Druva was founded by Jaspreet Singh, Milind Borate and Ramani Kothandaraman in 2008 and became India's first SaaS unicorn in 2019.
Discover how Jaspreet Singh, Milind Borate and Ramani Kothandaraman built Druva from a Pune startup into India’s first SaaS unicorn and a global data protection company.
Written by TFN Research Desk | covering startups, technology, venture capital, and business strategy
Quick Facts
| Founders | Jaspreet Singh, Milind Borate, Ramani Kothandaraman |
| Education | Jaspreet Singh – Computer Science, IIT Guwahati; Milind Borate – IISc Bangalore; M.Tech, IIT Bombay |
| Prior Ventures | All three founders – Colleagues at Veritas Software |
| Role | Co-Founder and CEO, Druva (Jaspreet Singh); Co-Founder and CTO (Milind Borate) |
| Founded | 2008 |
| Sector | Data Protection SaaS |
Introduction
Jaspreet Singh, Milind Borate, and Ramani Kothandaraman met as colleagues at Veritas Software, a data storage company, where they noticed a persistent gap: mid-sized companies were losing critical data with no simple, affordable way to protect it. (Business Standard) In 2008, the trio pooled roughly ₹30 lakh of their own savings, rented a small room in Pune, and founded Druva. (Business Standard) Seventeen years and three major pivots later, Druva became India’s first SaaS unicorn. (Medium)
The Druva Story
Before founding Druva, Borate had worked at Veritas as Technical Director for its SAN file system and had actually been the one to encourage Singh to join the company; the two later brought in Kothandaraman, who was also at Veritas. (YourStory) All three had grown restless doing corporate work and wanted to build something of their own, having seen firsthand the gaps in how companies protected their data. (YourStory)
Druva’s first product focused narrowly on corporate laptop backup, a real but limited problem, and while the founders found some early customers in India, they discovered unexpectedly strong inbound demand from the US market instead. (YourStory) Early feedback made clear the product was too complex, so the team simplified it around a much clearer value proposition, a pattern of listening and adjusting that would define the company’s next decade. (YourStory)
CEO Jaspreet Singh has described Druva’s journey as “a story of pivots” rather than an overnight success. (Inc42) The most consequential of these came in 2013, when the founders made a deliberate, investor-backed decision to rebuild the company entirely around a cloud-native architecture rather than traditional on-premise software, a shift that took the company from roughly $10 million in annual recurring revenue to over $200 million as cloud adoption accelerated industry-wide. (UpMarket) That transformation, alongside relocating headquarters to Santa Clara, California, culminated in Druva reaching unicorn status in June 2019, becoming India’s first SaaS company to do so. (Medium)
Business Model
Druva earns revenue through subscription-based SaaS pricing for its cloud data protection platform:
| Revenue Stream | How It Works |
|---|---|
| Druva Cloud Platform | Core subscription for backup, disaster recovery, and data protection across endpoints, data centers, and cloud workloads |
| Cyber resilience and threat response | Add-on security modules for ransomware and incident response |
| AI-driven metadata and recovery tools | Newer capabilities, including Dru MetaGraph and AI agents for workload recovery |
| Public sector and enterprise contracts | FedRAMP-authorized offerings for government and regulated industries |
(Sourced from Tracxn)
Funding History
| Round | Year | Amount | Key Investors |
|---|---|---|---|
| Growth rounds | 2013–2017 | Multiple rounds | Sequoia Capital India, Nexus Venture Partners, Riverwood Capital |
| Series G (Unicorn round) | Jun 2019 | $130 million | Viking Global Investors, Neuberger Berman, Atreides Management |
| Series H | Apr 2021 | $147 million | CDPQ (lead), Neuberger Berman |
(Sourced from Business Standard and Tracxn)
Overall, Druva has raised approximately $475 million to date, reaching a valuation above $2 billion following its 2021 Series H round. (Tracxn) CEO Jaspreet Singh has said the “best outcome” for Druva would ultimately be going public, though he has not committed to a specific timeline. (Forge)
Revenue and Growth
Druva does not publicly disclose detailed annual financials as a private company, but its revenue has grown substantially since its cloud pivot. The company reported approximately $304.3 million in 2024 revenue, alongside a subsequent $147 million raise that pushed its valuation above $2 billion. (UpMarket)
Notably, Druva has continued investing heavily in AI-driven capabilities, launching Dru MetaGraph and AI agents for workload recovery and incident response through 2025, alongside expanding its FedRAMP Moderate authorization for public sector customers and forming ReconX Labs, a dedicated security research and threat intelligence unit. (Tracxn) The company was also named a Leader in the 2025 Gartner Magic Quadrant for Backup and Data Protection Platforms. (Tracxn)
Druva vs Competitors
Druva competes with Rubrik, Veeam, and Cohesity in the cloud data protection and backup market. (Tracxn) Unlike several rivals that began as on-premise software vendors and later added cloud capabilities, Druva rebuilt itself as cloud-native from 2013 onward, a structural head start that has shaped its product architecture and enterprise sales pitch ever since.
Key Takeaways
- Jaspreet Singh, Milind Borate, and Ramani Kothandaraman, former Veritas Software colleagues, founded Druva in Pune in 2008.
- The company went through three major pivots, most significantly a 2013 shift to a fully cloud-native architecture that scaled ARR from $10 million to over $200 million.
- Druva became India’s first SaaS unicorn in June 2019, and has raised approximately $475 million to date, reaching a valuation above $2 billion in 2021.
- The company reported roughly $304.3 million in 2024 revenue and continues investing heavily in AI-driven data protection and cyber resilience tools.
- Druva competes with Rubrik, Veeam, and Cohesity in the cloud data protection market, with CEO Jaspreet Singh signaling a future IPO as the company’s likely long-term path.
FAQs
Who founded Druva?
Jaspreet Singh, Milind Borate, and Ramani Kothandaraman, all former Veritas Software colleagues, founded Druva in Pune in 2008.
Is Druva a public company?
No, though CEO Jaspreet Singh has said going public is the company’s likely eventual outcome.
How much funding has Druva raised?
Approximately $475 million to date, reaching a valuation above $2 billion in 2021.
Who are Druva’s competitors?
Rubrik, Veeam, and Cohesity in the cloud data protection and backup market.
© The Founder Nation | Written by TFN Research Desk
