Icertis was founded by Samir Bodas and Monish Darda in 2009 and became a leading enterprise contract management SaaS company.
Discover how Samir Bodas and Monish Darda built Icertis into a global contract management SaaS leader, reaching a $5 billion valuation and serving major enterprises worldwide.
Written by TFN Research Desk | covering startups, technology, venture capital, and business strategy
Quick Facts
| Founders | Samir Bodas, Monish Darda |
| Education | Samir Bodas – University of Texas at Austin; MBA, Wharton School |
| Prior Ventures | Samir Bodas – National Instruments; Microsoft; CEO, Disha Technologies and Aztecsoft; Monish Darda – Co-Founder, Websym Technologies; VP R&D, BladeLogic |
| Role | Co-Founder and CTO, Icertis (Monish Darda) |
| Founded | 2009 |
| Sector | Contract Management SaaS |
Introduction
Samir Bodas and Monish Darda founded Icertis in an unusually deliberate way for a startup: not from a dorm room or a sudden flash of inspiration, but from two experienced executives in their 40s, both already several careers deep, choosing to build something of their own together. (Forbes India) Bodas had just exited Aztecsoft following its acquisition by Mindtree, and in 2009, he and Darda, who had once been Bodas’s customer, set out to build a company at the dawn of enterprise cloud computing. (GeekWire) Sixteen years later, Icertis has become the category-defining leader in AI-powered contract management, used by more than a third of the Fortune 100. (BusinessWire)
The Icertis Story
Before founding Icertis, Bodas began his career as a software programmer at National Instruments, later earned his MBA from Wharton, and spent time at Microsoft in sales and marketing roles before moving into startup leadership, running Disha Technologies and later Aztecsoft. (Icertis) Darda, meanwhile, had co-founded Websym Technologies, helped engineer Storability Software’s acquisition by Sun Microsystems, and later served as VP of R&D at BladeLogic. (werisebyliftingothers)
Rather than starting with a fixed idea, the two began with some technology consulting work while searching for the right product opportunity, initially riding the broader wave of cloud infrastructure being built out by Microsoft Azure and Amazon Web Services. (Forbes India; TiE Seattle) A serendipitous conversation with a legal industry expert pointed Bodas toward a specific insight: contracts, then treated as static legal paperwork, could instead become a strategic, searchable, analyzable business asset if built properly on the cloud. (TiE Seattle)
That insight became Icertis Contract Intelligence, and by 2014 the company already counted Johnson & Johnson and Airtel among its customers. (TiE Seattle) The company reached unicorn status in 2019 following a $115 million round led by Greycroft and PremjiInvest, becoming the first company in the contract lifecycle management category to cross a $1 billion valuation. (werisebyliftingothers; GeekWire) A subsequent investment from SAP, alongside SoftBank, pushed the company’s valuation as high as $5 billion by 2022. (Icertis)
Business Model
Icertis earns revenue through enterprise SaaS subscriptions for its AI-powered contract management platform:
| Revenue Stream | How It Works |
|---|---|
| Icertis Contract Intelligence (ICI) | Core subscription platform for managing sell-side, buy-side, and enterprise contracts |
| AI-powered analytics | Contract insight, risk analysis, and obligation-tracking tools layered onto the core platform |
| Industry-specific solutions | Tailored offerings for financial services, healthcare, retail, and manufacturing |
| Partner integrations | Deep partnerships with hyperscalers (Microsoft, SAP) and large system integrators |
(Sourced from BusinessWire)
Funding History
| Round | Year | Amount | Key Investors |
|---|---|---|---|
| Series E (Unicorn round) | Jan 2019 | $115 million | Greycroft, PremjiInvest |
| Series F | 2021 | Undisclosed | Existing investors, SoftBank |
| Strategic investment | 2022 | Undisclosed | SAP ($5B valuation) |
(Sourced from werisebyliftingothers and Wikipedia)
Overall, Icertis has raised more than $560 million to date, reaching a peak valuation of $5 billion in its 2022 funding round. (Inc42) The company remains privately held, with minority stakes held by SoftBank and SAP alongside its venture investors. (Wikipedia)
Revenue and Growth
Icertis does not publicly disclose detailed annual financials as a private company. In August 2025, the company disclosed it had grown the business to approach $350 million in annual recurring revenue under Bodas’s leadership. (BusinessWire) That same month, Bodas transitioned from CEO to Executive Chairman after more than 15 years of leadership, with COO Anand Subbaraman appointed CEO. (BusinessWire)
In January 2026, Icertis announced that Bodas had passed away at 61, following a battle with cancer. (Icertis) In a statement, co-founder Monish Darda said Bodas had “challenged all of us to think bigger, act with integrity, and to create a consequential and enduring company,” adding that “the company we are today is a testament to his vision.” (Icertis) The company has said it will continue forward under the principles Bodas established, with Darda continuing in his role as CTO and Subbaraman leading the company as CEO. (GeekWire)
Icertis vs Competitors
Icertis competes with DocuSign CLM, ContractPodAi, and SAP’s own contract management offerings in the enterprise contract lifecycle management space. (BusinessWire) As the first company to define the contract intelligence category at scale, Icertis has maintained an early-mover advantage reinforced by deep partnerships with major enterprise software platforms.
Key Takeaways
- Samir Bodas and Monish Darda founded Icertis in 2009, both experienced executives in their 40s pivoting from earlier successful careers.
- The company became the first contract lifecycle management company to reach a $1 billion valuation in 2019, later peaking at $5 billion in 2022.
- Icertis has raised more than $560 million to date and now serves over a third of the Fortune 100.
- Bodas transitioned from CEO to Executive Chairman in August 2025, with COO Anand Subbaraman becoming CEO, before Bodas passed away in January 2026 following a battle with cancer.
- The company competes with DocuSign CLM, ContractPodAi, and SAP in enterprise contract management.
FAQs
Who founded Icertis?
Samir Bodas and Monish Darda founded Icertis in 2009.
Is Icertis a public company?
No, it remains privately held, with minority stakes held by SoftBank and SAP.
How much funding has Icertis raised?
More than $560 million, reaching a peak valuation of $5 billion in 2022.
Who are Icertis’s competitors?
DocuSign CLM, ContractPodAi, and SAP’s contract management offerings.
© The Founder Nation | Written by TFN Research Desk
