Stories
From Zoho to Rs 30,000 Crore Freshworks: Girish Mathrubootham's Global Business Journey
- •Girish Mathrubootham, a former Zoho executive, founded Freshworks after identifying a market opportunity from a customer complaint on Hacker News regarding Zendesk's price hike.
- •Mathrubootham, with co-founder Shan Krishnasamy, launched Freshdesk in Chennai on October 13, 2010, initially focusing on customer-support software.
- •The company expanded its product portfolio to include IT service management, CRM, voice, and HR, leading to its rebranding as Freshworks.
- •Freshworks secured significant funding rounds, becoming a unicorn in 2018 and going public on Nasdaq in September 2021, raising approximately $1.03 billion.
- •Headquartered in San Mateo, California, with a large employee base in India, Freshworks reported $838.8 million in revenue for 2025 and has a market capitalization of around $3.34 billion.
Key Questions Answered
Girish Mathrubootham was inspired after spotting an opportunity in a Hacker News comment section discussing Zendesk increasing its prices by 60% to 300%, leaving customers unhappy. Recognizing an opening for SaaS-based customer-support software, he and colleague Shan Krishnasamy resigned from Zoho to launch the company.
Freshdesk was launched on October 13, 2010, from Chennai with an initial team of six people. Years later, the company went public on Nasdaq in September 2021, raising about $1.03 billion in its IPO by selling shares at $36 apiece.
Girish Mathrubootham is no longer the CEO of Freshworks, as Dennis Woodside now serves in that role. Mathrubootham remains associated with the company as its co-founder and has focused increasingly on investing and backing other SaaS businesses.
