BENGALURU : Software as a Service unicorn Freshworks, which had a humble beginning from a 700- sqft warehouse in Chennai, has become the first start-up this year likely to list on the Nasdaq stock exchange in the US.
The California-based firm is planning to raise $100 million at a reportedly $10 billion valuation, a significant jump from its $3.4-billion valuation during the last funding round in 2019.
According to the prospectus filed with the US Securities Exchange Commission, Freshworks is looking to list in a market like the US where a majority of its 52,500 clients come from.
It only makes sense since the SaaS companies have received the maximum venture capital from the US.
Freshworks, which started off as a customer desk service company called Freshdesk a decade ago by Girish Mathrubootham and Shan Krishnasamy, shifted base to California in 2017. Several anecdotes in the company’s prospectus signal Mathrubootham’s linkage to his roots in Tamil Nadu.
FreshWorks CEO and founder refers to the idea of Kudumba (Tamilian word meaning family ),saying that he built the company like a typical Indian family, scaling it up even as the organisation didn’t have the best of talent pool and technology at its disposal during the founding years.
India’s celebrated Tamil actor Rajnikanth, revered by Mathrubootham as his’guru’, has also been thanked by the software technologist. He says the Freshworks IPO was named after the most successful star from Tamil Nadu.
“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. Super star 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!” Freshworks chief said .
The company said that its last twelve months revenue saw a 45% growth YoY at $ 249.7 million in 2020 compared to $172.4 million in 2019. Its net losses were $57.1 million and $9.8 million in the six months ended June 30, 2020 and 2021, respectively.
“We generate revenue primarily from the sale of subscriptions for Freshworks products,” as per the company’s prospectus.