Krish Subramanian and Rajaraman Santhanam had studied together and wanted to run their own company. They quit their jobs and brought in Saravanan KP and Thiyagarajan T. Early planning took place in one co-founder's drawing room in Chennai, split from the living area by a curtain.
Chargebee launched in 2011. Subscription software was new in India at the time, so the team looked to customers abroad. An angel round came in 2012, Accel invested in 2014 and Tiger Global led a $5 million Series B in 2015.
In April 2021 a $125 million round led by Sapphire Ventures valued Chargebee at $1.4 billion. In February 2022 Tiger Global and Sequoia co-led a $250 million round at $3.5 billion.
One third-party estimate put annual recurring revenue at about $202.6 million in 2024. Chargebee competes with Zuora, Recurly and Stripe Billing.