SaaSBoomi started on November 24, 2018, when India’s leading SaaS founders met to lay out its values, set its agenda, and chart the road ahead. But the roots of SaaSBoomi and its pay-it-forward culture go much deeper.
March 2015 – The precursor
In Chennai, 70 SaaS founders gathered together for the first time at an event called SaaSx. The half-day event had three sessions, and all were very unconference-y. The entire audience participated in the last one.
The very first SaaSx event that lead to the birth of SaaSBoomi.
Initially, SaaSx happened every six months in Chennai and it was good to see the tribe grow from 70 to 250 founders in less than 2 years. The format remained the same…half-day session where founders opened their playbooks. Nothing got posted on social media…just some photographs….but no content from sessions.
December 2016
PNGrowth was a 3-day bootcamp for founders who had scaled. It was for only 50 founders at a time.
3-day PNGrowth bootcamp for founders who had scaled.
March 2017
The 4th edition of SaaSX saw around 250 founders from all over India. While 250 attended, the ecosystem had 700+ founders from India building SaaS companies by then.
August 2018
Launched SaaSE, a platform around Enterprise Sales for 50 SaaS startups. Later on this became SaaSBoomi Enterprise. This was focussed on Sales and held in Bangalore for a full day.
January 2019
Launched SaaSBoomi in Chennai, which saw 400+ founders. This one was the first official SaaSBoomi conference and lasted two full days with lots of networking options. VC Connect was introduced and many startups got an opportunity to meet VCs and get feedback. At this time, the ecosystem had close to 1500 founders building SaaS companies.
August 2019
2nd edition of SaaSBoomi Enterprise (formerly called SaaSE) in Bangalore had 50-75 startups. Again, it had deep conversations as founders opened their playbooks to help their early-stage peers.
January 2020
2nd edition of SaaSBoomi Annual in Chennai saw 500+ founders. Content was the highlight and all sessions got an NPS score of above 80. We had close to 1800 startups that were part of the SaaSBoomi network by then.
July 2020
Launched SaaSBoomi Growth with around 125 startup – our first virtual event. We had close to 300 attendees for the session.
November 2020
Launched ‘SaaSBoomi Build’ for Product & Tech Excellence for 250 leaders. Again, this resonated with the community as many of the leaders were unable to participate earlier when SaaSBoomi’s focus was more on building the community for founders.
December 2020
Launched SaaSBoomi Awards. We got around 130 applications for 8 categories of award nominations.
August 2021
Launched the SaaS Landscape report in partnership with Mckinsey. This was the first of its kind industry report on SaaS with around 1000 companies participating in a survey for it. And the trillion dollar dream became the mission for SaaSBoomi.
December 2021
India SaaS Story book launched. A book For Founders By Founders. This was an effort to bring out lessons and insights from scale founders. Copies of the book were sent across to the entire community of around 2200 founders.
November 2021
SGx started as a cohort-based program around growth for founders who had crossed 1Mn in ARR. It’s a 3-month program where founders give their time to help fellow founders. We completed 3 cohorts by the end of 2022, deeply engaged with 18 startups, and moved the needle for them.
May 2022
First Badminton tournament which had 100+ participants from all over India. We started this initiative to catalyze bonding between founders and create a platform to know each other well. By this time, the SaaSBoomi Community had reached a milestone of 2500+ founders.
June 2022
Launched SaaSBoomi in the US with a 7-day trip. This was an initiative to help companies build their network in the US and also get access to their playbooks. We had 45 startups on the trip.
September 14-28 2022
Launched the first edition of SaaSBoomi Caravan along with a summit with 150+ founders traveling from India to the US. SaaSBoomi had become a 3000-member community attracting deep interest from Singapore and other emerging markets keen to be part of the community.
November 24, 2022
On SaaSBoomi’s anniversary, launched a booklet: ‘The Story of SaaSBoomi: People and ideas shaping India’s pay-it-forward community of SaaS founders’
March 2023
SaaSBoomi gets a CEO, our founding volunteer Avinash Raghava, and also a governing council of seven for a two-year term.
March 17 & 18, 2023
Annual ‘23, our largest conference so far with 1,183 attendees in Chennai. We gave away the prestigious SaaSBoomi Startup Awards in 7 categories. Launched our diversity initiative, spearheaded by Ashwini Asokan, founder & CEO of MadStreetDen.
Annual ‘23, our largest conference so far in Chennai
May 26, 2023
Start of Singapore Chapter. Hosted a roundtable and a Social in Singapore for the first time.
June 2, 2023
SaaSBoomi Badminton League 2nd edition in Bangalore. More than 180 players from startups all over India participated.
SaaSBoomi Badminton League 2023
June, 2023
SGx 4th cohort graduation ceremony. Two startups from the earlier cohorts – Pipecandy & Wingman – got acquired.
July, 2023
India SaaS Landscape report, with McKinsey, launched. Over 200 attendees took part in the launch event covered by all leading media publications.
Launching the India SaaS Landscape report
Around 8 city chapters activated and more than 30 roundtables hosted across these cities in the past 6 months
August 24th-25th, 2023
Scaled founder’s retreat: 17 curated founders running startups with over $15 million ARR met in the outskirts of Bangalore for two days, exchanged notes, bonded, and learnt from each other.
September 8th-15th, 2023
US Caravan at Bay Area! Over 250 founders travelled from India to be part of this unique US GTM journey, make connections, and learn.
It’s a wrap! – US Caravan ’23 at Bay Area
January 29th – 31st, 2024
Qafila marked SaaSBoomi’s arrival at the GCC. Founders gathered for a three-day event geared towards building an India-Middle East SaaS corridor to accelerate growth and innovation.
TechBridge 2024 hosted on Day#2 of Qafila – an incubator for strategic networking and a hub for fostering partnerships with India’s leading SaaS innovators.
March 7th – 8th, 2024
We saw the Annual ’25 get bigger! 1500+ SaaS founders, 100+ VCs, and enterprise CXOs gathered for 2 full days of sharing tactical playbooks, camaraderie and more.
SaaSBoomi Awards ’24 – We celebrated exemplary startups in the India SaaS arena across 9 categories spanning AI, Scaling Startups, and Building for Bahrat.
June 1st, 2024
The SaaSBoomi Badminton League ‘24 was nothing short of epic matches, amazing sportsmanship, and networking. 180+ founders and operators came together for a full day of fierce competition and a ton of fun!
June 7th-9th, 2024
SaaSBoomi premieres AI Bootcamp – a two-day immersive learning experience powered by Microsoft. Founders gathered in Bangalore for hands-on AI workshops by experts, insider playbooks & stories from fast-growing AI startups.
July 13th, 2024
Sports League gets a new addition – SaaSBoomi hosted its first-ever Cricket League. We saw 8 Startups, 50+ Founders gather in Chennai for an epic match.
SPL Champions 2024 – Rocketlane takes home the trophy!
August 8th, 2024
SaaSBoomi Launched IndAI – a new community dedicated to nurturing India’s GenAI founders. IndAI opens with its first Demo days
September 12-16th, 2024
The largest collective of India SaaS builders is back in the Bay Area for a 5-day conference to tackle US growth and expansion.
Day #1 of Caravan opened with a keynote by John Chambers.
October 2024 – Playbooks gain momentum
Playbooks continued to gain momentum with focused sessions on critical founder challenges. Topics included decoding AI models with an emphasis on scalability and security, lessons in vertical selling and global expansion, strategies for cracking the US market, managing cash flow effectively, and laying the GTM foundation for the $10M growth journey. These Playbooks created a platform for founders to exchange deep, experience-led insights.
November 22nd, 2024
SaaSBoomi hosted the PULSE Women Leaders’ Retreat, creating a safe and inspiring space for women in SaaS to connect, share insights, and build lasting friendships.
Glimpse from the PULSE Women Leaders retreat
December 9th, 2024
That same month, SaaSBoomi partnered in the NE Tech Summit 2024, organized by NIDC with support from STPI and the Government of Nagaland. The summit brought together 200+ entrepreneurs, investors, industry leaders, and officials, fostering collaboration and idea exchange.
13th December 2024
The 6th SGx Cohort graduated after four months of tactical handholding and execution. The graduation ceremony was held in Goa over three days of bonding, celebration, and brainstorming.
Cohort 6 of SGx program
January 7th, 2025
Microsoft signed a landmark AI MoU with SaaSBoomi, charting a bold five-year roadmap to accelerate innovation and collaboration in the SaaS and AI ecosystem.
February 2025 – SaaSBoomi Socials & SGx Cohort 7 Opens for registrations
SaaSBoomi Socials expanded to 13 cities, bringing founders together for evenings of candid conversations, bonding, and community building. Around the same time, registrations opened for SGx Cohort 7, continuing the flagship program’s mission of guiding founders on their growth journey.
March 2025 – Annual | IndAI Showcase | Awards | India’s $100B Domestic Software Opportunity Report Unveiling
SaaSBoomi Annual delivered 2.5 action-packed days of tactical knowledge-sharing, immersive learning, and unmatched networking. The impact was significant: 400+ founders inspired, 6,000+ connections facilitated, and $12,000+ in business opportunities unlocked, with 53% of participants attending for the first time, showcasing the event’s growing reach.
The Annual Awards celebrated the AI-first evolution of SaaS across six categories, while the IndAI Showcase featured seven top finalists pitching before an audience of 1,500+.
The conference also saw the release of a landmark report, authored in collaboration with 1Lattice, redefining India’s software trajectory.
The Unveiling of India Market Report
April 2025 – Planning the next leg of SaaSBoomi
SaaSBoomi began planning its next chapter, building on years of momentum to chart the future direction of the community and its initiatives.
May 2025 – Jagah is now part of SaaSBoomi
Jagah found its place within the SaaSBoomi universe, created as a mission to support India’s founders not only in scaling businesses but also in sustaining themselves. Jagah is a space built with empathy, designed for connection, and grounded in the belief that healing and personal growth are integral to the founder’s journey.
June 2025 – 6+ Roundtables focused on AI & More
SaaSBoomi hosted a series of roundtables tackling some of the most pressing themes for founders. Discussions explored repositioning products in the age of AI, India’s $100B domestic software revolution, building a $1M ARR AI company with fewer than 10 employees, securing the first five design partners, and rethinking GTM strategies in the AI era.
July 2025 – VIBE Summit 2025 & Vibe Pilots in Partnership with Upekkha
VIBE Summit 2025, organised by Upekkha, with SaaSBoomi as a strategic partner. At its core was VIBE Pilot, an electrifying 20-hour live coding sprint where founders built products in real time, integrating direct and unfiltered feedback from industry CXOs.
August 2025 – 9th Jagah Edition & AIBoomi Weekend Hacks
The 9th Jagah Retreat was held in Bangalore, offering founders a space to pause and reconnect with themselves, their minds, and nature.
Around the same time, SaaSBoomi hosted the first edition of BoomiAI Weekend Hacks in Bengaluru. A high-energy, 24-hour hackathon designed for AI-first founders, indie builders, technical teams, and select student innovators.
SaaSBoomi also introduced AI Radar, India’s open map tracking the AI-first startup movement.
September 2025 – Vertical Velocity
Vertical Velocity was launched. A first-of-its-kind six-month cross-border program for AI-first Indian startups in the healthcare sector. The program combines one-on-one mentorship, tactical playbooks, and immersive access to the US ecosystem, helping founders validate products, achieve cross-border product–market fit, and drive revenue growth. Later in the year, founders will also join Caravan ’25, scheduled for October 6–11 in the Bay Area.
October 2025 – Caravan ’25: India’s AI-Powered Leap, in the Heart of Silicon Valley.
SaaSBoomi will host Caravan ’25, its fourth flagship Silicon Valley event—a six-day U.S. immersion designed for AI-native founders ready to expand globally. Exclusively tailored for companies committed to landing and scaling in the U.S., this edition introduces a first-ever module-based format, offering sharper, deeper, and fully AI-native learning experiences.
