Girish Mathrubootham
Co-Founder and Managing Partner at Together Fund; Executive Chairman & Founder at Freshworks
Leading investments in AI-native and SaaS startups through Together Fund and fostering the India-US founder ecosystem.
Intro
I’m Girish Mathrubootham, Co-Founder and Managing Partner at Together Fund and the Founder of Freshworks. My journey has taken me from engineering and product roles at Zoho to building Freshworks from a small office in Chennai into a Nasdaq-listed global entity. Today, my focus is on helping the next generation of builders transition India from an IT services hub into a true 'Product Nation.' I am deeply passionate about AI-native architecture and how AI agents are reimagining enterprise workflows. Having scaled a company to over 67,000 customers, I offer the 'operator's playbook' to ambitious founders, particularly those navigating the India-US corridor. I’m looking to connect with founders who lead with intent and heart, building the future of SaaS and AI-native software. Onwards and upwards 🚀
Networking
What I can offer
- ›Operator experience from scaling a global SaaS company
- ›Deep understanding of enterprise workflows
- ›Proven playbooks for global scaling
- ›Strategic mentorship for AI and SaaS founders
What I'm looking for
- ›Ambitious SaaS and AI founders in the India-US corridor
- ›Next-generation 'Product Nation' builders
- ›exploring mutual opportunities in AI-native startups
Best fit for
Focus
Current interests
Core competencies
Background
Career
Began as a software engineer and pre-sales lead, rose to VP of Product Management at Zoho, then founded Freshworks, scaling it to a Nasdaq listing before transitioning into venture capital with Together Fund.
Education
MBA in Marketing from University of Madras (1996–1998); BE in Electrical & Electronics from Shanmugha Arts, Science, Technology and Research Academy (1992–1996).
Achievements
- ›Founded Freshworks and led it to a Nasdaq listing with 67,000+ customers
- ›Early investor in Emergent, which scaled to $100M ARR in 8 months
- ›Co-architected SwarmSpace, India’s first global AI founder hub
- ›Backed breakout startups including Composio, Runable, and Spry
Opinions
- AI agents will not kill SaaS; they will become its biggest users while SaaS remains the 'System of Record'.
- True disruption comes from AI-native foundations, not just adding AI layers to legacy software.
- 'Vibe coding' is for prototypes, not enterprise-grade systems requiring security and scale.
- Extraordinary outcomes are driven by 'Intent, Heart, and Execution' and clarity earned early.
Personality
Communication style
Visionary and authoritative yet accessible, balancing high-level strategy with operator pragmatism.
Formality — 7/10
Vocabulary