SaaS Growth Deceleration: Why Public Market Metrics No Longer Reflect Software Industry Health

Public SaaS companies' growth rates have declined sharply from 36% to 17% since 2023, driven by a dearth of IPOs and the migration of high-growth companies to private markets. The absence of fast-growing younger SaaS companies going public means traditional SaaS benchmarks no longer accurately represent the state of the software industry. Secondary liquidity and abundant late-stage capital suggest this gap may persist long-term.