SaaS adoption has proliferated across nearly every industry vertical and business function to the point where it is now nearly ubiquitous throughout the economy. This has created multiple market opportunities for businesses utilizing an “API-first” strategy, whereby they offer new products or services via API that complement existing SaaS applications or they use API technology to break down data silos and connect what would otherwise be disparate data sets. A handful of first-movers have capitalized on a subset of these opportunities in both products & services (e.g., Twilio in voice & text, Stripe in payments) and data aggregation (e.g., MuleSoft for enterprises, Plaid for FinTech / financial institutions). We believe this dynamic is still in its early days and that there will be many future opportunities for growth investors with strong SaaS experience to partner with these businesses.
To capitalize on this trend, Catalyst is exploring businesses participating in the “API Economy”, which we define as companies doing any of the following:
- Pursuing an “API-first” product or go-to-market strategy (e.g., Twilio, Stripe, Algolia, MapBox)
- Utilizing APIs to connect data silos (e.g., MuleSoft, Plaid, Zapier, Segment, Redox, Trulioo)
- Enabling the development and maintenance of APIs (e.g., Apigee, Kong, SmartBear)
At Catalyst, we employ a proactive, research-based approach to investing, targeting sectors experiencing outstanding growth. If you are an owner, operator, or investor of a growth stage company participating in the API Economy, we would like to hear from you. Please send inquiries and business plans to grady@catalyst.com.