We will continue our worldwide expansion: CEO Girish Mathrubootham

Freshworks, a Software as a Service-based business software provider, joined the unicorn club by raising $100 million from Sequoia Capital and Accel, at a valuation of $1.5 billion. Freshworks co-founder and CEO Girish Mathrubootham tells Gireesh Babu the company is open to more acquisitions if it fills the tech gap or bolsters its team. Edited excerpts:
 
What are your thoughts on officially joining the Unicorn club?
 
It is something that was bound to happen, given the intensity we have shown right from the start. This milestone, though significant, will not divert us from our journey. We are at $1.5 billion in valuation right now, and have doubled it in less than 2 years. Our growth has been nothing short of what we expected, and we set the bar high for ourselves.

 

How do you plan to use the funding? When do you go for an IPO?
 
We have always been a conservative company and on the verge of attaining profitability. The money raised will be used for global expansion. We do believe that we will eventually go for an IPO, but do not have a timeframe for it. The focus will be on investing in the product and expanding internationally.
 
Would you be looking for further acquisitions? If yes, what are the gaps?
 
All our acquisitions have been either to fill a technology gap or to bolster our team with the talent acquired. Some of these products join our product roster or add to our product features — Konotor became Freshchat, Zarget became Freshmarketer and JoeHukum’s AI/ML capabilities are used extensively within our products. If a similar scenario presents itself, we will definitely consider.

 
How do you see the journey in the next couple of years?
 
At this time, we are expanding in the US, Australia and New Zealand, Europe, West Asia and Africa (EMEA), Asia Pacific and Europe. We will continue our worldwide expansion. We will also invest in the integrated customer engagement platform experience.