This Made India SaaS Startup Files For $100 Mn US IPO; But What’s Rajinikanth Connection Here?

The trend of listing in Nasdaq is in full force as the third company  from Chennai, SaaS firm Freshworks on Friday filed for an Initial Public Offering (IPO) in the US tech exchange Nasdaq.

SaaS Firm Freshworks Listing

Prior to this Cognizant and Sify made their debut on Nasdaq. 

Reportedly, Freshworks listed the size of the offering as $100 million. 

Although, it is set to change once terms are more well defined.

 Sources said that the company is aiming for a $10 billion valuation in April. 

Currently, Its key rival salesforce has a valuation of around $3 billion. 

Freshworks Vision

Freshworks founder Girish Mathrubootham said, “As I reflect on how far Freshworks has come these last 10+ years, this is a proud moment for all of us, and today, I feel really good,” in a letter filing with the exchanges.

He said, “From the beginning, I wanted to build a company optimized for employee happiness; we want our employees to have the best experience of their life at Freshworks. And for us, the journey will always be more important than the destination,”. 

 Apart from this, the founder also expressed his love and gratitude to superstar Rajinikanth for being his “maanaseega guru”. 

Further, Mathrubootham said the code name for the IPO was Project Super Star, in a rare postscript part of his letter. 

He added, “SuperStar 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!,”. 

Mathrubootham said, “We didn’t plan nor expect to change the world. Our dreams came in increments, each building on the next and expanding our vision over time,”. 

Apple Experience In business Software

Mathrubootham also drew parallels with the iPhone and how Freshworks wants to bring the Apple experience to business software. 

He said, “One innovation marked a sea change in consumer behaviour, transforming the tech industry forever: the iPhone. Before 2007, we were all using multiple devices — I personally had a Nokia cellphone, a Garmin GPS, a Sandisk MP3 Player, and a Canon point and-shoot camera….What if we can create an iPhone moment in business software by blending existing technology with unified, intuitive, and delightful experiences?”. 

The company reported a 53% surge in revenue for the six months ended June 30 in its regulatory filing. 

If we talk about earnings, it has earned $168.9 million in revenue for the six months ended June 30 this year. 

Which is up from $110.5 million in the same period last year. 

Talking about Net losses, it has shrunk and came in at $9.8 million for the same period.

Almost, down by 83% from a year earlier. 

Currently, Freshworks has around 52,500 customers.