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Suger, a startup that simplifies cloud marketplace sales for software-as-a-service (SaaS) companies, has raised $15 million in Series A funding led by Threshold Ventures. The company's platform automates SaaS product listing across various cloud marketplaces, making it easier for enterprises to find and purchase software solutions.
The founders, Jon Yoo and Chengjun Yuan, drew from their experiences at Salesforce and Confluent to identify the operational challenges associated with selling via cloud marketplaces. They recognized that getting software listed on these marketplaces requires significant engineering resources, which can be a major burden for scaling companies. Suger's toolkit addresses this issue by providing a unified API that integrates with a company's billing, customer relationship management, and other existing tools.
According to Yoo, Suger's platform can help with a range of cloud marketplace-related tasks, including flexible pricing, revenue reports, and delivering buyer insights. By automating these tasks, Suger enables SaaS companies to transact at scale, with customers seeing an average 3x increase in marketplace volume after switching to the platform.
Suger launched at the end of 2022 and has since grown its customer base to over 200 companies, including notable names like Snowflake, Notion, and Intel. The company's success in this short period is a testament to the growing importance of cloud marketplaces in enterprise sales. As Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff noted, three of Salesforce's top ten largest deals in its second quarter of fiscal 2025 were closed through AWS' cloud marketplace.
The use of cloud marketplaces is becoming a must-have channel for SaaS companies selling to enterprises, particularly young AI startups. Yoo emphasized that Suger is well-positioned to capitalize on this trend, with its platform designed to provide a seamless experience for both sellers and buyers.
While there is competition in the sector, including companies that build their own cloud marketplace listing systems in-house and startups like Tackle, Suger's founders believe their platform offers a more comprehensive solution. As a second mover, Suger has the advantage of learning from its competitors and expanding its capabilities beyond just the listing process.
With its fresh funding, Suger plans to build out its product and expand its engineering bandwidth. The company also hopes to develop tools for the buyer side, helping enterprises procure software and manage their spend more efficiently. Yoo expressed his excitement for the future of cloud marketplaces, aiming to bring a consumer-like experience to B2B sales and reduce the lengthy sales cycles that are currently the norm.
The success of Suger and its competitors signals a significant shift in the way SaaS companies approach enterprise sales. As cloud marketplaces continue to grow in importance, it will be interesting to see how these platforms evolve to meet the needs of both sellers and buyers.
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