| Freshworks Inc. | |
| Type: | Public |
| Traded As: | NASDAQ: |
| Industry: | |
| Area Served: | Worldwide |
| Founded: | in Chennai, India (as Freshdesk) |
| Key People: |
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| 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]
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]
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]
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.