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<ul><li><keyword id="4621694" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="freshworks" source="Orion">Freshworks</keyword> made its debut in the US-based Nasdaq on September 22 and it is the first Indian SaaS company to do so.</li><li>Freshworks was the first Indian SaaS company to achieve a billion dollar valuation, in 2019.</li><li>The company has now crossed a $10 billion valuation, thanks to its public listing.</li></ul>The Indian software-as-a-service (SaaS) industry had already been growing exponentially since last year, but Freshworks’ public listing at Nasdaq has taken it all to another level. The company, which makes customer engagement software for businesses, was valued at a whopping<a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/stock-market/news/freshworks-ipo-500-crorepatis-12-billion-market-cap-and-more-that-emerged-from-indias-first-saas-listing-at-nasdaq/articleshow/86445614.cms"> $12.2 billion </a>after it opened 21% above the initial offering price of $36 apiece. Freshworks sold 28.5 million common shares, hitting an intraday high of $48.75 on September 22. Freshworks was founded over a decade ago by <keyword id="2167965" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="girish-mathrubootham" source="Orion">Girish Mathrubootham</keyword> and <keyword id="2167964" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="shan-krishnasamy" source="Orion">Shan Krishnasamy</keyword>. Both the co-founders were former employees of Zoho Corp, which too is one of the biggest SaaS companies in India. Both Zoho Corp and Freshworks are rivals and the biggest players in this industry. Here is a glimpse of Freshworks’ journey so far: <table class="redcator-table-advance" style="border-width: initial; border-style: none; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.6em; box-shadow: none; width: 910.922px; font-family: Merriweather; padding-bottom: 10px !important; background-image: inherit !important; background-position: inherit !important; background-size: inherit !important; background-repeat: inherit !important; background-attachment: inherit !important; background-origin: inherit !important; background-clip: inherit !important;"></colgroup><tbody><tr><td style="padding: 5pt; border-width: 1pt; border-style: solid; border-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-size: 16px; vertical-align: top; overflow: hidden; overflow-wrap: break-word;">Year </td><td style="padding: 5pt; border-width: 1pt; border-style: solid; border-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-size: 16px; vertical-align: top; overflow: hidden; overflow-wrap: break-word;">Development </td></tr><tr><td style="padding: 5pt; border-width: 1pt; border-style: solid; border-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-size: 16px; vertical-align: top; overflow: hidden; overflow-wrap: break-word;">Early 2010 </td><td style="padding: 5pt; border-width: 1pt; border-style: solid; border-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-size: 16px; vertical-align: top; overflow: hidden; overflow-wrap: break-word;">Girish Mathrubootham decided to start his entrepreneurial journey. Shan Krishnasamy too decided to join this venture as a co-founder. </td></tr><tr><td style="padding: 5pt; border-width: 1pt; border-style: solid; border-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-size: 16px; vertical-align: top; overflow: hidden; overflow-wrap: break-word;">October 2010 </td><td style="padding: 5pt; border-width: 1pt; border-style: solid; border-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-size: 16px; vertical-align: top; overflow: hidden; overflow-wrap: break-word;">Mathrubootham and Krishnasamy resigned from Zoho Corp. </td></tr><tr><td style="padding: 5pt; border-width: 1pt; border-style: solid; border-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-size: 16px; vertical-align: top; overflow: hidden; overflow-wrap: break-word;">December 2010 </td><td style="padding: 5pt; border-width: 1pt; border-style: solid; border-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-size: 16px; vertical-align: top; overflow: hidden; overflow-wrap: break-word;">Freshworks, then known as Freshdesk, incorporated in the USA due to lack of recurring payment solutions in India. </td></tr><tr><td style="padding: 5pt; border-width: 1pt; border-style: solid; border-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-size: 16px; vertical-align: top; overflow: hidden; overflow-wrap: break-word;">March 2011 </td><td style="padding: 5pt; border-width: 1pt; border-style: solid; border-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-size: 16px; vertical-align: top; overflow: hidden; overflow-wrap: break-word;">Created a team of six people — three developers, one UI/UX designer, one customer acquisition/support engineer and Mathrubootham himself as product manager and CEO. </td></tr><tr><td style="padding: 5pt; border-width: 1pt; border-style: solid; border-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-size: 16px; vertical-align: top; overflow: hidden; overflow-wrap: break-word;">December 2011 </td><td style="padding: 5pt; border-width: 1pt; border-style: solid; border-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-size: 16px; vertical-align: top; overflow: hidden; overflow-wrap: break-word;">Raised $1 million in a funding* round led by Accel. </td></tr><tr><td style="padding: 5pt; border-width: 1pt; border-style: solid; border-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-size: 16px; vertical-align: top; overflow: hidden; overflow-wrap: break-word;">August 2015 </td><td style="padding: 5pt; border-width: 1pt; border-style: solid; border-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-size: 16px; vertical-align: top; overflow: hidden; overflow-wrap: break-word;">Acquired co-browsing and live video chat provider 1CLICK.io. This was Freshdesk’s first acquisition. </td></tr><tr><td style="padding: 5pt; border-width: 1pt; border-style: solid; border-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-size: 16px; vertical-align: top; overflow: hidden; overflow-wrap: break-word;">August 2015 </td><td style="padding: 5pt; border-width: 1pt; border-style: solid; border-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-size: 16px; vertical-align: top; overflow: hidden; overflow-wrap: break-word;">The company crossed 50,000 customers. </td></tr><tr><td style="padding: 5pt; border-width: 1pt; border-style: solid; border-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-size: 16px; vertical-align: top; overflow: hidden; overflow-wrap: break-word;">June 2017 </td><td style="padding: 5pt; border-width: 1pt; border-style: solid; border-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-size: 16px; vertical-align: top; overflow: hidden; overflow-wrap: break-word;">Freshdesk rebranded to Freshworks. </td></tr><tr><td style="padding: 5pt; border-width: 1pt; border-style: solid; border-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-size: 16px; vertical-align: top; overflow: hidden; overflow-wrap: break-word;">June 2017 </td><td style="padding: 5pt; border-width: 1pt; border-style: solid; border-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-size: 16px; vertical-align: top; overflow: hidden; overflow-wrap: break-word;">The platform was used by 100,000 companies in 145 countries. </td></tr><tr><td style="padding: 5pt; border-width: 1pt; border-style: solid; border-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-size: 16px; vertical-align: top; overflow: hidden; overflow-wrap: break-word;">December 2018 </td><td style="padding: 5pt; border-width: 1pt; border-style: solid; border-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-size: 16px; vertical-align: top; overflow: hidden; overflow-wrap: break-word;">Freshworks turned unicorn, after raising $100 million at a valuation of more than a billion dollars. </td></tr><tr><td style="padding: 5pt; border-width: 1pt; border-style: solid; border-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-size: 16px; vertical-align: top; overflow: hidden; overflow-wrap: break-word;">November 2019 </td><td style="padding: 5pt; border-width: 1pt; border-style: solid; border-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-size: 16px; vertical-align: top; overflow: hidden; overflow-wrap: break-word;">Freshworks valued at $3.5 billion, after raising $150 million. </td></tr><tr><td style="padding: 5pt; border-width: 1pt; border-style: solid; border-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-size: 16px; vertical-align: top; overflow: hidden; overflow-wrap: break-word;">November 2019 </td><td style="padding: 5pt; border-width: 1pt; border-style: solid; border-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-size: 16px; vertical-align: top; overflow: hidden; overflow-wrap: break-word;">It crossed 150,000 customers. </td></tr><tr><td style="padding: 5pt; border-width: 1pt; border-style: solid; border-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-size: 16px; vertical-align: top; overflow: hidden; overflow-wrap: break-word;">March 2020 </td><td style="padding: 5pt; border-width: 1pt; border-style: solid; border-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-size: 16px; vertical-align: top; overflow: hidden; overflow-wrap: break-word;">Zoho Corp filed a lawsuit alleging that Freshworks stole confidential information and built a business out of it. </td></tr><tr><td style="padding: 5pt; border-width: 1pt; border-style: solid; border-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-size: 16px; vertical-align: top; overflow: hidden; overflow-wrap: break-word;">August 2021 </td><td style="padding: 5pt; border-width: 1pt; border-style: solid; border-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-size: 16px; vertical-align: top; overflow: hidden; overflow-wrap: break-word;">Freshworks filed for $100 million IPO in USA </td></tr><tr><td style="padding: 5pt; border-width: 1pt; border-style: solid; border-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-size: 16px; vertical-align: top; overflow: hidden; overflow-wrap: break-word;">September 2021 </td><td style="padding: 5pt; border-width: 1pt; border-style: solid; border-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-size: 16px; vertical-align: top; overflow: hidden; overflow-wrap: break-word;">Freshworks made its debut on Nasdaq and its valuation touched $12 billion. </td></tr></tbody><tbody></tbody><tbody></tbody><tbody></tbody></table>*Freshworks has raised one funding round every year since 2011. There was a year-long break in 2017, when the SaaS firm did not raise any capital. Freshworks and Zoho’s rivalry took a serious turn in 2020, when Zoho filed a lawsuit <a href="https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/tech/startups/zoho-says-freshworks-intentionally-accessed-database-in-new-us-lawsuit/articleshow/79413070.cms">alleging</a> that Freshworks stole confidential information and built a business out of it. Vembu-led company has also accused Freshworks of poaching its employees and customers. The battle is still ongoing. According to a report by investment firm Chiratae Ventures and consulting firm Zinnov last month, the Indian SaaS segment has the potential to clock a total turnover of <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/startups/news/india-software-service-sector-needs-more-than-200000-employees-by-2025/articleshow/84632003.cms">$75 billion</a> by 2025. Companies like Zoho, Freshworks, and others are expected to be at the forefront of it. Freshworks was the first Indian SaaS company to achieve a billion dollar valuation, in 2019. A year later, the company closed another round at a valuation of $3.5 billion. It is backed by some of the prominent investors across the globe — Sequoia Capital, Tiger Global, Accel, Steadview, CapitalG and more. The company raised another billion dollars through its public issue. It’s valuation also increased over three times to $12.2 billion. The SaaS giant has acquired 13 companies to date including AnswerI1Q, Flint, CanvasFlip, Natero, and Zarget, among others. "I feel like an Indian athlete who has won a gold medal at the Olympics. We are showing the world what a global product company from India can achieve,” Mathrubootham said, in an <a href="https://www.moneycontrol.com/news/business/freshworks-ipo-creates-more-than-500-crorepatis-in-india-with-70-of-them-aged-below-30-7496681.html">interaction </a>with Moneycontrol. He further claimed that the <keyword id="11167545" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="freshworks-ipo" source="Orion">Freshworks IPO</keyword> has made 500 crorepatis in India, 70 of which are under 30. SEE ALSO <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/telecom/news/vodafone-idea-and-airtel-need-tariff-hikes-agr-moratorium-might-not-be-enough-say-analysts/articleshow/86285450.cms">Vodafone Idea and Airtel need tariff hikes, AGR moratorium might not be enough, say analysts</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/telecom/news/airtel-vodafone-idea-and-jio-welcome-telecom-relief-package-but-analysts-are-divided-on-whether-it-is-enough/articleshow/86252002.cms">Airtel, Vodafone Idea and Jio welcome telecom relief package, but analysts are divided on whether it is enough</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/corporates/news/airtel-challenges-telecom-departments-demand-of-1400-crore/articleshow/86260516.cms">Airtel challenges telecom department's demand of ₹1,400 crore</a>

The success story of India’s first SaaS company to be listed in Nasdaq

<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image"></div></div></div><ul class="summary-list"><li>Freshwork's CEO Girish Mathrubootham sees a massive opportunity to disrupt the customer engagement market, and has created a company that provides software for all the interactions a company might have with a customer. </li><li>"Customers are used to having a platform and then integrating all these tools. So today if you walk into any company, the <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/category/crm">CRM</a> stack is unwieldy...so what we believe is the exciting opportunity of the future is building the CRM platform of the future," Mathrubootham told Business Insider. </li><li>The company just raised $150 million in Series H funding, in a round led by Accel, Sequoia, and CapitalG, to continue growing. </li><li>Sameer Gandhi, a partner at Accel said Freshworks offers a unique product that helps businesses manage every step of interaction with a customer in one platform, as opposed to many, and offers a use-friendly way to do so. </li><li>Freshworks has 250,000 customers globally and many are small to medium sized businesses or mid-market businesses.</li><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/prime?module=article&amp;area=summarymary">Click here for more BI Prime stories</a>.</li></ul>In 2010, Freshwork's CEO Girish Mathrubootham saw a massive opportunity to change the way companies do customer support. He was moving back to India from Austin, Texas in 2009, where he had been working as an engineer for Zoho. During the move his TV was damaged by the moving company, and he had no luck getting a response or solution from the moving company. At that point he said he got frustrated and shared his experience in an online forum. That post changed everything. He noticed how engaged the online community was in solving the issue - enough that the moving company eventually reimbursed him for his damaged TV. "That's when I realized something was changing in the world of customer support, where I realized that as a customer I had a newfound power to take on a company," Mathrubootham said. He realized he had to capitalize on this opportunity and started a customer support company called Freshdesk in 2010.In the 10 years since, Mathrubootham has grown the company from its customer support focus, which India is a hub for, into a platform that provides software to help manage every interaction a customer has with a company, from marketing to customer support. The company is now called Freshworks and is headquartered in San Mateo, California, although the majority of its employees are still based in India, with offices in 10 other locations, including London, Berlin, and Sydney.His goal with Freshworks is to create a new customer relationship management platform that includes everything needed for a company to interact with a customer from beginning to end. This includes marketing and sales automation, messaging and email campaign management, among other things, to help manage relationships with customers. He said he saw a need for a streamlined, user-friendly tool for companies to be able to do this that didn't yet exist in the market."Customers are used to having a platform and then integrating all these tools. So today if you walk into any company, the CRM stack is unwieldy...so what we believe is the exciting opportunity of the future is building the CRM platform of the future," Mathrubootham told Business Insider. The company just raised $150 million in Series H funding, led by existing investors Sequoia Capital, CapitalG, and Accel, to continue growing. This new funding gives Freshworks a valuation of $3.5 billion, as it targets a potential IPO next year, although it doesn't have a set timeline yet, Mathrubootham said. Accel's India arm gave Freshworks its seed funding of $1 million in 2011. <h2>Salesforce is a giant, but there's room for competition</h2>In the CRM market, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/category/salesforce">Salesforce</a> is the big behemoth, but Mathrubootham thinks there is room to disrupt. "It's been almost 20 years since anything new happened in CRM, so there is room for a technology refresh," he said. He added that he thinks there is a better solution where customers don't need to integrate services on top of a "bare bones" CRM platform. Sameer Gandhi, a partner at Accel who led this funding round, agreed, and said that he thinks the market is big enough for many different options, and it is not a "winner take all" market."We really think Freshworks can be incredibly successful in this market, and it doesn't have to be at the expense of a Salesforce. Frankly there's a lot of other vendors out there too," Gandhi told Business Insider. He said what drew Accel to Freshworks was that it was doing something unique in the CRM space. Mathrubootham had created a tool that was simple and intuitive to use, in a way that other products in the sector weren't. And the product is well targeted toward the type of small to medium sized businesses that mainly use the platform. "It's a really unique approach that you'd have to stitch together with a bunch of different kinds of solutions in other cases," Gandhi said. Freshworks has 250,000 customers globally. Many of these are small to medium sized businesses or mid-market businesses. However, Gandhi said the product is also popular with smaller groups within large businesses. Some larger companies that use the product are Sotheby's, Bridgestone, DISH, Sling, and Vonage.Mathrubootham said the company plans to use the money raised in this round to continue growing before looking towards an IPO.

The CEO of Freshworks had an idea 10 years ago when his TV was damaged by movers. Now his startup is worth $3.5 billion and is threatening Salesforce.

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The success story of India’s first SaaS company to be listed in Nasdaq

Kritti Bhalla

The CEO of Freshworks had an idea 10 years ago when his TV was damaged by movers. Now his startup is worth $3.5 billion and is threatening Salesforce.

Paayal Zaveri

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