SaaS in Hyderabad

So SaaSt was a big success. Rohit has already done a great job of covering what happened at the event. So I will not be repeating it.

In this post I want to explore the SaaS ecosystem in Hyderabad and just put my thoughts on what I think works and what are the problems. In 2017, I had written a post on the KOOKOO blog on some Hyderabad SaaS startups. And I am pleasantly surprised to say we have come along nicely since then.

The SaaSt event clearly showed that there is a good SaaS ecosystem in Hyderabad. The following are my observations:

1. A good base for the ecosystem exists. Lots of very early and early stage SaaS startups.
2. A good spread of established SaaS startups to provide mentorship. These include Gainsight, Zenoti, Darwinbox, Nowfloats, Agile CRM, Ozonetel, Capillary and others.
3. Lacking a superstar SaaS startup a-la Zoho or Freshdesk. This is the one big missing piece. One superstar startup can become the fulcrum to take Hyderabad to the next level.
4. A weak VC and angel ecosystem in Hyderabad. This is needed for faster growth. In fact most SaaS B2B startups from Hyderabad end up bootstrapping.

What works for Hyderabad:

1. Good infrastructure and a supportive government. Affordable housing and talent which is very useful for early stage startups.
2. Easily accessible early stage talent because of the large number of engineering colleges.
3. Access to research facilities. If you are an AI startup, then there is no better place to be. IIIT, IIT, BITS, UoH, HCU, CCMB, NIN, ISI are all based in Hyderabad.
4. Good non software industries which can become first customers for SaaS startups.

What does not work for Hyderabad:

1. Lack of funding ecosystem in Hyderabad.
2. Problem with talent at the middle level.
3. The city maybe slow to wake up sometimes :)

All in all, I think we are in a very good space right now in Hyderabad. The new metro line to Hi tech city has made travel much more easier. And a little birdie told me that a superstar SaaS startup is setting up a big office in Hyderabad. That may just turn out to be the boost this city needs.