SaaS-based tech firm Freshworks to raise $912 mn from IPO in US

Tech firm Freshworks Inc plans to raise up to $912 million via an initial public offering (IPO) in the US, according to a regulatory filing. The San Mateo, California-headquartered software as a service (SaaS) company was founded in 2010 by Girish Mathrubootham and Shan Krishnasamy in Chennai.

Freshworks has raised funds from marquee investors including Accel and Tiger Global Management. In a filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Freshworks Inc said it looks to offer 28.5 million Class A common shares at proposed maximum price per share of $32.

"Freshworks Inc is offering 28,500,000 shares of our Class A common stock. This is our initial public offering, and no public market currently exists for shares of our Class A common stock. We anticipate that the initial public offering price will be between $28 and $32 per share," the filing said.

The company has applied to list its Class A common stock on the Nasdaq Global Select Market under the symbol ''FRSH''. With this, Freshworks will look to raise between $798 million to $912 million via its public listing. As per the document, the company has about 52,500 customers globally, including names like Byju's, Sotheby's, Dunzo, Delivery Hero, Lenskart and Radisson Hotels.

"Freshworks is a very special company...We weren''t founded in Silicon Valley. We didn''t target large enterprises. We didn''t have access to a been-there-done-that talent pool.

"We designed our products for the people actually using them. We offered a ''fresh'' approach relying on efficient, product-led, low-cost, and low-touch sales; and we targeted massive, underserved markets," Freshworks co-founder Girish Mathrubootham said in a letter, as part of the IPO filing.

The company said its total revenue was $249.7 million in the year ended December 31, 2020, up 45 per cent year-over-year. Its total revenue was $110.5 million and $168.9 million in the six months ended June 30, 2020 and 2021, respectively, representing an increase of 53 per cent year-on-year.

"The principal purposes of this offering are to increase our capitalisation and financial flexibility, and create a public market for our Class A common stock. We currently intend to use the net proceeds we receive from this offering for general corporate purposes, including working capital, operating expenses and capital expenditures," the filing said.

The company said it may also use a portion of the net proceeds for "acquisitions or strategic investments in complementary businesses, products, services or technologies. However, we do not have agreements or commitments to enter into any such acquisitions or investments at this time."