Indusface is a global, leading application security SaaS company, funded by the Tata Capital Growth Fund II. It secures critical web, mobile, and API applications of 3000+ global customers using its award-winning fully managed platform that integrates web application scanners, web application firewalls, DDoS & BOT Mitigation, CDN, and threat intelligence engine shares Ashish Tandon, CEO, and Co-Founder, of Indusface during his interview with Express Computer.
Some edited excerpts:
What are the company’s current outlook and investment/expansion plans?
Today, due to the pandemic and the work-from-home culture, the digitalisation process has accelerated, and even small vendors have an online application to order from. Everybody wants to move to a digital world through a website, API, or application and needs protection against ransomware, and cyber-attacks and that’s what Indusface does. Our product has a great uptake because there is more digitalisation happening, creating an opportunity in disguise, we are making our services available to our clients online and our investments in terms of marketing have helped Indusface expand its customer base. In the cyber-world with rapidly changing technology, the current outlook is to make Indusface available to as many as it could be, faster.
Indusface also plans to double its revenue by next year. We serve a diverse clientele including large enterprises such as TCS, ICICI Bank, HDFC Ergo, Aegon Life, Aditya Birla Finance, Larsen and Toubro, Marico, Titan, Tata Power, Start TV, etc., as well as startups and SaaS companies such as Darwinbox (Unicorn), SastaSundar (A Flipkart company), NamasteCredit, Qwikcilver (A PineLabs Company), Shopclues, etc. The company is also targeting to double up its revenues and its customer base in the coming year.
There has been word on the street about the expansion of Indusface in the US, how has funding from Tata Capital Growth Fund II helped you grow?
We have a customer base established in over 80 countries. Being a data-funded company has helped spread the word about Indusface in the market, giving an immense boost to our capital which has helped us spread our market space. Today there is a huge demand for our product in the market and our aim to projecting a double revenue in the upcoming year seems possible. In terms of expanding into the developed markets, we have 100+ customers in the US, and 80+ in Europe, we got them from digital platforms. I feel prioritising the investments in quality human resources will help us expand on a much larger scale by getting better customers.
Indusface has walked down a journey from USD 1 million ARR (Annual Recurring Revenue) to USD 5 million ARR. What were the challenges to start a base in a tier II city in India?
Earlier there was no SaaS-based company in India, getting the right customer base at that point in time was an issue, but with time and since this is my third venture the experience from the past came in handy. Selling our first venture to one of the best security companies in the world, we had the capital, we invested right in human resources, and in building the right product and that’s what attracted the right investors for our venture. Challenges this time were much better planned because we had the capital, experience and most importantly the market knowledge, the current challenge is scaling faster and expanding into diverse geographies. Keeping up with the everyday changing technology for the best of our customers is equally demanding, but now that we are established and have a loyal customer base, the next phase I see is growth.
Keeping up with the expectations from clients like ICICI, Titan, and HDFC, must be a challenge as well, please tell us about your service portfolio and clientele.
Indusface never looks at its client as a challenge, they are the one who helps Indusface innovate and grow, we are here to provide a solution to the issue. Our philosophy is to help customers solve their problems. Our focus is our customers’ problems and by solving them, we provide our customers with what they really want. Indusface spent almost 2.5 years to achieve the right product that fits the market, we are bonding to build on a larger platform, and we make sure the product is right, scalable, and can handle the high traffic of banks or e-commerce companies. Indusface works for protecting digital assets by securing critical web, mobile, and API applications of 3000+ global customers using its award-winning fully managed platform that integrates web application scanners, web application firewall, DDoS & BOT Mitigation, CDN, and threat intelligence engine.
Indusface works end to end, from making sure what the weaknesses are, to protecting them, mitigating cyberattacks, and making the customer’s site fast and accessible.
What is the reason for the increase in cyber threats in the financial system and what measures does the global community need to take to tackle this emerging issue?
Ransomware is the most commonly used attack factor by any hacker, hackers have realised that with digitalisation available on the internet they’re able to figure out the weakness in the application, and flaws in code and they exploit them to get into the security system. Due to the vast availability of hacking software on the internet, anybody could get access to the gateways inside. Indusface helps its customers avoid these attacks by making sure that the codes and software of the application are protected. We work on all the aspects which are needed to keep the digital assets secure, are properly addressed, and have the right service provider for our clients.
Conclusion
The fundamental protocol Indusface follows is making it easy for our customers to be secured, Indusface holds itself responsible to manage the software for its customers well, most importantly, the only mantra Indusface follows is “give us your digital assets and we will secure it for you”. We are “customer-obsessed”, Indusface makes sure its customers are heard at any point in time and provides absolute satisfaction.