Off The Cuff

FreshWorks CEO Girish Mathrubhumi Has All the Right Dance Moves, as a Rajini Fan Should

September 23, 2021
Bharat Times

Girish Mathrubhumi was filmed dancing in a throwback video.

After India’s first software-as-a-service (SaaS) startup Freshworks got listed on the US stock exchange Nasdaq, a throwback video of its founder and CEO Girish Mathrubootham shaking a leg is taking Twitter by storm. Shares of the Accel and Sequoia Capital-backed company rose 32 percent after raising $1 billion in an initial public offering above market limits, reported bloomberg. Congratulatory messages poured in for Mr Mathubootham, with Sequoia Managing Director GV Ravi Shankar treating his followers with a video of the FreshWorks CEO dancing on stage.

Mr. Ravi Shankar shared a clip from 2017 and congratulated his business partner. The video shows Mr Mathrubhumi dancing to the song with Sequoia MD Mohit Bhatnagar Pottu Vaitha Kadhal Thitam: from tamil movie singaravelan.

“Watch @mobhat and @mrgirish storming the stage, circa 2017!” Sharing the clip, Mr. Ravi Shankar wrote. “Talk about a VC value add!” He chuckled. “Clearly, we’ll do anything to partner with the best founders in the world!” He concluded his message by congratulating Freshworks on the IPO.

Shares of the software company closed Wednesday at $47.55 in New York trading, giving it a market value of $13 billion. Following the listing, Girish Mathrubhumi took to Twitter to thank FreshWorks employees, partners and investors.

“Today is a dream come true for me – from humble beginnings in #Trichy to ringing the bell on @Nasdaq for the FreshWorks IPO. Thank you to our employees, customers, partners and investors for believing in this dream,” Mr Mathrubhumi wrote on Twitter.

Freshworks was established in Chennai and relocated to Silicon Valley to be closer to the customers. Now based in San Mateo, California, the company has a substantial workforce in the capital of Tamil Nadu.

Sri Mathrubhumi is a famous fan of Tamil superstar Rajinikanth – he is known to take his entire team to watch Rajinikanth’s films when they hit the screens. After the Nasdaq listing, he summarized his journey citing a Rajinikanth dialogue during an interview with Moneycontrol.

He said, “Singa River Potu Sigarathil Yeru. Sigarthai Adanthal Vanathil Eru“

“I see it as a peak that we have scaled. Most people when they reach the peak, they climb down. But, what Rajnik says is ‘Sigarthai Adanthal Vanathil Eru’. So, now is our moment to soar to the skies,” explained Mr Mathrubhumi.

Meanwhile, his throwback videos have created a flutter on Twitter, where the IPO talks have been the center of discussion.

The official Twitter account of Sequoia India released two laughing face emojis in response to the video.

Mr. Bhatnagar shares a picture with the CEO of Freshworks outside Nasdaq

One Twitter user said, “I love the fun vibes of it as opposed to the usual VC investment stories. I am also partial as it is a Tamil song.”

Another compared the CEO to the famous dancer Prabhu Deva

With the listing, Freshworks joins with other leading Indian companies such as Infosys, Wipro and HDFC Bank to trade on US stock exchanges.

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