This article was published on May 18, 2012

Freshdesk launches Future Fund to help startups provide better customer care


Freshdesk launches Future Fund to help startups provide better customer care

Freshdesk, the online help desk service is providing a boost for startups with the launch of its Future Fund. The initiative will provide 501 new companies with $10m worth of Freshdesk’s cloud-based support solution for one year.

The company feels that getting up close to startup culture will help it to share and spread the entrepreneurial spirit and as a result, Freshdesk is teaming up with leading technology incubators including: YouWeb, Tandem Entrepreneurs, Internet India Fund, 500 Startups and Proudly Made in DC.

Through the fund, startups can get up to three full-time customer support agents on Freshdesk’s Garden plan free for an entire year. The plan includes multi-channel support capabilities with which startups can support their customers through email, phone, their website, Facebook and Twitter.

Starting with a good reputation

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It’s not a bad deal for smaller companies that need to nurture customer support, getting these things right from the start can help to boost reputation. After all, bad customer support news travels fast online.

The plan also includes community management services so that startups can engage customers in discussion forums and allow early adopters to suggest and vote on ideas. Entrepreneurs with multiple product lines can support all brands from a single Freshdesk account.

It’s good to see larger businesses supporting startups where they can. Naturally Freshdesk is banking on its supported flock growing into a household name of the future, “Consumers today pick their favorite brands based on the ways the business engages with them,” says Freshdesk CEO, Girish Mathrubootham. “With the Freshdesk Future Fund, we hope to help fuel tomorrow’s Virgin, Southwest, and Zappos by equipping today’s startups with the right tools to provide state of the art support to their customers.”

If your startup has less than $1m in revenue and you fancy taking a look at what the Future Fund is offering, you can find out more here.

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