In an ever changing sector such as software, companies play both sides of the coin to increase the probabilities of success. Freshworks, a customer engagement solutions provider, achieved unicorn status in 2018 and has its eye on an IPO in the near future. But it’s not relying on its current operations and customer acquisition program to get it over the IPO finish line. It has been continuing to scale operations organically while quickly making acquisitions.
Most recently it announced an acquisition of CanvasFlip, which was founded by Vipul Misra and Manish Jha in 2015. The company specializes in developing and bringing to market collaboration solutions that are aimed at product designers, developers, and product managers. CanvasFlip has a growing list of major corporate clients – among them are Paytm, MakeMyTrip, MagicBricks, Accenture UK, TechMahindra and others.
Based in Bengaluru, the company had its origins in multiple accelerator programs including TLABS, Microsoft Venture, and Google blackbox. Then in 2015, CanvasFlip raised funding from well-known SaaS investment firm Bessemer Venture Partners and angel investors such as Fusionchart founder Nadhani and Freshworks founder Girish Mathrubootham.
While CanvasFlip represents an enhancement to an overall solid product portfolio, Freshworks has undertaken more strategic technical acquisitions. Earlier this year, it acquired a customer success management software provider Natero. In a public statement, Freshworks commented that the acquisition will help the company put actionable data in the hands of customer success professionals through Natero’s artificial intelligence and machine learning platforms.
The road to an IPO is rarely a straightforward one, but with a solid board and management team, Freshworks is well equipped to continue making the right next steps. Today, the organization as a whole provides companies of all sizes with SaaS customer engagement solutions that make it easy for support, sales and marketing professionals to communicate and collaborate effectively with customers. Its products include Freshdesk, Freshservice, Freshsales, Freshcaller, Freshteam, Freshchat, Freshmarketer and Freshrelease.
Freshworks was founded in October 2010 and is backed by Accel, Tiger Global Management, CapitalG and Sequoia Capital India. It is based in San Mateo, California, with global offices in India, UK, Australia and Germany. Freshworks is used by over 150,000 businesses around the world including the NHS, Honda, Rightmove, Hugo Boss, Citizens Advice, Toshiba and Cisco.
