Glossary
Gross Revenue Retention (GRR)
Revenue retained from a cohort excluding expansion — measures underlying churn dynamics. Always ≤100%; healthy SaaS targets 95%+ annual GRR.
By Amit Tyagi, Fitoor Capital · AletheiaAI Glossary
Definition
Gross Revenue Retention (GRR) measures the percentage of revenue retained from a starting cohort, excluding any expansion. GRR captures pure retention quality without expansion masking the data.
Formula: GRR = (Starting Revenue - Churn - Contraction) / Starting Revenue × 100. GRR is always ≤100% (no expansion in the formula).
Benchmarks: 95%+ annual GRR is excellent; 90-95% is healthy; below 85% signals retention problems even if NRR looks good.
India Context
Indian SaaS investors use GRR alongside NRR at Series A. The pair tells the full story: high NRR + low GRR means expansion is masking high churn (concerning); high NRR + high GRR means retention is strong AND expansion is real (healthy).
Example
A SaaS starts the year with ₹10Cr ARR. ₹50L churned, ₹30L contracted (downgrades), ₹2Cr expanded. NRR = (₹10Cr + ₹2Cr - ₹80L) / ₹10Cr = 112%. GRR = (₹10Cr - ₹80L) / ₹10Cr = 92%. Healthy but the 8% gross loss is worth investigating.
Frequently Asked Questions
Related Terms
Apply what you've learned
See this term at work on real Indian companies.
AletheiaAI checks market narratives against the filings behind them — screener, company disclosures, and sector reports across India’s listed companies, free.