Freshworks Hires Morgan Stanley As Lead Bank For US IPO

India SaaS unicorn Freshworks has reportedly hired investment banks to prepare for its initial public offering (IPO) in the US. 

According to Reuters, which first reported the development, the IPO could value Freshworks at around $10 Bn. Headquartered in San Mateo, California, Freshworks has hired Morgan Stanley to lead the IPO, which could happen in the next few months, and is looking to float its shares on Nasdaq, sources told the publication. 

Founded in 2010 by Girish Mathrubootham, Shan Krishnasamy and Vijay Shankar, Freshworks provides an innovative customer engagement software for businesses of all sizes making it easy for teams to acquire, close, and keep their customers for life. The company claims that its SaaS products provide a 360-degree view of the customer, are ready to go, easy to use, and offer quick return on investment.

The company has more than 150K clients across the world, which include NHS, Honda, Rightmove, Hugo Boss, Citizens Advice, Toshiba, Cisco and others. 

In February, it was reported that Freshworks had surpassed the $300 Mn ARR (annual recurring revenue) mark, a key metric used by software-as-a-service (SaaS) or subscription businesses, in 2020 through Covid-induced unprecedented economic times.

In 2020, the SaaS unicorn launched Freshworks CRM, which aggregates data on an embedded customer data platform for personalized customer engagement, improved lead conversion and sales growth.

Even though several businesses came to a halt due to the pandemic, Freshworks introduced new product offerings and strategic acquisitions to accelerate the involvement of artificial intelligence (AI) in its businesses. The company also expanded its executive team to fuel its next phase of growth.

Besides this, it also made two acquisitions last year — AnsweriQ in February and Flint in July.

In a recent interview with Bloomberg, Mathrubootham had said that the company had no immediate plans to go public, but the option down the road included an initial public offering (IPO), a deal with a special purpose acquisition company, a direct listing or raising more capital from private investors.

According to a report by Bain & Company, the Indian SaaS companies have the potential to capture a 7-9% share of the global SaaS market by 2022. Companies like Zoho, Druva, Icertis and Freshworks have led this space in India, with SaaS firms poised to reach between $18 Bn to $20 Bn in revenue by 2022.

Note: We at Inc42 take our ethics very seriously. More information about it can be found here.