Excitement and a sense of achievement were evident as Girish Mathrubootham, founder and Chief Executive Officer of SaaS (software as a service) start-up Freshworks, got ready to ring the opening bell at the Nasdaq MarketSite on Wednesday. Freshworks became the first Indian SaaS start-up to get listed in the US, and looks all set to raise $1.03 billion from its initial public offering (IPO), taking its valuation to $10.13 billion.
“I feel like an Indian athlete who has won a gold medal at the Olympics. I am really proud of how far we have come and more importantly I am excited about what’s ahead,” he said. Inspiration for the IPO came from an unlikely source. “The code name of our IPO was Project Superstar, named after the most successful movie star from Tamil Nadu, Rajnikanth,” Mathrubootham said. Coming on the back of the successful listing of Zomato on the Indian bourses, Freshworks’ IPO has set the Indian start-up ecosystem buzzing with excitement. Mathrubootham added that the firm was showing the world what a global product company from India can achieve. “The fact that we are doing it first in the US, here at the Nasdaq is truly amazing. I would like to say today is day zero for Freshworks all over again. ALSO READ: Freshworks m-cap crosses $13 bn; over 10% employees turn ‘crorepatis’ ”Confidence in the firm’s ability was also evident from the fact that it upped the pricing of its shares in its initial public offering on Wednesday to $36 apiece. According to Bloomberg, this comes after Freshworks had only on Monday lifted the planned range of the offering from $28 to $32. The shares began trading on the Nasdaq Global Select Market under the symbol “FRSH”, and the offering is expected to close on September 24, subject to customary closing conditions. In addition, the San Mateo-based start-up has granted underwriters a 30-day option to purchase an additional 2.85 million shares of Class A common stock at the IPO price, less underwriting discounts and commissions. The offering marks a significant rise in its valuation of $3.5 billion in November 2019, when it raised $150 million from Sequoia Capital, CapitalG and Accel. Going further back, in July 2018, it was valued at $1.5 billion. Its projected valuation represents a near six-fold increase in just over three years. This is indeed an achievement as Freshworks competes with global giants such as Salesforce, SAP, and Oracle. Financials In the first six month of calendar year 2021, the company’s revenue increased to $168.9 million, compared with $110.5 million in the corresponding period last year.