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<ul><li><keyword id="4621694" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="freshworks" source="Orion">Freshworks</keyword> made its trading debut on US stock exchange Nasdaq on Wednesday and its valuation touched $12 billion.</li><li>The company sold 28.5 million common shares, raising $1 billion in proceeds.</li><li>The CEO says that the IPO created 500 crorepatis in India, 70 of which are under 30.</li></ul>Indian software-as-a-service (SaaS) firm Freshworks made its trading debut on US stock exchange Nasdaq on Wednesday and it was a strong one. The company was valued at $12.2 billion after it opened 21% above the initial offering price of $36 apiece. Shares of Freshworks opened at $43.5. The stock hit an<a href="https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/stocks/freshworks-stock-price-ipo-nasdaq-debut-salesforce-software-crm-2021-9"> intraday high</a> of $48.75 on September 22. Freshworks sold 28.5 million common shares, raising $1 billion in proceeds. Girish Mathrubootham, in interviews with several media outlets, highlighted that the Freshworks initial public offering (IPO) created a lot of wealth for its employees as more than 500 of its employees turned crorepatis (millionaires). He further added that about 70, of these 500 employees, are under the age of 30. "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,” he added, 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. The company was valued at $3.5 billion when it raised $150 million funding from investors like Sequoia Capital, CapitalG and Accel in November 2019. The company is also backed by Steadview Capital and Tiger Global Management. It plans to use the proceeds from the offering to acquire complementary businesses, products, services or technology. A part will also be used for general corporate purposes like working capital, operating expenses and capital expenditure. Founded by Mathrubootham and Shan Krishnasamy as Freshdesk in 2010, the company started its journey as a helpdesk software for customer support. It decided to rebrand itself to Freshworks in June 2017 to incorporate the company’s growing software suite. Freshworks claims to have over 52,500 customers across the globe and it reported a revenue of $169 million in the first half of 2021. Compared to the first half of 2020, the company’s revenue has grown by nearly $60 million. SEE ALSO <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/cryptocurrency/news/south-koreas-crypto-regulations-are-tightening-around-investors-and-exchanges-alike/articleshow/86426452.cms">South Korea’s crypto regulations are tightening around investors and exchanges alike</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/stock-market/news/paras-defence-and-space-technologies-ipo-gets-blockbuster-demand-from-investors/articleshow/86422668.cms">Paras Defence and Space Technologies IPO gets blockbuster demand from investor</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/news/experts-say-karnatakas-ban-on-games-of-chance-like-dream11-and-mpl-may-face-a-legal-test/articleshow/86419697.cms">Experts say Karnataka’s ban on games of chance like Dream11 and MPL may face a legal test</a>

Freshworks IPO — 500 crorepatis, $12 billion market cap and more that emerged from India’s first SaaS listing at Nasdaq

<ul><li><keyword id="2167965" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="girish-mathrubootham" source="Orion">Girish Mathrubootham</keyword> is the star of the Indian startup scene, transforming the lives of hundreds of his Freshworks employees who are now crorepatis.</li><li>Mathrubootham says he did not start Freshworks to buy a BMW, but so that his employees could.</li><li>He also has an immense interest in sports and started FC Madras, a football training academy, and hosted the Trichy Premier League in his hometown, Tiruchirappalli.</li></ul>It’s the age of unicorns in India, but seldom does a decacorn emerge that wows the world. Enter Girish Mathrubootham’s Freshworks, which had a blockbuster listing on Nasdaq, going from a valuation of $3.5 billion to $13 billion. In the process, Mathrubootham <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">helped 500 of his employees turn crorepatis</a>, with 70 of them aged under 30 years. In startup parlance, a unicorn is a private company valued at or more than $1 billion and a decacorn is one worth more than $10 billion. "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,” he added, 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. <div type="image" title="Girish 1" msid="86453791" hostid="261" caption="&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;Girish Mathrubootham with his family during the Freshworks IPO&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;"></div> Shares of Freshworks were up by over 33%, trading near $48 with a market capitalisation of nearly $13.4 billion. <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="‘I’m starting this company so everybody can buy a BMW’" comment="subhead" text="‘I’m starting this company so everybody can buy a BMW’">‘I’m starting this company so everybody can buy a BMW’</cmsannotation> Mathrubootham is the son of a retired bank officer. He founded Freshworks in 2010 along with Shan Krishnasamy. “I’m not starting a company for me to buy a BMW, I’m starting this so that everybody (employees) can do that,” he told his wife at the time of starting the company, as he reveals in a <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3J7zcp0-rOA">freewheeling chat</a> with Indian cricketer Ravichandran Ashwin. <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="The birth of Freshworks – customer complaints on social media!" comment="subhead" text="The birth of Freshworks – customer complaints on social media!">The birth of Freshworks – customer complaints on social media!</cmsannotation> The idea to start Freshworks was simple, says Mathrubootham. In the past, before the explosion of social media, customers used to simply call the customer care centre to raise an issue or inquire about something. However, the arrival of social media has changed all that, with customers raising issues and posting queries on Twitter and Facebook – this is something that most of us have done at some point. This requires companies to address customer complaints across different channels, and so, having their information like account details, plans/services subscribed to, or payment information, in a quickly accessible manner becomes important. This is where the idea for Freshdesk, the company’s flagship product, was born. Then known as Freshdesk, the company rebranded itself as Freshworks in 2017. It now has tools for sales, marketing, information technology (IT) service management and human resources (HR). It claims to have over 52,000 customers and counts Tiger Global, Sequoia Capital and Accel amongst its investors. That is an amazing feat for someone born in the temple town of Tiruchirappalli in Tamil Nadu, going on to launch a billion-dollar IPO in the US. <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="Looking beyond business and addressing the sporting needs of youngsters" comment="subhead" text="Looking beyond business and addressing the sporting needs of youngsters">Looking beyond business and addressing the sporting needs of youngsters</cmsannotation> India is a country of over 1.4 billion people and this leads to a scarcity of many things – including good schools and colleges, and subsequently, jobs. This forces parents to force their kids to study well and land a good job. In the process, the other aspects of a child’s development get ignored. <div type="image" title="FC Madras edited" msid="86454099" hostid="261" caption="&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;FC Madras, Freshworks&amp;#39; own football team and academy&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;"></div> In Mathrubootham’s case, he tried to address the sporting needs of youngsters by organising events like the Trichy Premier League, a minor cricket league played with tennis balls. “We’ve been an opportunity-scarce country for a long time, but not anymore. So, with that mindset, we made education an enemy of sport,” he said, explaining that we appreciate students who get 100 in math, but not if they are good at football or cricket. “A champion should be celebrated, be it a scientist or a sportsman,” he added. To that end, Mathrubootham’s Freshworks has also started FC Madras with an intention to promote grassroots football in the country. FC Madras has a residential academy and offers free scholarships to talented young players. “The whole idea is to create respect for sports people and celebrate our champions, these children who pursue the sport should be able to succeed as well-rounded human beings even if they don’t become champion footballers,” he said in an interview with <a href="https://yourstory.com/weekender/freshworks-girish-mathrubootham-kicks-off-football-fever-in-chennai-as-fc-madras-comes-alive/amp">YourStory</a>. SEE ALSO: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/thelife/personalities/freshworks-ceo-girish-mathrubootham-shares-someone-said-i-will-be-nothing-but-a-rickshaw-puller/articleshow/86507840.cms" data-type="tilCustomLink">WATCH: "Someone said I am good enough to be a rickshaw puller," shares Freshworks CEO Girish Mathrubootham in a candid chat</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/videos/a-candid-conversation-with-freshworks-founder-and-ceo-girish-mathubootham/videoshow/86606660.cms" data-type="tilCustomLink">A candid conversation with Freshworks founder and CEO, Girish Mathubootham</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/stock-market/news/airtel-rights-issue-details-record-date-issue-price-and-more/articleshow/86446419.cms">Airtel rights issue worth ₹21,000 crore opens next month – record date, price, ratio and everything else you need to know</a>

Girish Mathrubootham, the son of a retired bank officer who built a $13 billion company in just 10 years

<ul><li><keyword id="4621694" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="freshworks" source="Orion">Freshworks</keyword> is seeking to list its shares on the Nasdaq Global Select Market under the symbol FRSH.</li><li>The company thanked Indian actor Rajinikanth in its preliminary filings for the IPO.</li><li>Chennai and California-based reported a revenue of $169 million in the first half of 2021.</li></ul>Girish Mathrubootham-led software-as-a-service (SaaS) company Freshworks has filed for an initial public offering (IPO) in the United States. The company is looking to raise $100 million, the company’s filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission has revealed. The IPO is being led by Morgan Stanley, JP Morgan Chase &amp; Co and Bank of America. Freshworks is seeking to list its shares on the Nasdaq Global Select Market under the symbol FRSH. Founded by Mathrubootham and Shan Krishnasamy as Freshdesk in 2010, the company started its journey as a helpdesk software for customer support. It decided to rebrand itself to Freshworks in June 2017 to incorporate the company’s growing software suite. The company was founded in Chennai but moved to Silicon Valley a couple of years back as most of its customers were present in the US. The company is now based out of San Mateo in California, yet it retains a substantial workforce in Tamil Nadu’s Chennai city. Freshworks has over 52,500 customers across the globe and it reported a revenue of $169 million in the first half of 2021. Compared to the first half of 2020, the company’s revenue has grown by nearly $60 million. The company reported a loss of $9.8 million in the first half of 2021, compared to $59 million reported in the same time period of 2020. In the preliminary documents for its IPO, Mathrubootham has compared Freshworks software to Apple’s iPhone. He notes that businesses shouldn’t have to rely on multiple tools to engage with customers. “Before 2007, we were all using multiple devices — I personally had a Nokia cellphone, a Garmin GPS, a Sandisk MP3 Player and a Canon point-and-shoot camera… As consumers, we were quick to ditch our gadgets for a single product with a superior unified, intuitive, and delightful experience,” he said. According to data platform Crunchbase, Freshworks has raised over $480 million to date across nine funding rounds. The company is backed by Steadview Capital, Accel, CapitalG, Sequoia Capital, Tiger Global Management and others. The company was valued at $3.5 billion in June 2020. Freshworks thanked Indian actor Rajinikanth in the preliminary filings for its IPO. “The code name for our IPO was Project SuperStar, named after the most successful movie star from Tamil Nadu, Rajinikanth. I want to express my love and gratitude to him for being my maanaseega guru. There is no comparable English word to express what this means. It is a mentor; a role model that lives in your mind, from whom you learn a lot by watching from afar. SuperStar is a man who is loved and worshipped by millions of fans globally. He is immensely successful yet humble and down to earth. Thank you, Thalaivaa!,” the filings read. SEE ALSO <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/mobile/news/the-great-indian-youtube-extortion-101-on-how-criminals-are-making-money-off-youtubers/articleshow/84486999.cms">Here is how Indian YouTubers are becoming victims to extortion</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/sports/news/tokyo-paralympic-games-indias-bhavina-patel-enters-table-tennis-final-gold-medal-match-on-sunday/articleshow/85706907.cms">Tokyo Paralympic Games — India’s Bhavina Patel enters table tennis final, gold medal match on Sunday </a><a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/sports/news/cristiano-ronaldo-will-reportedly-rejoin-manchester-united-in-surprise-twist/articleshow/85691030.cms">Cristiano Ronaldo rejoins Manchester United in shocking twist as Man City pulls out</a>

Freshworks files for an IPO in the US, looks to raise $100 million

<ul><li>Freshworks became the first Indian software-as-a-service (SaaS) firm to get listed on a US exchange by raising $13 billion on its debut day.</li><li>The IPO created 500 crorepatis in India, 70 of them are under the age of 30.</li><li>There are many more reasons why the startup industry is cheering for the <keyword id="11167545" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="freshworks-ipo" source="Orion">Freshworks IPO</keyword>.</li></ul>Apparently, the startup world can’t keep calm because not everyday does an Indian software-as-a-service (SaaS) firm get listed on a US exchange by raising $13 billion dollars on its debut day. Icing on the cake is that the Freshworks IPO has also created a whole lot of wealth for its employees. 500 crorepatis (millionaires) in India, 70 of them are under the <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">age of 30</a>. Interestingly, Girish Mathrubootham, co-founder and chief executive officer of Freshworks, who is a big fan of Rajinikanth, names the opening ceremony event on Nasdaq as ‘Project Superstar’ in tribute to the famous Indian actor. There are many more reasons why the startup industry is cheering for the Freshworks IPO launch. Here are a few reactions from the India Inc: Freshworks IPO is a ‘snowball moment’ for India’s SaaS industry "An IPO is one more feather in Freshwork and Girish's hat! I strong believe they would build a long standing institution. The most gratifying part is to see the wealth created for their team, and energy they have helped propel in the India SAAS ecosystem - installing confidence in founders /to-be founders that great companies can be built from scratch. This is a snowball moment for India SAAS, and I am excited that we at Speciale are live and investing in this vibrant and growing startup ecosystem,” — Vishesh Rajaram, founder and managing partner of Speciale Invest This startup accelerator feels this is a Neeraj Chopra moment for the industry "Salesforce was the first SaaS IPO in the world in 2004. It served as a big inflection point for the entire SaaS Industry and which today, after 15 years, has an enterprise value of $2 trillion dollars. Freshworks - as the first Indian SaaS company to go IPO - acts as a similar inspiration to a growing number of SaaS startups from India. Every Indian SaaS founder is cherishing this moment just like the nation celebrated Neeraj Chopra winning Gold at the Olympics,” — Prasanna Krishnamoorthy, partner at Upekkha Value SaaS Accelerator Now the important question is who will achieve this feat next? "Successful listing of Freshworks on NASDAQ is a “Eureka” moment for the B2B SaaS sector in India which will inspire many upcoming start-ups to spread Indian product software across the globe. This feat by Freshworks showcases the potential for Indian SaaS start-ups to build globally disruptive technology product companies. It also showcases an immense amount of talent and the passion for entrepreneurship &amp; execution the Freshworks team embodies, and we (as in the Indian startup ecosystem) are eager to find out who will achieve this feat next,” — Ankur Bansal, cofounder and director at BlackSoil “Every SaaS founder in India would have a story or two about how they got inspired by Girish and the Freshworks story. Freshworks IPO makes the story they believed and got inspired by all the more real and their aspirations all the more possible. To the next 10 Indian SaaS IPOs!,” — Mayank Agarwal, cofounder at SendX “Freshworks has paved the path for future SaaS Companies that are building from India and selling globally. This is just a start of what we can see in the upcoming decade where a ton of Indian SaaS Companies will be going public. As Girish had mentioned yesterday that he feels like winning an Olympic medal, it is equivalent or more and motivates the next generation of SaaS Founders to build and go public,” — Harshit Agarwal, chief executive officer at Appknox SEE ALSO: <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" 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">Freshworks IPO — 500 crorepatis, $12 billion market cap and more that emerged from India’s first SaaS listing at Nasdaq</a> <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/corporates/news/voltas-havells-india-and-blue-star-stocks-have-gained-10-24-on-hopes-of-strong-demand-this-festive-season/articleshow/86448471.cms">Air conditioner brands Voltas, Blue Star, Havells rally ahead of festive season</a>

Landmark moment for this Rajinikanth fan’s SaaS startup on listing at US exchange

<ul><li><keyword id="1836134" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="icertis" source="Orion">Icertis</keyword> is exploring options for Nasdaq listing in the US for sometime next year.</li><li>The company aims to double its valuation to $6 billion, as per sources aware of the development.</li><li>The company counts Google, Microsoft, Johnson &amp; Johnson, Infosys, Wipro and Cognizant as its customers. </li></ul>Software-as-a-service (SaaS) firm Icertis is holding serious discussions to hit the public markets by the end of 2022. Pune and Seattle-headquartered company — valued at $2.8 billion — is considering to go for an initial public offering (IPO) in the United States sometime next year, Icertis’ cofounder and chief technology officer (CTO) Monish Darda told Business Insider. The company counts Google, Microsoft, Daimler, Airbus, Johnson &amp; Johnson, Lupin, Infosys, Wipro and Cognizant as its customers. A Nasdaq listing is the top priority of the company, which offers contract management solutions to businesses, at the moment. Though Darda did not share details like the amount the company plans to raise or the valuation it is looking to list at, people aware of the development told Business Insider that Icertis plans to double its valuation to $6 billion by next year with this public issue. Darda clarified that Icertis is ready to hit the public market in terms of its business growth, however the plan still hinges on two major developments. First, the growth of the business by next year. Second, the economic situation globally. Regardless, the company is open to raising capital through both private as well as public markets depending on the economy and the COVID-19 situation. <div type="ExtQuote" text="“If we need a round, with our valuation and our revenue, we always have an option of going public, so we'll evaluate that as well. So there are a couple of things we could do next year in terms of, you know, how we move, we can raise another round and you know, defer going public. Or we could choose the path of going public as well.”" auname="— Monish Darda, co-founder and CTO of Icertis, told Business Insider."></div> Last week, another Indian <keyword id="9231180" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="saas-company" source="Orion">SaaS company</keyword> Freshworks<a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/enterprise/enterprise-software/news/freshworks-files-for-an-ipo-in-the-us-looks-to-raise-100-million/articleshow/85707900.cms"> filed </a>for an IPO in the USA, seeking permission to list on Nasdaq. It is looking to raise $100 million. Founded in 2009 by Darda and Samir Bodas, Icertis’ flagship product ‘Icertis Contract Intelligence (ICI)’ manages over 10 million contracts with an aggregate value of more than $1 trillion. Icertis added 70-100 customers in 2020 and 100 customers in the first half of 2021. It plans to add over 100 customers by the end of 2021. “I think what is interesting is that the last four quarters have been successively the best quarters we've ever seen in Icertis. We have beaten every quarter, every year. So the last two quarters, January-February-March and April-May-June. April-May-June has been the best quarter in the history of Icertis,” Darda added. Icertis claims to have a revenue between $100 million to $200 million, growing at 60-70% rate annually. The 12-year-old company raised<a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/enterprise/news/icertis-raises-80-million-in-series-f-funding-and-triples-valuation-in-less-than-two-years/articleshow/81450882.cms"> $80 million</a> in March this year to add more customers as well as develop more products for its existing customers. Overall, the company has raised $291 million to date from marquee investors like B Capital, PremjiInvest, Greycroft, Meritech Capital Partners, and PSP Growth. SEE ALSO <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/stock-market/news/tata-power-bharat-forge-bharti-airtel-and-other-top-stocks-to-watch-out-for-on-august-31/slidelist/85786005.cms">Tata Power, Bharat Forge, Bharti Airtel and other top stocks to watch out for on August 31 </a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/stock-market/news/ami-organics-wants-to-become-debt-free-post-the-ipo/articleshow/85781458.cms">Ami Organics wants to become debt-free post the IPO, to cut dependence on China in the coming years</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/defense/news/a-us-f-22-raptor-pilot-describes-the-challenge-of-going-up-against-f-35-red-air-aggressors/articleshow/85784261.cms">A US F-22 Raptor pilot describes the challenge of going up against F-35 red air aggressors</a>

After Freshworks, Icertis is looking for an IPO for next year in the US

<ul><li><keyword id="1132603" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Zendesk">Zendesk</keyword> has over 2,800 clients in India including Ola, Zomato, Shaadi.com, OLX, Vodafone, Airbnb and ITC Foods. </li><li>But the US-listed company will find big competition from the homegrown Zoho and Freshworks, both of which have also expanded to the US. </li><li>In an interview with Business Insider, Zendesk’s senior management discusses the company’s plans for India.</li></ul>The $9.6 billion Zendesk, the US-based <keyword id="169305" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="customer-service">customer service</keyword> software company, is focussing on the India market now. Zendesk, which has also partnered with WhatsApp for business, also launched two new products globally, including India. First product being Gather, which is a platform where customers can engage with each other and company experts. The second one Sunshine Conversations, an API-based platform through which companies can interact with consumers through social media channels. Some of its clients include Uber, Lyft, Airbnb, and also DBS Bank. India’s new-age tech savvy companies and the thousands of small and medium enterprises also caught Zendesk’s fancy. But the US-listed company will find competition from the homegrown Zoho and Freshworks, both of which have also expanded to the US. Big plans for India The India market was initially clubbed with the overall APAC zone, until Zendesk saw an opportunity in India’s growing small businesses and established an India office in 2016. Having been around in India for three years now, Zendesk has over 2800 clients including the likes of Ola, Zomato, Shaadi.com, OLX, Vodafone, Airbnb and ITC Foods.. “We follow a methodology in the emerging markets. In the beginning, an entire market is is grouped together and then we make small bets. So we have been investing in building a brand and momentum in India. We are very happy with India contribution so far but we have great expectations,” Tom Keiser, chief operating officer, Zendesk told Business Insider at the recently concluded Zendesk Showcase in Singapore. When they started off, they had 1700 customers with just 5 people at work. Today, they have over 30 employees. Ola was one of their early clients. Today, they also have startups like Bounce, Drivezy subscribing to them. And somewhere Reliance Jio which led the unprecedented data growth in India also helped, informs KT Prasad, India head, Zendesk. Challenges and localization in India But of course, India comes with its challenges. “There is an extreme scale in India and almost every client you speak to, their aspiration is always to serve over a billion people. The challenge is always making sure that you give a cost effective solution for the whole market. But India is still so underserved, the middle class population is growing at such a fast rate and something that wasn’t a business a few years ago is a booming one today,” said Sandie Overtveld, VP Asia Pacific, Zendesk. So, they had to turn to localization. Zendesk also offers customer service in Hindi and is looking to offer in other dialects in the future. Social media is also driving change in India. “With the growth of social media, and the ease with which one can turn to one of the platforms and complaint about a product, makes customer service even more important,” said Overtveld. Competing with Zoho, Freshdesk Two Indian startups – Zoho and Freshdesk took over the <keyword id="200550" type="TECHNOLOGY" weightage="20" keywordseo="CRM">CRM</keyword> space and entered the US market. But in a fast evolving Indian market, local players have an advantage – they know the Indian consumer well. However, Zendesk believes that it has a clear value proposition that differentiates it. “It’s a very competitive space and while the competitors have broadened their services – we are completely focussed on the customer and customer service,” said Keiser. Zendesk is also innovating fast to stay in the game. “We are bringing the right value to the consumer. Four years ago, we had 2-3 products, today, we have over 8 products,” said Prasad. It is also deep into machine learning, big data with a team that is based out of Melbourne, Australia. “We are building a more robust set of capabilities for self service. Solutions can be served with commitment and an omni channel approach where everything comes together - voice, text, e-mail etc,” said Keiser.

US-listed Zendesk is betting big on India in spite of competition from homegrown Zoho, Freshworks

<ul><li><keyword id="2645087" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="rategain" source="Orion">RateGain</keyword> intends to raise ₹1,335 crore through this public issue.</li><li>RateGain is seeking a valuation of $600 million at the upper end of the price band.</li><li>It is a SaaS platform, which solely focuses on the travel and hospitality segment. </li></ul>The initial public offering (IPO) of RateGain Travel Technologies has been subscribed 75% on the second day of its public issue. The issue will open for subscription for the last time today, December 9. The portion reserved for retail investors has been fully subscribed, whereas the portion reserved for qualified institutional investors has not received any bidding so far. <table style="border-width: initial; border-style: none; table-layout: fixed; width: 468pt;"></colgroup><tbody><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Investor Category </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Subscription (times) </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Qualified Institutions </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">0.00 </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Non-Institutional Buyers </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">0.08 </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Retail Investors </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">3.98 </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Employees </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">0.72 </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Total </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">0.75 </td></tr></tbody></table> The software-as-a-services (SaaS) platform, which solely focuses on the travel and hospitality segment, intends to raise ₹1,335 crore through this public issue. The capital will be raised through both fresh issue and offer for sale (OFS) by existing shareholders of the company. The company will likely list on the<a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/news/rategains-ipo-opens-today-grey-market-premium-at-85/articleshow/88126120.cms"> stock exchange on December 17</a>. The price range of RateGain’s IPO has been set at ₹405-₹425. The minimum lot size is 35 shares, meaning a retail investor would have to shell out ₹14,875 to buy one lot. The grey market premium (GMP), premium at which investors are comfortable buying the shares before it gets listed on a stock exchange, was at ₹78 on December 8. RateGain is seeking a valuation of ₹4,537 crore (about $600 million) at the upper end of the price band. Founded in 2004 by Bhanu Chopra, RateGain offers travel and hospitality software solutions. It’s softwares covers an entire set of data points including pricing, rating, ranking, availability, room description, cancellation policy, discounting and packages, among other things. The company has over 1,434 customers — across the hotel, hospitality and online travel agency (OTA) segment — spread across 110 countries. It’s clientele includes Lemon Tree, InterContinental Hotels Group, Kessler Collection, GroupOn and Sabre GLBL. Stock brokerages — including Reliance Securities, Prabhudas Lilladher, Arihant Capital, Aditya Birla Capital — have recommended <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/news/saas-firm-rategains-ipo-opens-tomorrow-should-you-invest/articleshow/88125982.cms">subscribing to the issue</a>. “While there is no listed peer available for a direct comparison to RateGain in the domestic market, its valuations at ~50% discount to unicorns like Zomato and Paytm give comfort on the valuation front. In the new era of internet and AI [artificial intelligence]-based software services, we believe the premium valuation of the company is likely to sustain,” Reliance Securities said in its latest report. A unicorn, in startup parlance, is a firm valued at or over a billion dollars. 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It’s the last day to subscribe to RateGain’s IPO — GMP at ₹78

<ul><li><keyword id="2645087" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="rategain" source="Orion">RateGain</keyword> intends to raise over ₹400 crore through its fresh issue, which will be used for investments and acquisitions.</li><li>Rate Gain has over 1,434 customers, spread across 110 countries.</li><li>The company counts Lemon Tree, OYO and several other hotels and OTAs as its clients.</li><li>It will continue to focus on the US market after its public listing as well.</li></ul>Software-as-a-service startup (SaaS) RateGain Travel Technologies — which has less than 1% business coming from India — had decided, earlier this year, that it will get listed in its home country. This is rather odd as several tech entrepreneurs dream of getting their startups listed in American stock exchange Nasdaq. It’s not just a matter of pride, but also a strategic move. There are majorly two reasons for Indian tech startups to explore a Nasdaq listing — retail investors have better understanding of tech business in the US and/or majority of their revenue is coming from that market. Besides this, international listing gives Indian companies a larger and more diverse pool of capital. Whether it's the already listed Freshworks or soon-to-be-listed Icertis, <a href="https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/tech/startups/inmobi-prepares-for-nasdaq-listing-to-seek-15-billion-valuation/articleshow/81789159.cms">InMobi </a>or <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/startups/news/pine-labs-reportedly-joins-the-long-list-of-indian-tech-startups-heading/articleshow/81760763.cms">PineLabs</a> — one of these three factors are the driving force of listing abroad. So it is quite amusing why RateGain would choose to get itself listed in India and that too in 2021 — potentially the worst time for any travel tech business due to the ongoing pandemic. Bhanu Chopra, the chairperson and managing director of RateGain told Business Insider that there were three reasons why the company decided not to go for a Nasdaq listing. First, the ability to drive up brand value being a local company is much higher. Second, they wanted to be the torchbearer of the first product SaaS company to list in India. Third, there were several logistical issues that couldn’t have been solved without making some organisational changes and it was quite cumbersome. Therefore, the company decided to stick to its home market and be the first SaaS company to list in India. Rate Gain has over 1,434 customers — across the hotel, hospitality and online travel agency (OTA) segment — spread across 110 countries. In order to serve the customers in these locations, RateGain has set up its subsidiaries in the United Kingdom, United States and Spain. It has also acquired three companies to date — US-based DHISCO and BCV, and<a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/news/ipo-bound-rategain-acquires-germany-based-myhotelshop/articleshow/86454447.cms"> Germany-based myhotelshop</a>. About 65% of RateGain’s revenue comes from the US market, while nearly 2% comes from India. The company will continue to focus on the US market even after the public listing as the majority of its customer base is settled or registered there. <div type="image" title="Despite majority of its revenue coming from the US, this is what compelled RateGain to be the first SaaS company to list in India" msid="87269616" hostid="261"></div> The company — founded in 2004 and bootstrapped till 2017— intends to raise ₹400 crore through its fresh issue. Besides, the company will also sell 2.26 crore as offer for sale (OfS). This capital will be used to make strategic investments, acquisition and fund inorganic growth initiatives. Its last reported valuation was $133 million in 2015. But why now? <div type="image" title="Despite majority of its revenue coming from the US, this is what compelled RateGain to be the first SaaS company to head for an IPO in India" msid="87286549" hostid="261"></div> It’s no secret that the travel and hospitality segment was severely hit since March 2020, when the world stepped into pandemic-induced lockdowns. As the entire segment was suffering, RateGain was bound to suffer too as they comprised its clients. The company decided to take a pause and arm itself with better products to meet the pent-up demand that may come back soon as people indulge in revenge travel and COVID-related restrictions are lifted. The company counts Lemon Tree, OYO and several other hotels and online travel aggregators (OTAs) as its clients. Besides this, the company believes that Indian investors are now ready to invest in tech businesses. Chopra believes that the investors' interest in Indian startups have increased in both private as well as public markets. This can be seen in terms of the number of unicorns -- private firms valued at or more than $1 billion -- that are being created as well as the number of companies hitting the public market. “My sense is that the Indian investor is now ready and they understand the future of any industry is digitisation. Now, RateGain is leading that effort in digitisation of the travel and hospitality industry” Chopra added. The pent-up demand of the travel industry and the positive global outlook is driving 26% compound annual growth rate (CAGR) growth. “Retail investors understand that the travel industry is recovering very fast and it is going to be the fastest growing industry in the next four-five years,” he added. Chopra believes that the ecosystem has developed enough for retail investors to understand the upcoming trends. In a <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/startups/news/droom-founder-explains-why-he-is-considering-a-us-ipo-and-where-he-intends-to-spend-the-money/articleshow/84917608.cms">previous interaction</a> with Business Insider, Droom’s founder and CEO Sandeep Aggarwal highlighted that Indian investors now have a stock appetite to invest in tech businesses. Earlier, he was of that view that Indian new age businesses are not rewarded in the Indian stock exchange. WATCH ALSO: <div type="Video" msid="84897976" hostid="261" title="India's latest unicorn is prepping for an IPO now" dataSource="BUSINESSINSIDER" thumbUrl="https://denmark.timesinternet.in/cmslite/api/app/images.jpg?msid=84897976"></div> SEE ALSO <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/stock-market/news/bharti-airtel-tech-mahindra-bajaj-finance-and-other-top-stocks-to-watch-out-for-on-october-26/slidelist/87268702.cms" data-type="tilCustomLink">Bharti Airtel, Tech Mahindra, Bajaj Finance and other top stocks to watch out for on October 26</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/international/news/elon-musks-wealth-surged-by-36-billion-the-largest-single-day-gain-bloombergs-ever-recorded/articleshow/87267131.cms" data-type="tilCustomLink">Elon Musk's wealth surged by $36 billion, the largest single-day gain Bloomberg's ever recorded</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/finance/news/opinion-the-next-four-letter-word-taking-the-world-of-finance-by-storm/articleshow/87260681.cms" data-type="tilCustomLink">OPINION: The next four-letter word taking the world of finance by storm</a>

Despite majority of its revenue coming from the US, this is what compelled RateGain to be the first SaaS company to head for an IPO in India

<ul><li>The new <keyword id="7567986" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="auto-debit" source="Orion">auto-debit</keyword> guidelines for recurring <keyword id="6359540" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="payments" source="Orion">payments</keyword> kicked in from today, October 1.</li><li>“The current <keyword id="30067" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="rbi" source="Orion">RBI</keyword> guidelines place more friction in recurring payment,” said Upekkha’s Thiyagarajan Maruthavanan.</li><li>Industry experts believe that this move will push more SaaS companies to move overseas and chase international clients.</li></ul>The new auto-debit guidelines for<a href="https://businessinsider.in/business/ecommerce/news/what-is-e-mandate-or-upi-autopay-and-how-to-enable-it-for-jio-hotstar-and-others/articleshow/86650600.cms?_ga=2.76036176.459036666.1632714936-227132192.1626769520"> recurring payments</a> kicked in from today, October 1, but the Indian software-as-a-service (SaaS) industry expects this new regulation to have a much deeper impact on their businesses. Before getting into this, it is important to understand what the guidelines really say. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has decided to do away with automatic recurring payments by adding a layer of authentication for transactions. A user will have to manually mandate such transactions every month, dropping the idea of recurring payments altogether. Now where does the <keyword id="11064864" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="SaaS-industry" source="Orion">SaaS industry</keyword> come into play? The <keyword id="4360787" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Indian-saas-companies" source="Orion">Indian SaaS companies</keyword> — which are poised to meet a fifth of world’s software demand and pocket a revenue of <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/enterprise/news/amazon-twitter-hyundai-and-dominos-are-buying-indian-software-fuelling-a-75-billion-dream-chased-by-top-vcs-like-sequoia-and-tiger-global/articleshow/85646116.cms">$75 million in the next four years</a> — are worried that this would lead to default or delayed payments, impacting their revenue. Suresh Sambandam, founder of work management software company Kissflow, in a conversation with Business Insider, explained that any small ticket-size SaaS companies in India — whose payments range between $5 to $500 a month — go through a credit card-enabled payments system that is recurring in nature. The latest step, which adds an additional layer of authentication, is going to introduce default in payments, a lot of paperwork and a lot of human involvement to follow up with customers on past payments. “Earlier it was a smooth transaction and now it's overcomplicated,” he added. Thiyagarajan Maruthavana, partner at Upekkha Value SaaS Accelerator, told Business Insider said, “In the last 15 years, while the global SaaS market grew manifold to $200 billion in revenue, the domestic SaaS market failed to take off due to lack of easy collection of recurring payments. Many global SaaS startups and corporations have dialled back their India market plans in the last 5 years due to this issue.” “The current RBI guidelines place more friction in recurring payment,” he further added. Both Sambandam and Thiyagarajan reiterated that this move will push more SaaS companies to go after international clients as well as headquarters. “However it does not impact the SaaS industry from India as these Indian SaaS companies had already moved away from serving the domestic market to the global market. The guidelines impact only a handful of SaaS businesses that focus on Indian customers. These companies will now be forced to move their geography focus elsewhere,” Thiyagarajan said. Ankur Bansal, co-founder of BlackSoil Capital, in a previous conversation with Business Insider, had highlighted that SaaS business margins are really high and they are even higher from customers based out of the US or Europe. This is why most SaaS companies — such as Zoho, Freshworks, Postman, MindTickle and others — usually go after clients in international markets. This, in turn, also increases their valuation in the eyes of the investors significantly. These companies, along with many others, do have a portion of their customers coming in from India as well, which is going to get impacted now. The latest move will leave Indian SaaS companies with little reason to actually operate in India. What do other experts have to say? <div type="image" title="India’s new guidelines on recurring payments sends SaaS industry in a turmoil" msid="86679002" hostid="261" caption="&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;Anand Jain, cofounder and chief strategy officer at CleverTap&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;"></div> “Recurring services don’t need the friction of executing the payment on a recurring basis — that friction makes business, especially SaaS business, tougher… The requirement for banks to provide at least 24 hour notice before a recurring payment is executed also ensures that unnecessary payments or buyers’ guilt are reduced. The only challenge I see is that this will need better help and training by financial institutions for their end users in setup. But India is getting much more savvy with these things.” — Monish Darda, cofounder and chief technology officer at Icertis, said. “These are a matter of habit, for instance, when RBI made 2FA [two-factor authentication] mandatory, we all thought that it would dent online transaction volumes. While there was some inconvenience felt initially, digital transactions (one-time password et al) have grown manifold in recent times and are set to continue to grow. In fact, the safety net provided by these checks and balances will only bring new users to the fold. Having said that, this will [be an] inconvenience [to] merchants and customers both for pre-existing debit mandates, since the card issuers will have to revalidate the mandates now.” — Shishir Mankad, managing partner and head of financial services at management consulting firm, Praxis Global Alliance said. SEE ALSO <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/startups/news/ritesh-agarwal-led-oyo-files-preliminary-papers-for-its-1-2-billion-ipo/articleshow/86674003.cms">Ritesh Agarwal-led OYO files preliminary papers for its $1.2 billion IPO</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/stock-market/markets/news/zee-entertainment-falls-nearly-3-in-trade-as-board-refuses-to-hold-egm/articleshow/86678219.cms#:~:text=to%20hold%20EGM-,Zee%20Entertainment%20falls%20nearly%203%25%20in%20trade,board%20refuses%20to%20hold%20EGM&amp;text=Zee%20Entertainment%20has%20declined%20to,board%20to%20consider%20the%20demand.&amp;text=Post%20the%20development%2C%20Zee%20Entertainment's,3%3A30%20p.m.%20on%20Friday.">Zee Entertainment falls nearly 3% in trade as board refuses to hold EGM</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/corporates/news/air-india-gets-a-saviour-in-tata-sons/articleshow/86675842.cms#:~:text=The%20government%20has%20reportedly%20accepted,was%20also%20among%20the%20bidders.">Tata Sons reportedly wins bid to takeover the ‘Maharaja’</a>

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