In 5 years, 10 mid-tier IT companies join $1 billion club

BENGALURU: Call it the mid-tier IT firm’s breakout moment. Over the past decade, 15 companies crossed the $1 billion revenue mark—10 of them in just the last five years, with several more on the cusp.

This marks a structural shift in the mid-tier segment, packing a bigger punch.Take Coforge, for instance. It aims to achieve a revenue milestone of $2 billion by fiscal 2027. The company surpassed $1 billion in revenue during the financial year 2022-23, demonstrating a year-on-year growth of 22.4% in constant currency terms. Digital engineering company Nagarro’s revenue crossed $1 billion in the 2023 financial year, up from $908 million in the corresponding period last year.

Nagarro follows a January to December financial year.

The company recorded a growth of 9.4% in constant currency in 2023. Of Nagarro’s 18,000 employees, 12,000 are based in India across 12 cities.

While these companies were growth-ready, former Cognizant India CMD Ramkumar Ramamoorthy, in a LinkedIn post, said three powerful forces have redefined their trajectory. Seasoned leaders from tier-1 firms brought strategic clarity, global perspective, and execution muscle—sharpening the edge of mid-tier companies.

Private equity as a growth engine and an imbibed long-term value mindset accelerated transformation and scaling ambitions.

Mid-tier players rapidly built and scaled advanced digital capabilities—closely aligned with evolving client expectations.Ramamoorthy said, “One of the best things that happened to Indian IT after Y2K is senior management attrition. Seasoned leaders who built and ran large portfolios in IT companies such as Cognizant, Infosys, and HCL took on CXO roles in mid-sized firms and built the much-needed muscles to gracefully scale these companies.

With more such leaders being made available today, in the years to come, we should see a larger number of companies get past the magical $1 billion in revenue, ably compete with Tier-1 players, and catalyse growth.

” He is also a partner in tech growth advisory firm Catalincs.In the last four months, nearly a dozen mid-sized firms saw top deck changes. LTIMindtree welcomed Venu Lambu as their new chief executive, while Virtusa brought in Nitin Banga from Global Logic to lead as their CEO.

Rohit Kedia, who brings 28 years of experience in technology and digital engineering, was appointed CEO at ChrysCapital-owned digital engineering company Xoriant. He previously served as chief growth officer at LTIMindtree.

Engineering services firm Cyient appointed Sukamal Banerjee as CEO of its DET (digital, engineering and technology) business.“Also, with dozens of PE firms making a beeline for the IT industry, the investee companies are a big draw for these leaders not only for CXO roles but also for Board positions.

These firms bring in global best practices across all aspects of business—people, process, platforms, partnerships, among others—which also helps fast-track the journey to a billion dollars and more.”Peter Bendor-Samuel, founder and chairman of US-based IT advisory Everest Group, said, “However, perhaps the most important factor has been the PE firm’s ability to change the mindset of these firms and attract some of the industry’s most capable executives to run them. The combination of first-rate executives, acquisitions, and focused investments in sales and marketing has proven a sure-fire recipe to drive highly profitable and fast growth.

”These shifts have repositioned mid-tier companies as credible contenders, not just fast followers—rewriting what growth looks like in the industry’s next chapter.