FRESHWORKS SCRIP LISTS ON NASDAQ; MARKET VALUE JUMPS TO $13 BN

Shares of Freshworks Inc. surged in their trading debut on Nasdaq, reflecting soaring demand. The company’s shares started trading at around $46, a 28% gain over the IPO price of $36. At 10.10pm India time, the company’s market value rose to $13 billion.

With the listing under the ‘FRSH’ symbol on the Nasdaq Global Select Market exchange, Freshworks has become the first India-born software-as-aservice firm to trade on a US exchange. Other Indian companies listed in the US include Infosys, Wipro, WNS, Dr Reddy’s and HDFC Bank.

Earlier this week, Freshworks raised its initial public offering (IPO) price to $36 per share, from a price range of $32-$34 per share previously, underscoring strong investor interest. It also granted underwriters a 30-day option to buy up to an additional 2.85 million shares of Class A common stock at the IPO price after deducting underwriting discounts and commissions. This will potentially boost Freshworks’ total fundraise to $1.13 billion.

Morgan Stanley, JP Morgan and Bofa Securities were the lead book-running managers, while Jefferies and Barclays acted as book-running managers for the offering. “Today is the realisation of a major milestone for Freshworks. So, I feel like an Indian athlete who has won a gold medal at the Olympics. I’m excited about what’s next for Freshworks and what a global product company from India can achieve [...] Today is day zero for Freshworks and the beginning of so much more,” said Gireesh Mathrubootham, founder and chief executive officer, Freshworks.

Mathrubootham told the media on Wednesday night that 76% of employees hold shares in the company. “More than 500 of our employees in India are crorepatis now. At least 70 of those are below 30 years of age, just out of college a few years ago.”