- The Indian subsidiary of software-as-a-service (SaaS) startup Freshworks Inc. posted a net profit of 30 crores on a standalone basis for the year ended 31 March 2019.
The Indian subsidiary of software-as-a-service (SaaS) startup Freshworks Inc. posted a net profit of 30 crores on a standalone basis for the year ended 31 March 2019, ahead of a potential initial public offering (IPO) in the U.S. next year.
It is an improvement of 76 percent from the net income of some 17 crores in 2017-18.
Freshworks Technologies Pvt Ltd clocked revenue of some 4404.7 crores for fiscal 2018-19, up 59 percent from some 254 crores in the year-ago period, according to data obtained by Tofler, a business intelligence platform.
The company’s total spending for the period was approximately $364 crore, up 61 percent from the $226 crores of the previous fiscal year on higher spending on an employee benefit.
In FY18 Freshworks were profitable. After ed-tech firm, Byju’s, it is now the second unicorn (startups worth a billion dollars) to announce earnings.
The Chennai-and California-based company raised $150 million in a series-H funding round led by Sequoia Capital, CapitalG, and Accel in November 2019, at a $3.5 billion value. The company has purchased two U.S.-based companies in the past year-artificial intelligence (AI) developer AnsweriQ Inc, and the software company Natero, Inc., which oversees customer performance.
Freshworks hires more than 2,700 people across 13 offices worldwide.
Freshworks is also one of the country’s growing number of productive SaaS companies alongside companies including Zoho, Druva, Clevertap, and Kaleyra. Financing operation in SaaS has recently been on a record, passing the $1 billion mark recently in 2019.
Industry analysts also point out that SaaS companies in the consumer Internet segment have a stronger road to profitability and market penetration compared with tech companies. Consequently, SaaS brands are becoming increasingly appealing to numerous established Internet venture capital firms.
An e-mail statement from Freshworks to LiveMint said: “We are a multinational organization with headquarters in San Mateo, California (USA), and with our subsidiaries in the UK, Europe, Asia, and Australia, we produce revenue from business activities around these regions. Financial information published publicly by financial reporting in a single area does not accurately reflect the company’s overall performance.
Founded by Girish Mathruboothan and Shan Khrishnasamy, Freshworks was founded in October 2010 and was earlier known as Freshdesk. Currently, the company is headquartered in San Bruno, California with different offices in India, Australia, the United Kingdom, and Germany.
