Freshworks Explained

Freshworks Inc.
Type:Public
Traded As:NASDAQ:
Industry:
Area Served:Worldwide
Founded: in Chennai, India (as Freshdesk)
Key People:
Location:San Mateo, California, United States
Products:Customer relationship management (CRM) and IT service management (ITSM) tools
Services:Online office suite, online business management tools
Revenue: (2023)
Operating Income: (2023)
Net Income: (2023)
Assets: (2023)
Equity: (2023)
Num Employees:4,900 (2023)
Footnotes:[1]

Freshworks Inc. is a cloud-based software-as-a-service company, founded in 2010 in Chennai, India.[2] [3] The company provides cloud-based tools for customer relationship management (CRM), IT service management (ITSM), and e-commerce marketing. As of October 2023, Freshworks has over 60,000 business clients. Among these, more than 51,000 are small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs), defined as companies with no more than 250 employees.[4]

On September 22, 2021, Freshworks became the first Indian SaaS company to be listed on Nasdaq. In its initial public offering, Freshworks raised $1.03 billion[5] [6] following earlier funding rounds from venture capital firms such as Accel and Google's venture capital fund, CapitalG.[7] [8]

History

Freshworks was founded in 2010 by former Zoho employees Girish Mathrubootham and Shan Krishnasamy in Chennai, India, as Freshdesk.[9] [10] The company moved their headquarters to San Mateo, California, in 2018.[5] The company focuses on developing cloud-based customer service software and has undergone multiple rounds of funding from investors such as Accel, Tiger Global Management, and Sequoia Capital.[11]

During its development, Freshworks acquired three other companies, 1CLICK.io, Konotor, and Frilp, in 2015.[12] In 2016, the company launched its second product, Freshsales, a customer relationship management (CRM) software.[13]

In 2017, Freshdesk officially changed its name to Freshworks Inc. This change was part of their strategy to become a multi-product company and avoid limiting their brand to just helpdesk solutions.[14] In 2018, the company achieved annual recurring revenue of over $100 million and launched a product suite called Freshworks 360.[15] In 2020 Zoho accused Freshworks of stealing Zoho's intellectual property, and the lawsuit was settled in 2021.[16]

The company's annual recurring revenue was reported as over $200 million in 2020, over $300 million in 2021, and $400 million in 2022. In 2023, Freshworks set a goal of $1 billion total revenue by 2026.

Freshworks disclosed that it acquired Device42, an American IT-management firm, for $230 million in May 2024. Also in May, Mathrubootham transitioned to the role of executive chairman, with Dennis Woodside succeeding him as CEO.[17] [18]

Initial public offering

On September 22, 2021, Freshworks made its debut on Nasdaq with a valuation of $13 billion at the close of its first trading day. The company raised $1.03 billion by selling 28.5 million shares at $36 per share. The shares opened at a 21% premium to the IPO price and closed the day 32% higher at $47.55. The stock price peaked at $50.25 per share, 39% higher than the IPO price, on October 22, 2021, before plummeting to a low of $11.30 on June 17, 2022.[19]

Recognition

Freshworks has been recognized in various industry reports, including the Forbes Cloud 100 and Gartner Magic Quadrant for Customer Engagement Center CRM.[20]

Freshworks was listed at number 40 on Forbes Cloud 100 between 2017 and 2019.[21] It was listed at number 16 on Forbes Cloud 100 in 2020.

Notes and References

  1. Web site: 2023 Annual Report (Form 10-K) . February 16, 2024 . U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
  2. News: Salesforce rival Freshworks aims for nearly $9 bln valuation in U.S. IPO. Reuters. 13 September 2021 . September 13, 2021. 2023-02-13.
  3. Web site: RAJIV SINGH. Accel India: Decoding Founders' Mentality To Spin Success. Forbes India. Jan 18, 2021. 2023-02-13.
  4. Web site: DeFrancesco . Robert . Freshworks Looks To Gain Market Share In IT Service Management . 2024-01-09 . Forbes . en.
  5. Web site: Nasdaq Listing Of Freshworks Creates Windfall For Indian Founder And Hundreds Of Employees. Anu Raghunathan. September 24, 2021. Forbes.com. September 25, 2021.
  6. Web site: Freshworks will make good on its IPO success with an Olympics-style work ethos . Yahoo! Finance. September 23, 2021 . September 25, 2021.
  7. Web site: Salesforce rival Freshworks aims for nearly $9 bln valuation in U.S. IPO . Reuters. September 13, 2021 . September 25, 2021.
  8. Web site: Accel India: Decoding Founders' Mentality To Spin Success. 2021-02-07. Forbes India. en.
  9. News: Arakali . Harichandran . March 11, 2021 . Girish Mathrubootham's billion-dollar dream for Freshworks . Forbes India.
  10. News: Freshworks IPO: More than 500 employees become crorepatis . September 23, 2021 . The Indian Express.
  11. News: Nishant . Niket . Freshworks' share price surges 21% over IPO, market cap at $12.2 billion. Economic Times. 22 September 2021 . Sep 22, 2021, 11:35 PM. 2023-04-12.
  12. Web site: SNEHA BANERJEE. Freshdesk's 6th acquisition is an AI-based Chatbot Platform. Entrepreneur. 18 October 2016 . OCT 18, 2016. 2023-04-12.
  13. Web site: Suparna Dutt DCunha. Company Close-up: A Fresh Start To Customer Engagement. Martechvibe. 2 June 2021 . June 2, 2021. 2023-04-12.
  14. Web site: 2017-06-06 . The Freshworks Story - Why we rebranded our company . 2024-01-09 . Thoughts on Refreshing Business Software . en-US.
  15. Web site: Aparajitha Nair. Freshworks' Journey From A Single Product To Taking On The SaaS Giants. dutchuncles. May 17, 2021. 2023-04-12.
  16. Web site: Aparajitha Nair. Rapprochement. Freshworks and Zoho reach settlement to end litigation. hindubusiness. December 24, 2021. 2024-05-23.
  17. Web site: Singh . Manish . May 2, 2024 . Freshworks acquires Device42 for $230M, appoints Dennis Woodside as new CEO . TechCrunch.
  18. News: Freshworks names Dennis Woodside as CEO, shares tumble . May 1, 2024 . Reuters.
  19. Web site: Freshworks Inc (FRSH) Stock Price & News .
  20. Web site: Gauri. IPO time: Innovative company Freshworks files for USD 100 million IPO. Inventiva. 30 August 2021 . August 30, 2021. 2023-04-12.
  21. Web site: Freshworks. forbes. 2023-04-12.