Girish Mathrubootham to exit Freshworks, focus on Together Fund

Freshworks co-founder Girish Mathrubootham is set to step down as executive chairman of the Nasdaq-listed SaaS firm on December 1, 2025, four years after the company went public. 

According to the company’s SEC filing, Mathrubootham will focus on investing through Together Fund, his SaaS-focused venture firm. His exit comes after he moved from CEO to executive chairman in May last year.

Following his resignation, Roxanne Austin, the current lead independent director, will take over as chairperson of the board. The reshuffle will also reduce the board size to nine members and trim the number of Class III directors to two. The company clarified that his departure is not related to any disagreements on operations or governance.

Mathrubootham, who founded Freshworks in Chennai in 2010, has been one of the most prominent faces of India’s SaaS movement. He led the firm’s journey from a small startup to its $10 billion debut on Nasdaq in 2021. As per disclosures, he currently holds a 4.28% stake in the company after selling a small portion of shares in late 2024.

Together Fund, which began with a corpus of $85 million, announced its second fund in June 2023 with a target size of $150 million. Media reports indicated that the firm was looking to close Fund II by June this year.

Meanwhile, under CEO Dennis Woodside, Freshworks has been riding on AI-led growth. Its Freddy AI products recently crossed $20 million ARR, driving improved guidance for FY25.

Freshworks' operating revenue grew to $204.7 million in the quarter ending June 2025 from $174 million in Q2 CY24. The decent increase in growth and controlled cost mechanism helped Freshworks to reduce its losses from operations by 80% to $9 million in Q2 CY25 from $44 million in Q2 CY25.