Chrome plug-in, making the process simple.

“The Zarget platform provides businesses with a full-featured, easy-to-use conversion rate optimization tool that completely disrupts the existing single-feature solution market,” said Anand Daniel, partner, Accel Partners, in a statement. “Zarget is essentially helping companies refine and perfect their customer experience, which is key for any firm that wants to be successful in this day and age.”

Marketing-focused SaaS start-ups were one category of start-ups that would see a significant growth opportunity in the next five years, according to a March report by venture firm Accel Partners and Google India.

Indian SaaS companies, which provide software to companies via the cloud, are currently valued at $3 billion, a figure which could balloon to $50 billion by 2025, according to the report. This includes SaaS companies that originated in India and registered elsewhere. These companies’ revenue could be as much as $10 billion in 2025, from $600 million currently, the report estimates, without naming them.

Disclaimer: This information has been collected through secondary research and IBEF is not responsible for any errors in the same.