Zoho

Zoho Corporation is an Indian multinational technology company that has built one of the world's most comprehensive cloud-based business software suites without taking a single dollar in external funding. Founded in 1996 by Sridhar Vembu and Tony Thomas as AdventNet in New Jersey, the company initially focused on network management software before pivoting to become a global SaaS powerhouse. Headquartered in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India, with U.S. headquarters in Austin, Texas, Zoho now operates in 80 countries and serves over 850,000 paying business customers with more than 130 million active users worldwide.

Zoho's flagship offering, Zoho One, integrates over 45 business applications spanning CRM, marketing, sales, customer support, finance, human resources, collaboration, productivity, operations, IT management, and analytics. The company's portfolio includes well-known products like Zoho CRM, Zoho Books (accounting), Zoho People (HR management), and Zoho Projects (project management). In 2024, Zoho achieved remarkable revenue of $1.4-1.5 billion, representing a 32% growth rate in India alone, while onboarding 110,000 new customers globally.

Under the leadership of founder Sridhar Vembu, who recently transitioned to Chief Scientist to focus on R&D, Zoho has maintained a unique business philosophy of complete bootstrapping to preserve independence and avoid external influence. In 2025, the company made headlines by launching Zia, its proprietary large language model comprising three models with 1.3 billion, 2.6 billion, and 7 billion parameters, alongside Zia Agents—over 25 AI-powered autonomous agents available through an Agent Marketplace. The company also introduced Zia Agent Studio, a no-code agent builder, and supports the Model Context Protocol (MCP) for enterprise AI applications.

Zoho's commitment to privacy and security extends beyond its business software. The company recently launched Ulaa Enterprise, an enterprise-ready version of its privacy-focused browser designed specifically for organizational security needs. With 23,988 total employees globally and a track record of sustained growth without venture capital, Zoho represents a rare success story in the technology industry—proving that strategic focus, customer-centricity, and financial discipline can build a multi-billion-dollar global enterprise without sacrificing control or values.