8 Years Without Funding to $100M Raise & Now A Category Leader | Shivku Ganesan ,Exotel

A 14-year journey from bootstrap to scale. Exotel’s story is one of India’s most remarkable SaaS journeys. Shivakumar Ganesan, started Exotel in 2011, bootstrapping it from the ground up. In 2012, he raised a seed round of ₹2.5 crore, but for the next eight years, the company grew without any external funding. Then came COVID and revenue went from $10M to $5M and what followed were bold strategic moves. 3 funding rounds, 2 major acquisitions, and the decision to stay focused on the Indian market despite advice to go global first. Today, Exotel powers calls for delivery executives, cab drivers, and banking relationship managers across the country. In this conversation, Shivku shares what it’s like to tackle India’s unique AI challenge of building voicebots in 30+ languages, and how automation could reduce contact center jobs by as much as 80%. He talks about the tough transition from serving SMBs to enterprise customers and how he has built a ₹2500 crore+ business without leaving India. If you’re interested in B2B companies built from India, this episode is full of insights on timing, reading the market, and creating deep moats in overlooked opportunities. 0:00 – Trailer 0:42 – Exotel enabling 2 Billion Calls Monthly 5:04 – 4 Fundraises & 2 M&A’s in 18 Months 12:06 – How Acquisitions Affect Company Finances 18:11 – Why 90% of M&As Fail 22:02 – Why Acquisitions Are Extremely Hard 22:59 – How AI Will Change Customer Relations 26:46 – How Customer Spending Will Shift with AI 29:10 – AI Could Reduce 80% of Jobs 30:27 – Where AI Offers Hope 31:47 – India’s Unique AI Challenges 34:60 → Actually 35:00 – Building in India for the US Market 38:17 – Why Exotel Didn’t Enter the US Market 39:49 – Indian SaaS Co’s Should Go Public 42:50 – The Mega Cycles of Tech Transformation 45:37 – Customer Segments: SMBs to Startups to Enterprise 56:45 – Find Large Uniquely Indian Markets to Solve 59:44 – India’s Shift from Price to Quality Is 20 Years Away ------------- India’s talent has built the world’s tech—now it’s time to lead it. This mission goes beyond startups. It’s about shifting the center of gravity in global tech to include the brilliance rising from India. What is Neon Fund? We invest in seed and early-stage founders from India and the diaspora building world-class Enterprise AI companies. We bring capital, conviction, and a community that’s done it before. Subscribe for real founder stories, investor perspectives, economist breakdowns, and a behind-the-scenes look at how we’re doing it all at Neon. ------------- Check us out on: Website: https://neon.fund/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theneonshoww/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/beneon/ Twitter: https://x.com/TheNeonShoww Connect with Siddhartha on: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/siddharthaahluwalia/ Twitter: https://x.com/siddharthaa7 ------------- This video is for informational purposes only. The views expressed are those of the individuals quoted and do not constitute professional advice. Send us a text