Sapience Analytics raises Rs 45 crore to expand US footprint

New Delhi: Pune-based product technology company Sapience Analytics has raised Rs 45 crore in a fresh round of funding led by Orios Venture Partners as it looks to expand its operations in the United States and other developed markets.

The five-year old company will use the proceeds from the Series B round of funding to drive its sales and marketing efforts primarily in the US, where it has set up a separate subsidiary.

"An increasing number of our customers in India are the domestic subsidiaries of US companies. Therefore, we have taken the decision to accelerate our growth there," said Shirish Deodhar, co-founder and chief executive of Sapience Analytics.

ET had first reported in May that the company had entered into negotiations to raise its second round of institutional funding. It raised Rs 4.5 crore in Series A funding from Seed Ventures in 2011, prior to which it had received about $350,000 (about Rs 2.1 crore) from the Indian Angel Network, a round in which Rehan Yar Khan, founder of Orios Venture Partners, had also participated.

"Sapience has had remarkable traction over the past 12 months and sold more than 60,000 licences during this period. Their product is completely absent in the US and we want them to be there," said Khan, who is also one of India's most storied angel investors.

This round is expected to see the investors pick up 25-35% stake in the company, valuing the venture at Rs 130-180 crore.

Both Deodhar and Khan, however, declined to comment on the stakes or the valuation.

Sapience Analytics, which is often cited as one of the more promising product technology firms to have emerged from the country's start-up eco-system, has developed employee productivity and time management software that claims to deliver 20% more work output for organisations and also provides analytics for companies to fill performance-related gaps.

The Orios Venture Partners' investment in Sapience is the second such for the Rs 300 crore early-stage fund. The eight-month old fund, which is among the largest risk capital pools raised completely from domestic investors, last month invested Rs 15 crore in Ziffi.com, an online booking engine for appointments with beauty salons and doctors.

The developments come at a time when early-stage investing in India is on an upward curve. The first six months of the current fiscal have seen transactions totalling $194 million (Rs 1,1,78 crore) compared with $180 million in 2013, according to data collated by Venture Intelligence.

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