Zuora

Launch and IPO

In 2007, K.V. Rao and Cheng Zou (engineers at WebEx) and Tien Tzuo (an early executive at Salesforce) founded Zuora.[6] The name of the company derives from a combination of their three surnames. The concept behind the company was a cloud-based billings platform to alleviate the need for online businesses to develop their own billing systems.[6]

On 16 March 2018, the company filed for an initial public offering.[7][8] On 12 April 2018, Zuora listed in NYSE under the ticker symbol ZUO.[9][10] The company generated $154 million in the offering,[3] and entered the market as a public company at a $1.4 billion valuation.[11] By the end of April 2018, the company was valued at over $2 billion.[12]

In 2016, Zuora launched the Subscription Economy Index, which tracks revenue growth of subscription businesses, comparing the growth to sales benchmarks. The index is based on data from hundreds of businesses on Zuora's platform. The index is updated twice a year.[13][14][15]

Zuora hosts a conference series called Subscribed, covering topics related to the subscription economy and taking place in various cities each year.[16][17][4] The Subscribed Institute, a think tank for subscription-based companies, was founded by Amy Konary[18] and launched in 2018.[19]

In 2019, Zuora hired former LogMeIn executive Chris Battles as its chief product officer,[20] and former Adobe executive Robbie Traube as chief revenue officer.[21] In June 2020, Zuora hired Todd McElhatton, formerly of SAP, as its new chief financial officer.[22]

Zuora won the 2017 CODiE Award for Best Subscription Management Solution,[23][24] and the 2020 CODiE Award for Best Subscription Billing Solution.[25] Zuora received a 2020 Bronze Stevie Award for Customer Service.[26]

Acquisitions and partnerships

On 20 May 2015, Zuora acquired Frontleaf and launched Z-Insights, combining information from its subscriber invoicing and billing platform with customer usage information.[27] In 2017, Zuora purchased Leeyo Software, a revenue recognition platform.[28][29]

Zuora partners with companies including Deloitte, Accenture, and PwC.[30] In 2020, Zuora announced an expanded integration with GoCardless, to help companies in North America, Europe, the UK, Australia, and New Zealand to process recurring payments faster and reduce payment-related costs.[31]

In August 2022, Zuora reached an agreement to acquire Zephr, a subscription experience platform, for $44 million in cash.[32][33]

Funding

On 17 December 2007, Zuora announced it had raised $6 million in Series A funding.[34] Zuora announced $15 million in Series B funding on 15 September 2008;[35] $20 million in Series C funding in October 2010;[6] $36 million in Series D funding on 4 November 2011;[36] $50 million in Series E funding on 5 September 2013;[37] and $115 million in Series F funding on 11 March 2015,[38] bringing its total funding to $250 million.[39] Investors include Benchmark Capital, Greylock Partners, Redpoint Ventures, Index Ventures, Shasta Ventures, Vulcan Capital, and Next World Capital.[39] Private investors include founder and CEO of Salesforce Marc Benioff[40] and former PeopleSoft vice-chair and founder and co-CEO of Workday, Dave Duffield.[39]

Takeover

In October 2024, American private equity firm Silver Lake together with Singaporean sovereign wealth fund GIC agreed to take Zuora private in an all-cash deal valued at $1.7 billion.[41] The acquisition was completed in February 2025.[42]