Top-Level Exits At Freshworks; CMO, CHRO Call It Quits

The chief human resource officer (CHRO), Sumar Gopalan, and the chief marketing officer (CMO), Stacey Epstein, have reportedly put down their papers at NASDAQ-listed SaaS unicorn Freshworks. According to a report by The Captable, the two executives will leave the organisation in the coming days.

Confirming the development to Moneycontrol, CHRO Gopalan said, “Having gone through this amazing and intense journey over the last five and half years, I felt it was the right time for me to step out of my comfort zone and embark on a new adventure.”  

In a statement, Freshworks noted that the two executives were moving on ‘independently’ of one another, adding that it has been looking at possible replacements.

“After years of being an integral part of Freshworks, Suman and Stacey have independently decided to move on from Freshworks. For the last few months, they’ve continued their responsibilities while supporting the searches to find strong replacements and ensure seamless transitions for their teams,” the listed SaaS giant said.

Freshworks has already appointed a new CHRO, the company said, without revealing the name of the top-level executive.

“We’ve already selected a new CHRO who will start at the end of August and we’re actively evaluating CMO candidates. We are grateful for their years of hard work taking us through IPO and life as a public company, and the foundation Suman and Stacey have established for the future success of Freshworks,” the SaaS major said.

Freshworks is now looking to appoint a new CMO in the coming months.

The development comes a week after the startup reported a net loss of $35.66 Mn in the quarter ended June 30, 2023, down 48.9% year-on-year (YoY). Freshworks reported an adjusted operating profit for the first time in the January-March quarter of 2023, posting a non-GAAP profit of $3.88 Mn.

The development comes nearly a year after the company’s cofounder and CTO Shan Krishnaswamy left the company last September.

The company also saw senior-level layoffs towards the end of the June quarter, though it had denied any company-wide layoffs. The retrenchments happened within senior positions in the company’s product, engineering and go-to-market (GTM) teams.