Retool, which provides drag and drop tools for companies to make internal apps, raised a $45M Series C2 at a $3.2B valuation, up from $1.93B in December 2021
The explosion of cloud computing, broadband networks, smarter devices and a vogue for building SaaS startups has created a universe …
Context & Ripple Effects
Retool's valuation has roughly doubled twice in under two years: a Sequoia-led $50M round at $925M in October 2020, then the $20M Series C at a $1.85B pre-money valuation in December 2021 with Stripe's founders among the investors. The new $45M Series C2 lifts that to $3.2B — a step-up extension just months after the original Series C, and landing in mid-2022 when SaaS valuations broadly were compressing.
First-order effects
- Existing backers — Sequoia, Stripe's founders — see their stakes marked up to $3.2B within seven months of the Series C, while Retool adds $45M of runway without pricing a full new round into a cooling market.
Second-order effects
- Rivals building low-code and internal-data tooling — the space Transform entered out of stealth with its own $20M Series A in June 2021 — now compete against a better-capitalized incumbent that can discount or bundle to win enterprise deals.
Third-order effects
- If internal-app platforms keep raising at premiums through a downturn, budget pressure on enterprises may accelerate consolidation toward build-your-own tooling over per-function SaaS purchases — a structural threat to the long tail of point-solution vendors.
The trend: Enterprise software spending is tilting toward platforms that let companies assemble their own internal apps, letting infrastructure-style vendors like Retool compound valuations even as broader SaaS multiples soften.