Zoho, founded by Sridhar Vembu, is a highly successful ‘Made in India' software product company, with its software as a service products being used by over 30 million customers worldwide. The Zoho suite has emerged as a leader in the cloud and on devices. It today competes with global giants, including Microsoft, Google and Salesforce.
No other Indian software products have reached the scale that Zoho has managed in such a short period. It has ensured that individual entrepreneurs, SMEs and smaller corporates have access to high-quality software products at a price point far lower than those offered by global players. This enables small businesses and individuals to acquire and retain customers.
When he started out, Vembu, 50, who hails from a hamlet in Thanjavur, Tamil Nadu, wanted to do two things: tap talent at the school level and help economically weak families educate their bright children. Zoho University (ZU) was thus conceived as an alternative to conventional colleges. The university does not offer any recognised degree, but in the software industry, ZU students are well-recognised. About 10 per cent of Zoho's 5,000-strong workforce consists of ZU alumni.
The university, which started with a class of just six a decade ago, has so far trained some 650 students. Every year, a hundred students get trained at ZU, 70-75 in Chennai and 25-30 at Zoho's Tenkasi office.
Technically, Zoho is headquartered in the US but all its employees are located in Chennai and Tenkasi. Recently, the company started a centre in Renigunta in Andhra Pradesh.
Interestingly, Vembu has bootstrapped the company and avoided bringing in private or public equity. “The foremost reason we have not taken external funding is because we don’t need it. But it goes deeper. I have seen how companies that get funded lose what made them unique and interesting. We survive by being interesting and relevant, and remaining private allows us to reinvent ourselves. Even after 22 years, the start-up spirit lives on at Zoho,” he says.
Looking back on what triggered the Zoho idea, Sridhar says, “I saw a huge opportunity in software, and that India has a vast talent pool. Much of India’s talent, even today, lies undiscovered. There are way too many diamonds in the rough.”