Video source: YouTube, India Today
Customer support platform Freshworks Inc disclosed on Monday it is aiming for a valuation of up to $9 billion in its US initial public offering (IPO).
The software-as-a-service (SaaS) startup said in a filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) it plans to sell 28.5 million shares at a price range of $28 to $32 per share.
At the high end of the filing range, the IPO would raise $912 million in gross proceeds at an $8.9 billion post-money valuation.
Launched 11 years ago in India, the company was last valued at $3.5 billion in a November 2019 financing round. Its investors include Accel, Sequoia Capital India, Tiger Global Management and Alphabet Inc’s CapitalG.
The company is headquartered in San Mateo, California, with engineering, product and inside sales resources still concentrated in India.
Its software is now used by more than 50,000 companies around the world, such as Delivery Hero SE, Vice Media Group and Klarna Bank AB.
In a letter included in Monday’s filing, Freshworks founder Girish Mathrubootham wrote, “Freshworks is a very special company. We were unconventional from the beginning — not for its own sake, but because we saw an opening in the market for a unique approach.”
“We offered a ‘fresh’ approach relying on efficient, product-led, low-cost and low-touch sales; and we targeted massive, underserved markets. And we had one simple mantra: happy employees create happy customers. In fact, we made that our mission," he wrote.
Freshworks disclosed that it booked $308 million in sales for the 12 months ending June 30, 2021, a growth of 49%, and posted a net loss of $10 million.
It plans to list on the Nasdaq Stock Market under the symbol “FRSH,” and the deal is expected to price during the week of Sept. 20, 2021.
Morgan Stanley, JPMorgan Chase and BofA Securities are serving as bookrunners on the deal.
The Economic Times noted that a number of tech and software startups, like Zoom Video Communications, Snowflake and Asana, have gone public over the past year as market interest increases amid the rise of post-pandemic hybrid work.
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Source: Equities News
