Freshworks valued at over $12 billion as shares bounce in US debut

Enterprise software program maker Freshworks Inc was valued at $12.2 billion in its Nasdaq debut on Wednesday after shares opened 21% above the preliminary providing worth, indicating robust demand for companies which have thrived throughout the pandemic.
Shares of the Salesforce.com rival opened at $43.50 in contrast with the IPO worth of $36 per share. Freshworks joins a wave of tech listings this week, as the corporate sees greater demand from prospects embracing the hybrid work mannequin.
Founded within the Indian metropolis of Chennai, Freshworks has a set of merchandise that helps companies with buyer administration, similar to a messaging platform and an artificial-intelligence powered chatbot for buyer help.
“Our products are even more relevant today in the post pandemic world”, mentioned Girish Mathrubootham, chief government at Freshworks. “Every business wants to engage better with their customers through online digital channels, and they want to enable their employees to work from home.”

The itemizing can be extensively celebrated by the tech group in India, who sees Freshworks as the primary homegrown software program as a service (SaaS) firm to go public within the U.S.
“Freshworks could be the torchbearer for a whole new generation of entrepreneurs in India. We think that there’s embedded product and tech talent and entrepreneurs everywhere,” mentioned Sameer Gandhi, accomplice at Accel, an early investor in Freshworks.
Founded by Girish Mathrubootham and Shan Krishnasamy, Freshworks raised its first spherical of funds in 2011 and obtained its first buyer, the Atwell College in Australia, in the identical yr. Its backers embody Sequoia Capital and Tiger Global Management.
San Mateo, California-headquartered Freshworks mentioned it serves greater than 50,000 firms, together with high-profile names similar to Delivery Hero SE, Swedish funds agency Klarna and Cisco Systems.

On Tuesday evening, the corporate priced its IPO above the highest finish of the vary to boost $1.03 billion.
Morgan Stanley, J.P. Morgan and BofA Securities had been the lead underwriters for the providing.