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Zoho Corporation
Indian multinational technology company From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Zoho Corporation is an Indian multinational technology company that makes cloud-based business software.[4] Its core products include workplace productivity and collaboration software, customer relationship management (CRM) software, and business management tools.[5] The company was founded in 1996 by Sridhar Vembu and Tony Thomas.[6]
Zoho is headquartered in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India, and has offices in 80 countries, with its US headquarters located in Austin, Texas.[7] As of 2023, Sridhar Vembu's sister Radha Vembu and brother Sekar Vembu own 47.8% and 35.2% of the company, respectively, while co-founders Tony Thomas and Sridhar Vembu hold 8% and 5% stakes.[8][9]
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History
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From 1996 to 2009, the company was known as AdventNet, Inc., founded in New Jersey, US, and initially provided network management software.[10][11]
AdventNet expanded operations into Japan in 2001 and shifted focus to small and medium businesses (SMBs).[11] In 2002, the company started its enterprise IT management software division known as ManageEngine.[12]
Zoho CRM was released in 2005, along with Zoho Writer, the company's first office suite product.[11] Zoho Projects, Creator, Sheet, and Show were released in 2006.[11] Zoho expanded into the collaboration space with the release of Zoho Docs and Zoho Meeting in 2007. In 2008, the company added invoicing and mail applications, reaching one million users by August of that year.[13]
In 2009, the company was renamed Zoho Corporation after its online office suite.[14][15] The company remains privately owned.[16]
In 2014, Zoho started its annual user conference in India called Zoholics.[17][5]
In 2017, Zoho launched Zoho One, a platform of over 40 integrated applications.[18] In 2020, it launched Zoho Workplace, a suite combining its existing productivity, collaboration and communication software.[19]
In 2023, Zoho claimed it had more than 100 million users.[3]
In 2025, Zoho announced the launch of its large language model, Zia, for enterprise AI applications.[20]
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Products
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Zoho has over 45 integrated applications, mainly designed for small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs), but scalable for larger enterprises. These products span many categories, including customer relationship management, marketing, sales, customer support, finance, human resources, collaboration, productivity, operations, IT management, and analytics. Notable products include online office suite offering Zoho Office Suite, and customer relationship management (CRM) software Zoho CRM, accounting software Zoho Books, HR management platform Zoho People, and project management software Zoho Projects.[17][21]
ManageEngine has products in categories such as enterprise IT management, cybersecurity and unified endpoint management.[22]
Messaging app
Arattai is an instant messaging application developed by Zoho. It was launched in January 2021, against the backdrop of growing concerns over changes to WhatsApp's privacy policies.[23]
In September 2025, Arattai experienced a surge in new user sign-ups, reportedly growing from about 3,000 per day to 350,000 per day over a span of three days,[24] which briefly pushed it to the top of the Apple App Store in India in the Social Networking category.[25] The surge in downloads was attributed to Zoho products being promoted by Indian government officials under Make in India and a renewed Swadeshi push for homegrown alternatives to foreign‐owned apps, amid deteriorating India–US relations.[26][27]
Browser
Ulaa is a web browser developed by Zoho, based on the Chromium open-source project and released in 2023. The browser is designed to block advertisements, trackers, and other forms of online surveillance, with an emphasis on user privacy. Unlike most mainstream browsers, Ulaa routes its Domain Name System (DNS) queries through India’s national root server system, rather than using default global DNS providers, in order to reduce data exposure and enhance data sovereignty for Indian users.[28]
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Locations
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Zoho is headquartered in Chennai, India. As of 2021, it has 12 offices operating in nine countries around the world.[29][30] The company operates in China and also has offices in Singapore and Japan. The bulk of its support operations is carried out from its office in Chennai.[5][31] Zoho also has an office in Renigunta, Andhra Pradesh and has been operating from this office since 2018.[32]
Its US headquarters was in Pleasanton, California[18] until it was moved to Del Valle, Texas in 2019.[33] In April 2019, Zoho purchased the land outside of Austin that was intended for their new headquarters. Instead, in February 2020, they built an organic farm to serve as both a food source and a wellness space for employees during the COVID-19 pandemic.[29][34] There, employees work out of existing structures.[33] Zoho donated surplus farm produce to the Central Texas Food Bank and other local organizations.[34]
The research and development campus is in Estancia IT Park, Chennai. Zoho opened an office in Tenkasi in 2011, where their product Zoho Desk was built and launched.[35][36]
After the outbreak of COVID-19, Zoho planned to open branches in rural areas in southern Tamil Nadu including Madurai and Theni.[37] In February 2022, Zoho opened an office in New Braunfels, Texas, United States.[38] In July of that year, that location had 30 employees.[39]
In April 2022, Zoho opened an office in McAllen, Texas in the Rio Grande Valley, the company's third location in Texas.[40][41] In July 2022, the company announced plans to open an office in Lagos, Nigeria, its third African office.[42][39][43]
In 2023, Zoho opened Zoho Labs R&D divisions in Nagpur, India, for developing data center hardware.[44][45] As of 2025, Zoho operates data centers in 18 global locations, including Mumbai, Delhi, and Chennai in India.[7]
References
Further reading
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