Freshworks Valued At $10B in Nasdaq Trading Debut

Enterprise software-as-a-service (SaaS) firm Freshworks filed a $1.03 billion initial public offering (IPO) at a $10.13 billion valuation as trading opened on Wednesday (Sept. 22) on Nasdaq, according to multiple reports.

Backed by Accel and Sequoia Capital, Freshworks priced 28.5 million shares at $36 each, beyond its original range of $32 to $34 per share. The firm saw prices surge as much as 32% after opening, hitting a high of $47.50.

Headquartered in Silicon Valley and founded in Chennai, India, Freshworks develops customer management platforms and is a competitor to Salesforce. It currently works with more than 50,000 businesses, offering products under free and paid subscription plans.

See also: Freshworks’ IPO Filing Points to Huge B2B SaaS Opportunity Within Disjointed CRM Market

In the Freshworks IPO filing, the company said it offers a more “complete customer relationship management (CRM) solution” over first-generation SaaS business software. With sales force and marketing automation, Freshworks is a streamlined, single platform approach.

“We believe there’s no reason why, with today’s technology, companies should be forced to use multiple tools to engage with customers across their entire lifecycle,” the company said in its SEC filing, and “… we envision a new product experience that breaks down data silos and creates unified experiences.”

For the six-month period ended June 30, Freshworks generated revenue of $168.9 million, up 53% over the previous year, with a net loss of $9.8 million, compared with a loss of $57.1 million in the same period in 2020.

Read more: Business Software Firm Freshworks Hikes IPO Price Range

Freshworks experienced an acceleration in business during the pandemic as the pivot to digital operations became a necessity during worldwide lockdowns and remote work quickly became the everyday normal.

Aside from offices in San Francisco and Chennai, India, the company has 10 other locations, including London, Berlin and Sydney.

The IPO was led by Morgan Stanley, JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Bank of America Corp and shares are trading on the Nasdaq Global Select Market under the ticker symbol FRSH.