Freshworks Chief Product Officer Quits

SUMMARY

Freshworks said Srinivasagopalan Ramamurthy bid adieu to “pursue another professional opportunity”

However, Ramamaurthy will work closely with the startup’s top brass till October 1 to ensure a smooth transition

Ramamurthy will remain available to provide advisory assistance to Freshworks through the end of the year, it said

In another top-level exit at Freshworks, the Nasdaq-listed SaaS startup’s chief product officer (CPO) Srinivasagopalan Ramamurthy has resigned.

In a filing with the stock exchange, the startup said that Ramamurthy resigned on August 12 to “pursue another professional opportunity”.

However, Ramamaurthy will work closely with the startup’s top brass till October 1 to ensure smooth transition.

“Mr. Ramamurthy is working closely with Freshworks’ chief executive officer to ensure a smooth transition period and he will continue in his current role until October 1, 2024, following which Mr. Ramamurthy will remain available to provide advisory assistance to Freshworks through the end of the year,” the filing said.

His departure comes at a time when the company has been undergoing a major overhaul at the top level. In May, the then chief executive officer (CEO) Girish Mathrubootham stepped down from his role and president Dennis Woodside was announced as his replacement.

Mathrubootham transitioned into the role of executive chairman and now oversees long-term product vision, innovation, and AI strategy.

In March, Freshworks’ India head Karthik Rajaram also quit the company to join software company Elastic. Prior to that in February, chief revenue officer (CRO) Pradeep Rathinam also resigned after a nearly four-year stint and was replaced by Abe Smith.

It was also reported last year that the SaaS major’s cofounder and chief technology officer (CTO) Shan Krishnaswamy departed from the company in September 2022.

Amid all this, the startup also brought in ex-Adobe executive Mika Yamamoto as its first chief customer and marketing officer (CCMO) last year, while Johanna Jackman was roped in as the new chief people officer (CPO).

The exits also come at a time when the company has aggressively scaled up its operations while trimming losses. The Nasdaq-listed startup narrowed its consolidated net loss by 43.5% to $20.1 Mn in the second quarter of 2024 as against $35.6 Mn in the year-ago period.

Meanwhile, total revenue jumped 20% year-on-year (YoY) to $174.1 Mn during the period under review on the back of improved sales and growing customer demand for AI-enabled solutions.

Founded in 2010 by Mathrubootham and Krishnasamy, Freshworks offers a suite of software for customer service and support, customer engagement and IT service management. The company listed on the bourses in 2021.