Freshdesk appoints LinkedIn India MD Nishant Rao as COO

Tiger Global Management-backed Freshdesk Inc, which provides a SaaS-based customer support platform for enterprises, has named LinkedIn India MD Nishant Rao as chief operating officer.

In his role as COO, Rao will be responsible for all non-R&D aspects of Freshdesk's operations, the company said in a press statement.

"Nishant brings with him, a unique blend of business and technical skills; his being a strong culture champion during his days at LinkedIn makes him a perfect fit for Freshdesk. His expertise in scaling operations across global markets makes him an excellent addition to Freshdesk's executive team," said Girish Mathrubootham, CEO and founder, Freshdesk.

Rao, who has been serving as LinkedIn's India head since 2013, will join Freshdesk in November. Previously, he served as director (business operations - head of global sales strategy) at LinkedIn's headquarters in Mountain View, US.

Rao has over 10 years of industry experience in leadership positions with companies such as McKinsey and ARIBA Inc.

Mathrubootham and Shan Krishnasamy founded Chennai-and San Francisco-based FreshDesk in 2012. It has approximately 50,000 clients, including names such as 3M, Verizon Wireless, Honda, Hugo Boss, University of Pennsylvania and Petronas. Freshdesk claims to have doubled its client base in the past one year by adding high profile clients such as Avast Antivirus and Brazil-based cosmetic giant O Boticario. Mathrubootham and Krishnasamy worked with Zoho Corporation before founding FreshDesk.