Freshworks: The King of Global SMB SAAS | Emergent

A Tipping Point for Global SAAS Companies

This piece was originally published on the newsletter Emergent.

Enterprise software companies serving large corporate customers has long dominated the world of venture capital and startups as the category that most excites investors, attracts numerous great entrepreneurs and consistently produces large companies. However, over the last decade as the tech industry has evolved from a vertical into a horizontal industry — penetrating an ever broader range of industries — entrepreneurs are increasingly launching companies that build software for small and medium businesses (SMBs).

Companies such as Quickbooks, Square, Toast, Shopify and numerous others are putting powerful software tools in the hands of SMBs and helping them reduce their costs and maximize their revenue. Many of these startups are US-centric and have not yet expanded outside North America in a major way.

One major exception to this rule is Indian SAAS giant Freshworks which recently went public on the NYSE and has a hefty $13 billion market cap today. Freshworks is a shining example of a world-leading software company and a global champion founded and built in an emerging market.