What is the KeyBanc SaaS survey?

A closely watched annual survey of private SaaS companies run by KeyBanc Capital Markets, benchmarking growth, retention, and efficiency metrics.

What does the KeyBanc survey measure?

Private-SaaS operating metrics — growth, gross and net retention, CAC and payback, margins, and the Rule of 40 — across a broad respondent sample.

How should I use the KeyBanc survey?

To benchmark a private SaaS company against a large peer sample, matching stage and size and noting the survey year.

Growth Marketing Glossary

KeyBanc Capital Markets

proper noun

The bank whose annual private-SaaS survey quietly became a reference set for the whole sector.

Source mark — KeyBanc Capital Markets

Type: investment bank (KBCM)
Known for: annual private SaaS survey
Measures: growth, retention, efficiency
Primary site: key.com

Forms & parts of speech

KeyBanc Capital Markets · proper noun (a source)

A named publisher of marketing benchmark data.

"The KeyBanc SaaS survey is a long-standing benchmark of private SaaS metrics."

What it is

KeyBanc Capital Markets, the corporate and investment-banking arm of KeyBank, runs a long-running annual survey of private software-as-a-service companies. The survey, conducted with research partners over the years, has become a standard reference for SaaS operating benchmarks.

What it measures

It measures private-SaaS operating metrics — revenue growth, gross and net retention, CAC and payback, gross margins, and the Rule of 40 — across a broad sample of participating private companies.

Cadence and how to use it

The KeyBanc SaaS survey is published annually. Use its metric distributions to benchmark a private SaaS company against a large peer sample, noting the year and that respondents skew toward venture- and growth-backed firms.

RGM references the KeyBanc survey among its SaaS-metric inputs in the benchmarks compendium.

Worked example. A founder preparing a board deck benchmarks the company's growth rate and Rule of 40 against the KeyBanc survey's distribution for similar-stage private SaaS.

The comparison gives the board a credible external yardstick rather than the founder's assertion, and frames where the company leads or lags peers — context an internal dashboard alone cannot supply.

Failure modes to watch. Comparing against the survey without matching stage and size; treating a prior year's distribution as current in a shifting funding market; and reading venture-skewed respondents as representative of all SaaS.

Usage trends

Search interest for this term over the last five years:

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Common questions

What is the KeyBanc SaaS survey?: A closely watched annual survey of private SaaS companies run by KeyBanc Capital Markets, benchmarking growth, retention, and efficiency metrics.
What does the KeyBanc survey measure?: Private-SaaS operating metrics — growth, gross and net retention, CAC and payback, margins, and the Rule of 40 — across a broad respondent sample.
How should I use the KeyBanc survey?: To benchmark a private SaaS company against a large peer sample, matching stage and size and noting the survey year.

Related tools & calculators

toolRGM benchmarks compendium

Resources & people to follow

referenceKeyBanc Capital Markets — SaaS survey
referenceRGM benchmarks compendium — SaaS ranges

Curated, non-competitor resources verified per term.

Sources

referenceKeyBanc Capital Markets — primary site
referenceCited by the RGM benchmarks compendium
trendsGoogle Trends — "keybanc saas survey"