June 23 (Reuters) - Shares of Sprinklr Inc, which counts Microsoft Corp and Verizon Communications Inc as customers, fell nearly 9% in their U.S. stock market debut on Wednesday, valuing the software startup at about $3.7 billion.

The New York-based company, backed by private equity firm Hellman & Friedman, raised $266 million in its downsized initial public offering on Tuesday. (https://bit.ly/3gVux0R)

Shares opened at $14.60, compared with Sprinklr's IPO price of $16 per share at which it offered roughly 16.63 million shares.

Of the shares offered, existing shareholders, including Hellman & Friedman, Battery Ventures and ICONIQ Strategic Partners, have agreed to purchase about 3.13 million shares.

Founded in 2009, Sprinklr develops software that helps its clients with marketing, advertising and customer engagement.

Its artificial intelligence-powered Unified-CXM software enables all customer-oriented functions in front office management, from customer care to marketing.

"In five to 10 years, the customer facing organization will buy primarily two platforms - one CRM platform for all the traditional capabilities and a unified CXM platform for all the modern digital capabilities - and they'll work very well together," Chief Executive Officer Ragy Thomas told Reuters.

The company's revenue rose 19% year-on-year to $111 million in the three months ended April 30, 2021. Its net loss, however, widened to $14.7 million from $11.2 million a year earlier.

Morgan Stanley, J.P. Morgan, Citigroup, Barclays and Wells Fargo Securities were the lead underwriters for the offering. (Reporting by Sohini Podder in Bengaluru; Editing by Krishna Chandra Eluri)