Freshworks
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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]
| Company type | Public |
|---|---|
| Nasdaq: FRSH | |
| Industry | |
| Founded | 2010 in Chennai, India (as Freshdesk) |
| Founders |
|
| Headquarters | San Mateo, California, United States |
Area served | Worldwide |
Key people |
|
| Products | Customer relationship management (CRM) and IT service management (ITSM) tools |
| Services | Online office suite, online business management tools |
| Revenue | US$596 million (2023) |
| US$−170 million (2023) | |
| US$−137 million (2023) | |
| Total assets | US$1.46 billion (2023) |
| Total equity | US$1.07 billion (2023) |
Number of employees | 4,900 (2023) |
| Website | freshworks |
| Footnotes / references [1] | |
On September 22, 2021, Freshworks became the first Indian SaaS company to be listed on Nasdaq.[5] 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 edit
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.[17] In 2023, Freshworks set a goal of $1 billion total revenue by 2026.[4]
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.[18][19]
Initial public offering edit
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.[17] 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.[20]
Recognition edit
Freshworks has been recognized in various industry reports, including the Forbes Cloud 100 and Gartner Magic Quadrant for Customer Engagement Center CRM.[17]
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.[citation needed]
References edit
- ^ "2023 Annual Report (Form 10-K)". U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. February 16, 2024.
- ^ "Salesforce rival Freshworks aims for nearly $9 bln valuation in U.S. IPO". Reuters. September 13, 2021. 13 September 2021. Retrieved 2023-02-13.
- ^ RAJIV SINGH. "Accel India: Decoding Founders' Mentality To Spin Success". Forbes India. Jan 18, 2021. Retrieved 2023-02-13.
- ^ a b DeFrancesco, Robert. "Freshworks Looks To Gain Market Share In IT Service Management". Forbes. Retrieved 2024-01-09.
- ^ a b c Anu Raghunathan (September 24, 2021). "Nasdaq Listing Of Freshworks Creates Windfall For Indian Founder And Hundreds Of Employees". Forbes.com. Retrieved September 25, 2021.
- ^ "Freshworks will make good on its IPO success with an Olympics-style work ethos". Yahoo! Finance. September 23, 2021. Retrieved September 25, 2021.
- ^ "Salesforce rival Freshworks aims for nearly $9 bln valuation in U.S. IPO". Reuters. September 13, 2021. Retrieved September 25, 2021.
- ^ "Accel India: Decoding Founders' Mentality To Spin Success". Forbes India. Retrieved 2021-02-07.
- ^ Arakali, Harichandran (March 11, 2021). "Girish Mathrubootham's billion-dollar dream for Freshworks". Forbes India.
- ^ "Freshworks IPO: More than 500 employees become crorepatis". The Indian Express. September 23, 2021.
- ^ Nishant, Niket (22 September 2021). "Freshworks' share price surges 21% over IPO, market cap at $12.2 billion". Economic Times. Sep 22, 2021, 11:35 PM. Retrieved 2023-04-12.
- ^ SNEHA BANERJEE (18 October 2016). "Freshdesk's 6th acquisition is an AI-based Chatbot Platform". Entrepreneur. OCT 18, 2016. Retrieved 2023-04-12.
- ^ Suparna Dutt DCunha (2 June 2021). "Company Close-up: A Fresh Start To Customer Engagement". Martechvibe. June 2, 2021. Retrieved 2023-04-12.
- ^ "The Freshworks Story - Why we rebranded our company". Thoughts on Refreshing Business Software. 2017-06-06. Retrieved 2024-01-09.
- ^ Aparajitha Nair. "Freshworks' Journey From A Single Product To Taking On The SaaS Giants". dutchuncles. May 17, 2021. Retrieved 2023-04-12.
- ^ Aparajitha Nair. "Rapprochement. Freshworks and Zoho reach settlement to end litigation". hindubusiness. December 24, 2021. Retrieved 2024-05-23.
- ^ a b c Gauri (30 August 2021). "IPO time: Innovative company Freshworks files for USD 100 million IPO". Inventiva. August 30, 2021. Retrieved 2023-04-12.
- ^ Singh, Manish (May 2, 2024). "Freshworks acquires Device42 for $230M, appoints Dennis Woodside as new CEO". TechCrunch.
- ^ "Freshworks names Dennis Woodside as CEO, shares tumble". Reuters. May 1, 2024.
- ^ "Freshworks Inc (FRSH) Stock Price & News".
- ^ "Freshworks". forbes. Retrieved 2023-04-12.