Steadview Capital invests $20 mn in Tiger Global-backed SaaS firm Zenoti

Hyderabad- and Bellevue-based Zenoti, which offers software solutions to the beauty and wellness industry, has raised $20 million in a fresh round of funding from Hong Kong-based hedge fund Steadview Capital.

The startup will use the funds to accelerate its expansion in the United Kingdom and strengthen global marketing efforts, it said in an official statement.

The new round comes just over three months after it raised $50 million led by New York-based investment firm Tiger Global and its existing investors Norwest Venture Partners and Accel.

"Zenoti is realizing our vision of service entrepreneurs, addressing the most common pain points for business owners in the fast-growing beauty and wellness industry with a cloud-based platform that is miles ahead of the competition and driving rapid growth,” said Ravi Mehta, founder and managing director, Steadview Capital.

The startup has hired Guy Weismantel, a software as a service (SaaS) platform and technology industry veteran, as senior vice president of marketing. He has worked with Microsoft and Expedia earlier and later held marketing roles with startups Pushpay and Marchex.

“Steadview has a keen eye for SaaS opportunities, and we couldn’t ask for a better partner to help us cement our leadership position and rapid growth in the industry. With more than $91 million raised to date, Zenoti is poised to accelerate the adoption of our proven platform on a global scale, and continue to drive exceptional growth through a variety of strategies including innovation, expansion and acquisition,” Sudheer Koneru, CEO, Zenoti, said.

Zenoti raised $15 million in a round led by Norwest Venture Partners, along with existing investor Accel in 2016.

A year before that, Zenoti had secured $6 million in Series A funding from Accel and others.

Operated by Soham Inc, the company was founded in 2010 by serial entrepreneur Koneru and his brother Dheeraj Koneru.

Zenoti offers a full stack of services catering to the beauty & wellness industry that includes booking appointments, billing & payments, customer relationship management, staff management, inventory control and analytics.

While the US, Europe, Australia and New Zealand remain its major markets, Zenoti’s Indian operations account for nearly 15-20% of the total business. Likewise, around 80% of its total headcount operates out of India, Sudheer Koneru had told TechCircle in May this year.

Zenoti’s client roster includes Truefitt & Hill, Lakme, Kaya Skin Clinic, Blunt, Waxing the City, Massage Heights, Mario Tricoci, Prose Boutiques, Sono Bello and Rudy's Barbershop.

While it primarily caters to the beauty and wellness industry, it has also recently expanded the use case of its software platform to other segments such as hospitality.

Steadview Capital, a London-based alternative asset manager, makes long-term investments across multiple industries. The hedge fund has a strong portfolio in the Indian market.

In March, it invested over $100 million in gaming unicorn Dream11. In January, Steadview topped up its investment in ANI Technologies, which operates Ola, and in November last year, it led a Series D investment of $50 million in home services marketplace UrbanClap.