PandaDoc - a startup founded by immigrants from Belarus Mikita Mikado and Sergey Borisyuk, which develops software for automating document flow. The service works in the field of business offers, contracts and electronic signatures.
History
2021
TMT Investments sold part of stake in Pandadoc for $2 million
At the same time, the TMT Investments fund announced the sale of 11% of the fund's share in the electronic document management service of PandaDoc created by immigrants from Belarus Mikita Mikado and Sergey Borisyuk. The deal amounted to $2 million. The company's valuation in this transaction was 30% higher than it was estimated at the end of the first half of 2021.
In Pandadoc, the TMT Investments fund owns 1.3%. The fund's investments in the project amounted to $3.6 million.
Attracting investments, estimated at $1 billion
On September 22, 2021, PandaDoc announced the attraction of investments in the framework of the Series C round, as a result of which the Belarusian-based platform for document automation was estimated at more than $1 billion.
OMERS Growth Equity and G Squared (were the main investors), as well as Altos Ventures, Rembrandt Venture Partners, One Peak Partners and M12 (Microsoft Venture Fund) invested in the startup.
The volume of investments in the PandaDoc is not disclosed. According to TechCrunch, the company's desire to maintain confidentiality in terms of finance is connected with a criminal case against four employees of the Minsk office amid their political speeches. The case was closed in August 2021, but then it was not reported whether the restrictions on his defendants were lifted.
The funds received during the round will be used to increase the presence of PandaDoc in new verticals, accelerate global expansion, increase the functionality of the platform and increase the access of developers to integration with other software and accounting systems.
 | This additional funding will allow us to continue to innovate, expand our team and increase our global presence to enter new, very profitable markets, "said Mikita Mikado, CEO and co-founder of the PandaDoc. |  |
As of September 2021, PandaDoc has more than 30 thousand customers in 130 countries. Over the year, the company was able to increase the number of users by 80%, and revenues - by 64%. The eSign product, which is a digital signature, was launched at the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic, and by COVID-19 September 2021 it is used by hundreds of thousands of new users in different industries.
According to the Tampa Bay Business Journal, most PandaDoc employees work in an office in St. Petersburg, and the company does not intend to transfer these workers to other countries.[1]
2020
Opening an office in Ukraine
At the end of September 2020, PandaDoc announced the opening of an office in Ukraine. Employees from Belarus began to move there after the security forces opened a criminal case against the company's management and limited its activities.
| | We are opening a company in Ukraine, actively looking for employees... About 60 people have already moved from Minsk to Kiev, Odessa and Lviv, "said PandaDoc co-founder Nikita Mikado in an interview with the dou.ua information portal, which is aimed at software developers. | |
According to Mikado, there are certain "issues" with Ukrainian migration legislation, but the government Ukraine"actively involved in solving them."
The founder of PandaDoc named several advantages of working in Ukraine: talented local employees, the lack of a language barrier and legislation. The tax conditions that Kiev provides are even more profitable than Minsk, said Mikado. At the same time, he spoke about the difficulties of working in Ukraine.
| | We have one problem that needs to be solved in Ukraine. And by deciding it for us, you will decide it for everyone. Most Belarusian companies move here and choose the same method with FOP ["individual - entrepreneur" - approx. TAdviser] as most Ukrainian companies. At the same time, the Belarusian programmer does not succeed in obtaining a residence permit in this way. Because he has to be officially employed. A residence permit cannot be obtained through the FOP. And in 90 days you need to leave the country, "said Mikado. | |
He added that the decision to open an office in Ukraine was influenced, first of all, by the situation in Belarus. The businessman explained that August and September 2020 were the hardest months of his life - the company had "completely different" plans for the end of summer, and the brutal outbursts of protesters, like the arrest of PandaDoc employees, came as a complete surprise.[2]
Close the Protect Belarus project
Co-founder of IT company PandaDoc Mikita Mikado closed the project of material assistance to former security officials after the arrest of employees and the blocking of accounts. The entrepreneur himself told the BBC Russian service about this in mid-September 2020. More details here.
Blocking accounts in Belarus
September 11, 2020 PandaDoc announced the blocking of its bank accounts in Belarus. As a result, the company cannot pay salaries to more than 250 employees, and also cannot pay taxes and deductions to the Social Protection Fund (FSZN).
The reasons for the blocking in the bank and government are not announced. No claims were made against PandaDoc, the company noted. Management suggests that the blocking of accounts may be related to a criminal case against employees of the Minsk office.
| | These repressions are carried out to put pressure on and stop the initiative of the founders of the company, the website says. | |
The company suggests that the claims of the security forces are related to the return of tax deductions for VAT or the sale of old equipment to employees and third parties. The PandaDoc herself did not have anything stolen, the statement emphasizes.
| | A legal precedent has been created that allows you to come to any IT company that returned VAT, and arrest its employees. In fact, almost all IT companies can be charged with the same, they were indignant at the company. | |
The company emphasized that the salaries of employees were higher than their possible profit from resale, so they consider the charges "meaningless," and all transactions passed legal verification and numerous audits.
As the PandaDoc noted earlier, its employees are accused of taking possession of about 107 thousand Belarusian rubles from the budget (about $40.6 thousand), using their official position, thereby causing damage to the state.
The real reason for the criminal prosecution in PandaDoc was called the personal initiative of the founder Mikita Mikado to organize assistance to the retiring security forces and his support for the protests.[3]
The founder of the company offers money to security forces in Belarus who want to quit due to disagreement with President Lukashenko's policy
In September 2020, investigators from the Belarusian KGB came to the Minsk office of the startup PandaDoc. The founder of the startup, Mikita Mikado, previously offered money to Belarusian security officials who want to quit because of disagreement with President Lukashenko's policy.
Mikado's employees were closed in the office, banned from using phones and demanded to unlock computers, otherwise threatening to seize equipment. The reason for checking Mikado is tax evasion, but he calls the actions of law enforcement officers "repression." Earlier searches took place in the local office of Yandex.
Attracting $30 million of investments
In early August 2020, PandaDoc announced the attraction of $30 million in investments. According to the results of the funding round, One Peak Partners invested the most. Other investors included Microsoft Venture Fund (M12), Savano Capital Partners, Rembrandt Venture Partners and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD).
Former chief operating officer of RingCentral, entrepreneur and business angel David Syps participated in this round as an investor, and also joined the board of directors of PandaDoc.
PandaDoc will direct the funds raised to the development of technology in the segment of electronic signatures. The company noted that earlier in 2020 it launched a free product for electronic signatures, which allowed the startup to gain a foothold in the market of more than $25 billion. Since the release of the new product, PandaDoc has risen to fourth place in the G2 ranking by electronic signatures.
| | The new round will help the team strengthen its leadership, as well as actively develop in the segment of electronic signatures, "said Artyom Inyutin, co-founder and managing partner of TMT Investments (PandaDoc is part of its investment portfolio). | |
According to him, the Pandadoc team has the ability to create products that become leaders in the American document automation market. This market is tens of billions of dollars, he added.
By the beginning of August 2020, the company employs 334 employees. By the end of the year, the staff will reach 380 people, in 2021 - 470 people, they expect in PandaDoc.[4]
Notes
- ↑ Belarusian-based platform for document automation has PandaDoc attracted investment and now costs more than $1 billion
- ↑ "The last two months have been the most difficult period of my life." Mikita Mikado, CEO PandaDoc - about the arrest of employees, political activism and the opening of an office in Ukraine
- ↑ The essence of the case
- ↑ PandaDoc announces second Series B extension worth $30M
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