the issues facing them. One such issue was that enterprises had developed numerous long tail applications on the Lotus platform, and a move out would mean orphan apps all over the organization.
The key selling point was Orangescape’s ability to cost-effectively and seamlessly facilitate this transition through their PaaS solution.
After gaining traction with their first product, Orangescape launched KiSSFLOW in 2012. Also built to integrate with Google Apps, this workflow engine is designed for small and mid-size businesses in order to capitalize on their need for an organized system of mail and documents. The product pilot drew more than 500 customers. It is currently being validated.
While it bootstrapped itself to the Million Dollar Club, Orangescape has since raised $1 million from the Indian Angel Network.
MMIS
Portsmouth, New Hampshire-based MMIS develops and markets software products for secure collaboration and compliance for healthcare and pharmaceutical businesses. Founder Michaeline Daboul has shepherded the company through significant pivots to arrive at a value proposition that customers are resonating with.
The company has settled on two competitive central technology platforms: collaboration suite NetworkFortress, and an aggregate spending tracking system MediSpend, both of which are being sold primarily to pharmaceutical and medical device companies. MediSpend first launched as a SaaS platform in January 2011, and was quickly followed by a third low cost, high-feature platform capable of integration with MediSpend. The platform is now the most competitive in its category.
MMIS has already surpassed competitors Cegedim and Aggregate Spend 360 in customer volume. Major system integrator partners have started showing serious interest, promising to address Michaeline’s scaling challenge.
The company has surpassed the $1 million mark, and has accumulated a strong backlog that should make 2013 an exciting year. A key take-away here: if you can reach the Million Dollar Club, channel options may also open up!
IndiaCakes
Also in the Million Dollar Club is IndiaCakes, an online cake delivery shop based in Pune. Founder Manit Nagri started off by observing that Indians around the world would like to celebrate their loved ones at home on special occasions by sending them cakes.
The site consolidates the menus of hundreds of cake shops, from hundreds of locations in India. Cakes can be combined into packages with flowers and chocolate and delivered to 250 Indian cities. IndiaCakes offers additional convenience in the form of five-hour delivery, or having a cake delivered by midnight.
Manit has had top VCs chasing him, wanting to invest in the company. We love to see entrepreneurs in the position of being chased by, rather than chasing, venture investors.
See? The “Bootstrap First, Raise Money Later” philosophy works! Of course, not raising money remains an option, and many entrepreneurs are taking that course.
Mansa Systems
San Francisco-based Mansa Systems, led by founder Siva Devaki, is one of them. Mansa provides cloud, mobile, and social enterprise solutions, including cloud storage, secure document sharing, cloud telephony and more. In order to differentiate the firm from its competitors, Siva initially focused on Salesforce CRM, partnering with the company to build apps for Salesforce customers and publish them via AppExchange. Today, the company provides both products and services that extend the Salesforce CRM capabilities.
If you look at their portfolio of apps, you will find CloudDrop, a storage app built on the Rackspace infrastructure, as well as Slide2Lead, a nifty app to integrate SlideShare with Salesforce CRM. Each app is affordably priced, well below competition, and comes with the option of additional integration services from the company.
The company is entirely self-funded through the company’s services business, with no plans for outside funding at the moment. Mansa continues to expand by building strong partner relations with
