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How Celigo 2x'd ARR in 3 Years

Valuation discipline, choosing investors beyond price, and using a little debt alongside equity

Jan Arendtsz · Celigo

Published September 6, 2024
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What you’ll learn

Jan Arendtsz describes Celigo’s capital-efficient growth as an automation platform. He covers valuation discipline, selecting investors for more than price, and using a small amount of debt alongside equity financing.

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But then like there's there's Dark Horse out there…

“but then like there's there's Dark Horse out there and I love dark horses when I find one I want to get them on stage right and so there's this other company that maybe you've heard of uh called cigo and it's run by a gentleman uh named Yan aren and what he's done is he's built a company that's well over 100 million bucks of Revenue but hasn't had to go out and raise 400 million bucks of Revenue and directly competes with the likes of moft we're going to dive into it all today please give Mr Yan”

Trading partners we do all of that it's an…

“trading partners we do all of that it's an automation platform so what I want you guys to focus on here is that that that last number in the headline on this screenshot because that multiple is one that is way lower than what others were raising in the space at the same time and again you have a discipline around here I want you to elaborate on a second on that but I want to establish the pattern more here first so this was it was about 8.3 on about a 30 post right right around that uh that's co”

Think every round was different in this round what…

“think every round was different in this round what was the extenuating factor I imagine you had term sheets on the table for much higher than a 6.3x multiple but you took this deal for a particular reason related to terms yeah so this one's pretty simple look I we had multiple term sheets I'd been speaking to maybe 25 30 investors at the time uh likely got term Shades from about 5 to 10 it really came down to the firm and the person who is going to sit on the”

Pay off debt providers it was a very small…

“pay off debt providers um it was a very small I think we raised about uh a million and a half in debt I think um in what year 2015 maybe oh wow so that I was wrong your first outside Capital was not that Equity raise it was debt uh yeah and yeah so so there was a warrant there um okay but that was that was it yeah yeah okay so business keeps growing you're doing these great deals you're creating some liquidity for the debt providers”

Celigo’s Series A

“Celigo Revenue Growth Series A $8.3m at $28.6m Valuation (4x) Celigo first outside capital 2016”

The Series A extension

“Celigo Revenue Growth Series A+ $4m at $32m Valuation (4x) Extension round 2017”

Capital efficiency in iPaaS

“Capital Efficiency in iPaaS The big other 3 Salesforce paid $6.5b (22x) 2017 ARR of $297m Enterprise motion but $400m+ raised to hit ~$170m ARR today ($5.7b last Valuation) Bottoms up, PLG version. $140m ARR, $5b valuation 2021”

The Series B valuation question

“Celigo Revenue Growth Series B $23m at $139m Valuation (6.3x) Why trade at 6.3x when Mulesoft just exited at 21x? 2019”

Series C and vertical expansion

“Celigo Revenue Growth Series C $48m at $540m Valuation (11.2x) Vertical expansion 2021”

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About the speaker
Jan Arendtsz

Jan Arendtsz

CEO & President · Celigo

Founder & CEO of Celigo, an integration platform as a service (iPaaS) that helps businesses integrate cloud applications.

Company revenue
$80M

Slide by slide

Each slide with a short explanation of what it shows. Open the slide text for its exact wording.

13 passages

Celigo’s ARR growth story

  1. Slide text

    SaaSOpen, September 2024 How Celigo 2x’d ARR in 3 Years Jan Arendtsz CEO & President, Celigo

Early funding milestones

  1. Celigo revenue rises steadily

    Celigo’s revenue chart climbs from $6m in 2015 to $92m in 2024, with the bars increasing each year shown. Growth accelerates after 2018, reaching $48m in 2021 and $85m in 2023.

    Slide text

    Celigo Revenue Growth

  2. First outside capital in 2016

    Celigo raised a Series A of $8.3m at a $28.6m valuation, marked as 4x, in 2016. The accompanying website image positions the product as a way to connect cloud apps through prebuilt or custom integrations.

    Slide text

    Celigo Revenue Growth Series A $8.3m at $28.6m Valuation (4x) Celigo first outside capital 2016

  3. Series A extension in 2017

    Celigo raised a $4m Series A+ extension at a $32m valuation, marked as 4x, in 2017. The funding milestone appears on the company’s revenue-growth timeline.

    Slide text

    Celigo Revenue Growth Series A+ $4m at $32m Valuation (4x) Extension round 2017

  4. Revenue keeps compounding

    The chart emphasizes Celigo’s sustained year-over-year revenue growth, rising from $6m in 2015 to $92m in 2024. The steepest gains appear in the later years, with revenue reaching $48m in 2021 and $67m in 2022.

    Slide text

    Celigo Revenue Growth

Capital efficiency in iPaaS

  1. Three iPaaS growth profiles

    The comparison contrasts Salesforce’s $6.5b purchase of MuleSoft at 22x 2017 ARR of $297m, Workato’s enterprise path with $400m+ raised and about $170m ARR, and Zapier’s bottoms-up, PLG profile with $140m ARR and a $5b valuation in 2021. The cards frame distinct capital and go-to-market profiles in the category.

    Slide text

    Capital Efficiency in iPaaS The big other 3 Salesforce paid $6.5b (22x) 2017 ARR of $297m Enterprise motion but $400m+ raised to hit ~$170m ARR today ($5.7b last Valuation) Bottoms up, PLG version. $140m ARR, $5b valuation 2021

Later funding and expansion

  1. Series B at a 6.3x valuation

    Celigo’s 2019 Series B brought in $23m at a $139m valuation, or 6.3x. The slide asks why the company traded at 6.3x when MuleSoft had just exited at 21x, alongside a screenshot of Celigo’s integration platform.

    Slide text

    Celigo Revenue Growth Series B $23m at $139m Valuation (6.3x) Why trade at 6.3x when Mulesoft just exited at 21x? 2019

  2. Series C and vertical expansion

    Celigo raised a $48m Series C at a $540m valuation, or 11.2x, in 2021. The accompanying site image presents integrations organized around business processes, industries, roles, and ecosystems.

    Slide text

    Celigo Revenue Growth Series C $48m at $540m Valuation (11.2x) Vertical expansion 2021

  3. Possible secondary liquidity

    The slide raises the possibility of a $7.9m secondary offering to provide some liquidity to early holders in 2021. An SEC Form D screenshot accompanies the question.

    Slide text

    Celigo Revenue Growth $7.9m Secondary? Some liquidity to early holders? 2021

  4. Revenue reaches $92m

    Celigo’s revenue chart culminates at $92m in 2024, following a steady rise from $6m in 2015. The final three bars show growth from $67m in 2022 to $85m in 2023 and $92m in 2024.

    Slide text

    Celigo Revenue Growth

  5. Integrate apps to upgrade business

    Celigo’s website frames app integration as a way to improve business processes. The screenshot pairs that message with a description of its integration platform and free-trial and video calls to action.

Closing context

  1. Founder interviews and audience proof

    The speaker highlights 3,050 SaaS founder interviews and a podcast with 500+ five-star reviews. The slide pairs an iTunes podcast listing with two favorable listener-review excerpts.

    Slide text

    3,050 SaaS Founders Interviewed Search “Latka” on iTunes. 500+ Five star reviews.

  2. Thank you

    Jan Arendtsz closes by thanking the audience after presenting Celigo’s growth story. The closing card identifies him as Celigo’s CEO and President.

    Slide text

    SaaSOpen, September 2024 Thank you! Jan Arendtsz CEO & President, Celigo