Sigmoid raises $12 million to scale its data engineering and analytics platform

Sigmoid, a startup that helps companies in the US, UK and Europe dig into their data and derive better insights from it, has raised $12 million in the as part of a new financing round after a solid year of growth, it was said on Thursday.

Sequoia Capital India led the San Francisco-based startup's Series B funding, which included the purchase of secondary shares, the two said. The investment giant, which earlier this year unveiled $2.85 billion of funds for India and Southeast Asia, has invested $19.3 million in Sigmoid to date, according to a press release.

Founded in 2013 by IIT alumni Lokesh Anand, Mayur Rustagi and Rahul Kumar Singh, Sigmoid provides analytics and AI solutions to businesses worldwide. Companies operating in the consumer goods and financial services categories are among Sigmoid's biggest customers, the startup said.

Sigmoid's journey has been remarkable. It's been in the market for about nine years, but it took a while to find its "true market-ready solution at first," Anand, who serves as its chief executive, told TechCrunch in an interview. As you might expect from the nature of this news, the startup has since found its stride, growing revenue more than 30x since 2018 and achieving 2x growth in just one year, he said, without sharing precise numbers.

Sigmoid sees traditional players like Accenture, Infosys and Cognizant as some of its main competitors in the market. Nonetheless, he believes his combination of people, process and technology makes him a completely different entity.

“We have a very strong focus on engineering data products,” Anand said. "So bringing that engineering component into the analysis helped us differentiate ourselves, and not only differentiate ourselves, but also deliver real value to our customers."

Sigmoid has a team of over 500 people, which aims to double its workforce in the next 12-18 months. Around 80% of the startup's current workforce is in India, with the rest spread across the US, UK and Europe. About three-quarters of the startup's business comes from the United States, he said.

This largely works with Fortune 500 companies. A leading Fortune 500 FMCG company saw an 11% improvement in marketing ROI, Anand said of client performance.

Sigmoid plans to deploy the new funds to strengthen its offerings, build new capabilities, expand its delivery centers and improve sales, it said.

Currently, Sigmoid has its main center in Bangalore, as well as those in the United States (in the Bay Area, Dallas and New York) and Amsterdam. It plans to open a center in the UK later this year and increase staffing across all centres, Anand said.

“The Sigmoid team, distinguished by its excellence in data engineering and AI, is well placed to seize this opportunity. As long-term partners, we are delighted to double their goal to be the premier provider of technical data and AI solutions to accelerate the digital transformation of businesses across all industries,” said Anandamoy Roychowdhary, Director, Sequoia Southeast Asia, in a prepared statement.