DataroomHQ Inc., a startup that offers an artificial intelligence-powered operational metrics platform for software-as-a-service companies, said today it’s ready for prime time after closing on a strategic $3.5 million funding round.

Today’s round was led by Oceans and Bling Capital, with participation by Garuda Ventures, Cortical Ventures and others.

The startup has created a data-based insights platform for SaaS companies that aims to provide more clarity around their operational and financial metrics. When the SaaS industry first took off, most companies were focused on rapid growth to establish themselves, but nowadays the focus is on achieving more efficient growth that balances revenue increases with cost reductions to ensure profitability. To achieve this, SaaS companies require a much deeper understanding of what makes their businesses tick, hence the need for a platform such as dataroomHQ.

The startup says it’s offering a unified portal for data analytics and predictive insights that will enable SaaS decision makers better identify and interpret key trends, as well as strategies to optimize their business. The platform relies on AI to automate reporting and build predictive models for all key SaaS metrics, serving as a centralized source of truth for stakeholders including executives, board members and investors.

Founder and Chief Executive Jeff Schwartz said he knows firsthand how difficult it is for SaaS companies to achieve true visibility into every aspect of their business. “That’s why I founded dataroomHQ, to provide SaaS companies with a single source of truth for their metrics along with blueprints for how to optimize them so they can achieve efficient growth,” he said. “We have proven that the market needs a platform like ours.”

Other capabilities include AI-powered analysis of operational metrics to identify trends and aid in decision-making, experimentation of sales, marketing and product features to help SaaS companies determine if there is a product market fit and what improves customer retention. There’s also forecasting and headcount planning tools to prepare for future scenarios. The platform enables startups to compare themselves with market rivals, using AI to see how they stack up against their competitors, and also estimate the overall value of their company.

These are important capabilities, because most startups cannot even agree internally on key business metrics such as customer retention, said Garuda Ventures co-founder and General Partner Arpan Punyani. “You can’t optimize the future if you can’t agree on the reality of today,” he said, justifying his decision to back the startup. “With a background in finance, ML and data science, Jeff is uniquely qualified to revolutionize the way organizations not only ground on their data, but also how they act on it to optimize for the future with AI.”

The funds from today’s round follow an initial investment by Cortical Ventures in 2021, and will be used to accelerate the development of its SaaS visibility platform, which is being made generally available from today.

Sara Barek, managing director and founding team member of Oceans, said the SaaS industry has become laser-focused on achieving greater efficiency, and to do this it needs a clearer and easier way to understand the key drivers of business, in particular the factors powering the most profitable revenue growth. SaaS companies also need deeper insights into what is and isn’t working for their business, she believes.

“Most pre-IPO companies do not have a consistent and streamlined way for their organization to manage financial and key operational drivers of the business,” Barek explained. “DataroomHQ, with its strong vision, technology and leadership, will become the most important platform for the executive and operational leaders of your company.”

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