Freshworks Turns Unicorn With Its Latest $100 Mn Funding

SaaS-based startup Freshworks has raised ₹685.4 crores ($100 million) in series G funding co-led by existing investors Accel and Sequoia, with participation from CapitalG. This round brings the total capital raised by Freshworks to $250 million.

This investment brings the post-money valuation of the startup to $1.5 billion, making it the latest entrant in the league of unicorns.

The fresh funds will be used for expansion in the global markets, along with continued investment to strengthen technology in the SaaS platform.

Chennai-based Freshworks was founded by Girish Mathrubootham, Shan Krishnasamy in 2010. It provides SaaS-based solutions for organisations to enhance customer support, sales and marketing professionals by creating better communication channels to enhance customer experience and facilitating quicker resolution of issues.

It has built a full-SaaS platform for all its products like Freshsales, Freshdesk, and Freshservice to function seamlessly.

The startup claims to have over 150,000 clients all over the globe including companies like Cisco, Honda, Zomato, Toshiba, Hugo Boss, NHS, Rightmove, Citizens Advice, among many others.

Talking about the investment, Sameer Gandhi, a partner at Accel, said, “The business software landscape today is teeming with bloated, inflexible and expensive solutions. Freshworks has built the only customer engagement platform on the market that elegantly meets the needs of a business of any size with software that is modern, intuitive and affordable. We’re confident that the Freshworks approach is the way forward for businesses seeking a better approach.”

In FY17, Freshworks had reported a total revenue of ₹199.2 crores ($30.65 million), which is more than double of previous years ₹94.89 crores ($14.16 million), as per company filings with MCA. Freshworks has doubled its revenues every year since 2014. It also claims to have reached $100 Mn in annual recurring revenue.

The startup has made over nine acquisitions so far and with the latest funding, it will be open to more such acquisitions to bolster its tech team and expand its product offering.