Sidharth Malik (Freshworks)
Software-as-a-service (SaaS) vendor, Freshworks, has opened an office in Singapore, its first for the ASEAN market, with support from the Singapore Economic Development Board (EDB).
The vendor has seen huge uptake of its solutions across the region, registering 45 per cent year-on-year growth as of December 2018, inline with its regional partner network across Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Philippines, Indonesia, Vietnam, and Hong Kong.
“ASEAN is an exciting market for us, we look forward to playing our role in supporting businesses to scale and achieve their full business potential,” said Sidharth Malik, chief revenue officer of Freshworks. “Singapore is a great launch pad into the region, as businesses are focussing on technologies to innovate.
"Our customers and partners in the region have shown confidence by delivering great customer experiences, and we look forward to continuing the momentum."
As Malik alluded to, Singapore is seen as an ideal location to launch into the region, ranked the second among global economies in the ease of doing business by the World Bank, in addition to its rapid urbanisation and digitisation, which are driving demand for customer engagement solutions across sectors.
Through this expansion, the firm hopes to increase the adoption of its customer engagement suite and increase its network of partner resources to meet accelerating regional customer demand.
“Fast-growing technology companies from India are leveraging Singapore as a platform to access new markets,” said Koh Jin Hoe, regional president of Asia Pacific at EDB.
“As one of the leading SaaS companies globally, Freshworks’ Regional Headquarters for ASEAN is an exciting addition to Singapore’s vibrant digital ecosystem, building on our existing talent pool and innovative technology pilots to help more businesses transform digitally."
The vendor’s solutions are used across a range of sectors including consulting, retail and shipping, with regional customers such as AMOS Group, Decathlon, X-press Feeders, Synpulse, and ipay88 making use of its solutions.
The Singapore office will be the firm’s ninth office globally, with a global workforce of over 1,900. The vendor also secured US$100 million of funding in 2018 that supports the firm’s expansion plans.
