Chennai-based customer support software company Freshdesk is looking for a stock market listing. In an interview with the Economic Times newspaper, Girish Mathrubootham, CEO and founder of the company has indicated that the five-year-old company is looking to bring its initial public offering (IPO), although it is yet to file paperwork with capital market regulator SEBI. There is no timeline set for Freshdesk IPO, although senior executives expect it to list in 2-3 years.
If all things go according to plan, then we see ourselves becoming a publicly listed company in 2-3 years
– Girish Mathrubootham, CEO and founder, Freshdesk.
Mathrubootham said Freshdesk had at least two acquisition offers but the management decided to turn them down in favor of a market listing.
Freshdesk made headlines in April 2015 when it received USD50 million funding from Tiger Global, Google Capital, and Accel Partners. The Series E funding brought total venture investment in the company to USD94 million.
Ushering in new era
An IPO by the enterprise software player would mark coming of age of the Indian startup ecosystem. While e-commerce players have been in the limelight for attracting the best of the venture capital, other technology startups like Freshdesk have also been making steady inroads.
Last year, Freshdesk’s global competitor Zendesk had a fantastic listing on the US stock markets followed by a 40% pop on the listing.
Meanwhile, the recent changes and relaxations in listing norms brought about by SEBI are encouraging technology startups to look at the prospects of stock market listing in India more favorably. First signs of this massive change in attitude are already visible as e-commerce player Infibeam has filed papers with SEBI for a listing on NSE and BSE.
Read Also: E-commerce player Infibeam files papers for INR450 crore IPO
Starting January 2016, SEBI has made it mandatory for all investors to follow the ASBA (Application Supported by Blocked Amount) route for IPO investments. Another major improvement is the compressed listing schedule of six days after the application process is over. Currently, it takes companies 12 days (T+12) after the application process to get listed on stock exchanges.
Read Also: Courtesy SEBI, IPO listing in T+6 days starting January 2016
