CINXE.COM

<!DOCTYPE html><html lang="en"><head><meta charset="utf-8"><meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1.0"><link rel="preconnect" href="//www.zohowebstatic.com"><link rel="dns-prefetch" href="//www.zohowebstatic.com"><link rel="preconnect" href="https://static.zohocdn.com"><link rel="dns-prefetch" href="https://static.zohocdn.com"><link rel="preload" href="https://static.zohocdn.com/zohofonts/zohopuvi/4.0/Zoho_Puvi_Regular.woff2" as="font" type="font/woff2" crossorigin><link rel="preload" href="https://static.zohocdn.com/zohofonts/zohopuvi/4.0/Zoho_Puvi_Bold.woff2" as="font" type="font/woff2" crossorigin><link rel="preload" href="https://static.zohocdn.com/zohofonts/zohopuvi/4.0/Zoho_Puvi_Semibold.woff2" as="font" type="font/woff2" crossorigin><script src="//www.zohowebstatic.com/sites/zweb/js/common/var_init.js"></script><script>(function(w,s){var e=document.createElement("script");e.async=true;e.src="https://zohotagmanager.cdn.pagesense.io/ztmjs/9e14ca550fb345518206a5a65a40a7a9.js";var x=document.getElementsByTagName("script")[0];x.parentNode.insertBefore(e,x);})(window,"script");</script><title>Our Story | Zoho</title><meta name="description" content="From starting out in a small apartment located in the suburbs of Southern India to becoming the world-class technology company we’re known as today: We are Zoho. And this is our story."><link rel="icon" href="https://www.zohowebstatic.com/sites/zweb/images/favicon.ico" type="image/vnd.microsoft.icon"><link rel="canonical" href="https://www.zoho.com/ourstory.html"><meta property="og:title" content="Our Story | Zoho"><meta property="og:description" content="From starting out in a small apartment located in the suburbs of Southern India to becoming the world-class technology company we’re known as today: We are Zoho. And this is our story."><meta property="og:image" content="https://www.zohowebstatic.com/sites/zweb/images/ogimage/zoho-logo.png"><meta property="og:url" content="https://www.zoho.com/ourstory.html"><meta property="og:site_name" content="Zoho"><meta property="og:type" content="website"><meta name="twitter:title" content="Our Story | Zoho"><meta name="twitter:description" content="From starting out in a small apartment located in the suburbs of Southern India to becoming the world-class technology company we’re known as today: We are Zoho. And this is our story."><meta name="twitter:image" content="https://www.zohowebstatic.com/sites/zweb/images/ogimage/zoho-logo.png"><meta name="twitter:card" content="summary"><meta name="twitter:site" content="@zoho"><link rel="stylesheet" href="//www.zohowebstatic.com/sites/zweb/css/common/zohocustom.css"><link rel="stylesheet" href="//www.zohowebstatic.com/sites/zweb/css/product/zoho_general_pages.css"><link rel="stylesheet" href="//www.zohowebstatic.com/sites/zweb/css/translation/zoho_general_pages/12002.css"></head><body class="zw-page-12002 zw-product-73 zw-product-zoho_general_pages zw-template-dl_general_pages i18n-en rmv-prd-menu" data-prdname="zoho_general_pages" data-prdname-display="Zoho General Pages"> <header><div class="zw-promo-top"></div><div class="zw-global-header"></div><div class="zw-product-header "><div></div></div> </header> <main><div class="zw-template-inner"><div class="zwc-wrapper"><div class="zh-main-container our-story-container"><section class="ourstory-banner"><div class="wrapper"><h1> We are Zoho. <span class="dis-block">This is our story.</span></h1><div class="zh-color"><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span></div><p> In the 1990s, in a small apartment located in the suburbs of Chennai in southern India, a simple, yet revolutionary idea was born: <span class="highlightselection">"Build smart technology to help businesses work better."</span> This idea evolved to become the world-class technology company we're known as today.</p></div><div class="ourstoryimg"><object data="//www.zohowebstatic.com/sites/zweb/images/zoho_general_pages/zh-our-story-twentyfive.svg" type="image/svg+xml">  </object></div></section><section class="zh-ourstory-approach"><div class="wrapper"><div class="zh-future"><div class="leftside"><div class="leftNav"><div class="float-img"><img alt="" src="//www.zohowebstatic.com/sites/zweb/images/zoho_general_pages/zh-our-story-sridhar.png"><div class="float-txt"><div class="author-details"><span class="author-name">Sridhar Vembu</span><span class="author-role">CEO of Zoho Corporation</span></div></div></div></div></div><div class="rightside"><div class="rightside-inner"><div class="rightside-cntn"><div class="sec-sub-ttl"><h6>Craftsmanship, as good as it gets</h6></div><div class="zh-testimonialhighlight zh-quote"><span class="highlightselection">Building software is best done in small teams, in informal environments. Numbers and metrics-only-driven approaches destroy creativity and result in soulless products. </span></div><p class="mg-btm-0"> We see creating great software that delivers high value as a craft, akin to a work of art. You chip away at what's not working, sharpen your skills year after year, and return to refine your product from the very core. While the components might be high-tech, the process used to create them is the same as that of any artisan: tireless effort, countless iteration, and patient refinement.</p></div><div class="rightside-cntn"><div class="sec-sub-ttl"><h6>Privately held, profitable, and proud to be</h6></div><div class="zh-testimonialhighlight zh-quote"><span class="highlightselection">Our mantra has always been to invest in people and products. That's why most of our investments go towards R&D.</span></div><p> We've been around for a quarter of a century, and plan to be around a whole lot longer.</p><p class="mg-btm-0"> Our decision not to take venture capital, not to go for an IPO, and not to be acquired has given us immense freedom—the freedom to innovate, to learn from our mistakes, and to challenge conventional wisdom. We've put in the time and hard work to build our software portfolio from scratch, rather than acquiring the work of others.</p></div><div class="rightside-cntn"><div class="sec-sub-ttl"><h6>An innovation-first company</h6></div><div class="zh-testimonialhighlight zh-quote"><span class="highlightselection">We take great pride in our ability to reinvent ourselves.</span></div><p> This confidence comes from the wisdom we learned during times when we had no choice but to reinvent, all while tapping into new market opportunities.</p><p class="mg-btm-0"> We haven't earned the goodwill of customers and analysts alike by building great software alone, but by demonstrating our commitment to ceaseless innovation.</p></div><div class="rightside-cntn"><div class="sec-sub-ttl"><h6>A holistic approach toward employees</h6></div><div class="zh-testimonialhighlight zh-quote"><span class="highlightselection">We hire people for whom our existence truly makes a difference.</span></div><p> We think beyond the system of credentialism. That hiring policy and the goal of creating more jobs in rural communities, by itself, contributes to keeping our culture vital.</p><p class="mg-btm-0"> We've had programmers move to creative design, content writers switch to customer support, and copy editors transition into human resource roles. We do not believe that prior experience in one field should preclude pursuing another. Our employees, who’ve stayed with us for more than a decade, have spoken in great detail about such experiences in <a class="links" href="https://www.zoho.com/humans-of-zoho/" target="_blank">Humans of Zoho.</a></p></div></div></div></div></div></section><section class="zh-our-journey"><div class="wrapper"><div class="lt-cntn"><div class="sec-ttl"><h4>Our journey through the years</h4></div><p><span>Creating stellar products for our users comes first.</span> In the long run, it's not the big wins that matter, but the little ones, and the determination to keep trying. And that's what we do every day: continually put new things on the market and demonstrate the value of our products.</p></div><div class="rt-cntn"><div class="rt-inner-cntn"><div class="journey-outer"><div class="journey-inner"><span class="num"><span class="counter" data-count="25">0</span><span>+</span></span><span class="desc">Years in business</span></div><div class="journey-inner"><span class="num"><span class="counter" data-count="12">0</span><span>K+</span></span><span class="desc">employees</span></div><div class="journey-inner"><span class="num"><span class="counter" data-count="150">0</span><span>+</span></span><span class="desc">Countries served</span></div></div><div class="journey-outer"><div class="journey-inner"><span class="num"><span class="counter" data-count="14">0</span></span><span class="desc">data centers</span></div><div class="journey-inner"><span class="num"><span class="counter" data-count="90">0</span><span>M</span><span>+</span></span><span class="desc">Users</span></div><div class="journey-inner"><span class="num"><span class="counter" data-count="2">0</span><span>K+</span></span><span class="desc">partners worldwide</span></div><div class="journey-inner"><span class="num"><span class="counter" data-count="55">0</span><span>+</span></span><span class="desc">Products</span></div></div></div></div></div><span class="zh-ourstory-bg"><img alt="" src="//www.zohowebstatic.com/sites/zweb/images/zoho_general_pages/zh-ourstory-bg.png"></span></section><section class="zh-future-sec"><div class="wrapper"><div class="sec-ttl"><h4 class="top-line">What lies ahead</h4><p> We've come a long way, but there's more work to be done. We've undertaken a host of new initiatives that will improve your business while also improving the communities where we live.</p></div><div class="zh-future"><div class="leftside"><div class="leftNav"><div class="livespan"><span class="movLine"> </span><ul><li class="selected"> Bringing opportunity back to smaller communities</li><li> Strengthening our commitment to data protection and security</li><li> Building full-stack expertise and increasing investments in R&D</li><li>Challenging conventional hiring expectations</li><li>Achieving carbon neutrality</li></ul></div></div></div><div class="rightside"><div class="rightside-inner"><div class="rightside-cntn"><div class="sec-sub-ttl"><h6> Bringing opportunity back to smaller communities</h6></div><p> A keystone of our philosophy is in seeing value in the overlooked. Small, often rural communities, hold immense talent, but lack viable employment options; we want to change that.</p><p> We have drifted away from the "mega-office" model and are now opening smaller offices. If we can bring high-tech jobs to places where there are none, we can also help stimulate <a class="links" href="https://www.zoho.com/rural-revival/" target="_blank"> local economic revitalization.</a></p><div class="img-sec"><img alt="" src="//www.zohowebstatic.com/sites/zweb/images/zoho_general_pages/zh-our-story-opportunity.jpg"></div><p class="mg-btm-0"> Recent events have shown us the value of more tightly knit remote-working environments. We have made great <a class="links" href="https://www.thehindu.com/business/staff-preference-is-for-small-rural-offices/article32364264.ece#:~:text=Zoho%20Corp.,%20which%20builds%20software,said%20its%20CEO%20Sridhar%20Vembu." target="_blank"> advances in this space. </a></p></div><div class="rightside-cntn"><div class="sec-sub-ttl"><h6> Strengthening our commitment to data protection and security</h6></div><div class="cntn-box flx str_com"><p> In 25+ years of being in business, we've been mindful of our users' privacy from the very start. Long before GDPR came into effect, the tenets of data privacy were woven into our corporate tapestry. We are fanatical about data privacy, and about giving you more control rather than less. It's why we extended GDPR protections to customers around the world. Your right to control your data shouldn't be dictated by the lines on a map.</p><div class="img-sec com-sense"><img alt="" class="web_ver_com_sense" src="//www.zohowebstatic.com/sites/zweb/images/zoho_general_pages/zh-our-story-commonsense.jpg"><img alt="" class="mob_ver_com_sense" src="//www.zohowebstatic.com/sites/zweb/images/zoho_general_pages/zh-our-story-commonsense-mob-ver.jpg"></div></div><p class="mg-btm-0"> Moreover, we've never sold customer data or made a single penny from showing third-party ads inside our products—and we never will. We've also removed all trackers that ship data to third parties from our websites. Your business should be your own, no one else's.</p></div><div class="rightside-cntn"><div class="sec-sub-ttl"><h6> Building full-stack expertise and increasing investments in R&D</h6></div><p> We're not here to use your money to improve our up-selling skills. Instead, we spend twice as much on R&D as on sales and marketing, to come up with new solutions and address your pain points.</p><p> Instead of relying on public clouds, we direct our resources towards running our own data centers. We're also investing in areas such as AI, ML, NLP, and IoT, as well as hardware like servers, networks, and storage spaces.</p><div class="img-sec"><img alt="" src="//www.zohowebstatic.com/sites/zweb/images/zoho_general_pages/zh-our-story-fullstack.jpg"></div><p class="mg-btm-0"> You can already see the impacts of these investments in the expansion of Zia (our AI-powered assistant), faster upload/download speeds to our data centers, and more robust network connections, just to name a few. These investments in R&D speak to our commitment to the long term. We have a lot more planned.</p></div><div class="rightside-cntn"><div class="sec-sub-ttl"><h6>Challenging conventional hiring expectations</h6></div><p> Disillusioned by the ever-widening gap between industry expectations and graduating talent, we started an experiment in 2005 to provide a meaningful alternative to conventional college education.</p><div class="img-sec"><img alt="" src="//www.zohowebstatic.com/sites/zweb/images/zoho_general_pages/zh-our-story-hiring.jpg"></div><div class="sec-separate flx"><p> We offer highly relevant, deeply contextual, and truly experiential training to students for a two-year period. Nearly 10% of our employee base now comes from <a class="links" href="https://www.zohoschools.com/">Zoho Schools.</a></p><p class="mg-btm-0"> Encouraged by the great results we have seen in the 15 years since its inception, we are set to spread our wings and expand. More students, new disciplines, and international branches are all underway.</p></div></div><div class="rightside-cntn"><div class="sec-sub-ttl"><h6>Achieving carbon neutrality</h6></div><p> Our solar ambitions soar high. In an effort to minimize our carbon footprint, we've set up a 5 MW <a class="links" href="https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/business/india-business/minimise-carbon-footprint-zoho-sets-up-solar-farm-to-power-its-operations/articleshow/72968107.cms"> solar energy farm </a> to power our offices and data centers in India. We're now saving nearly 7,200 tons of carbon dioxide emissions per year, the equivalent of planting 14,400 trees.</p><div class="cntn-box flx cntn-testi"><div class="img-sec"><img alt="" class="web_ver_carbon" src="//www.zohowebstatic.com/sites/zweb/images/zoho_general_pages/zh-our-story-carbon.jpg"><img alt="" class="mob_ver_carbon" src="//www.zohowebstatic.com/sites/zweb/images/zoho_general_pages/zh-our-story-carbon-mob-ver.jpg"></div><div class="inner-story zh-quote"><p><span class="highlightselection">Sustainability cannot be a one-off initiative, and with this model working well, we are looking at more such locations, and plan to continue to do this. </span></p><div class="author-details author-raju"><div><img src="//www.zohowebstatic.com/sites/zweb/images/zoho_general_pages/zh-our-story-raju-vegesna.png"></div><div><span class="author-name">Raju Vegesna</span><span class="author-role">Chief Evangelist</span></div></div></div></div><p class="mg-btm-0"> We're excited to see the rapidly falling cost of electricity from solar, and how it can allow India to industrialize without building more coal-fired power plants.</p></div></div></div></div></div></section><section class="testimonial-sec"><div class="wrapper"><div class="sec-ttl"><h4>Customers and analysts chime in</h4><p> We couldn’t have come this far without the support of our customers and partners. It’s a long road ahead, but we’re optimistic about transforming the future of work for businesses across nations.</p></div><div class="testimonial"><div class="slick_wrap"><div class="slick_sec"><div class="lf"><img src="//www.zohowebstatic.com/sites/zweb/images/zoho_general_pages/zh-our-story-testimonial-nicole-france.png"></div><div class="rt_slick"><img class="testimonial-logo" src="//www.zohowebstatic.com/sites/zweb/images/zoho_general_pages/zh-our-story-testimonial-catalyst.png"><p class="testimonial-text"><span class="highlightselection">"More than just about any other company, Zoho really embodies and lives every day the values that it espouses. And that’s not something you see often." </span></p><span class="author-name testi-name">Nicole France, <em>Analyst</em></span><span class="author-role testi-role">VP and Principal Analyst at Constellation Research, Inc.</span><div class="testimonial-author-wrap mob_ver"><div class="testimonial-author-wrap-innr"><div class="author-left"><img src="//www.zohowebstatic.com/sites/zweb/images/zoho_general_pages/zh-our-story-testimonial-nicole-france.png"></div><div class="author-right"><span class="author-role-ttl testi-role">Analyst</span><span class="author-name testi-name">Nicole France,</span><span class="author-role testi-role">VP and Principal Analyst at Constellation Research, Inc.</span></div></div></div></div></div><div class="slick_sec"><div class="lf"><img src="//www.zohowebstatic.com/sites/zweb/images/zoho_general_pages/zh-our-story-testimonial-phil-wainewright.png"></div><div class="rt_slick"><img class="testimonial-logo" src="//www.zohowebstatic.com/sites/zweb/images/zoho_general_pages/zh-our-story-testimonial-castway.png"><p class="testimonial-text"><span class="highlightselection">"To be successful as a technology company, you’ve got to be able to stand apart from the crowd. You can’t be innovative unless you challenge the mainstream. And Zoho has certainly done that." </span></p><span class="author-name testi-name">Phil Wainewright, <em>Analyst</em></span><span class="author-role testi-role">Co-Founder of diginomica.com</span><div class="testimonial-author-wrap mob_ver"><div class="testimonial-author-wrap-innr"><div class="author-left"><img src="//www.zohowebstatic.com/sites/zweb/images/zoho_general_pages/zh-our-story-testimonial-phil-wainewright.png"></div><div class="author-right"><span class="author-role-ttl testi-role">Analyst</span><span class="author-name testi-name">Phil Wainewright</span><span class="author-role testi-role">Co-Founder of diginomica.com</span></div></div></div></div></div><div class="slick_sec"><div class="lf"><img src="//www.zohowebstatic.com/sites/zweb/images/zoho_general_pages/zh-our-story-testimonial-brent-leary.png"></div><div class="rt_slick"><img class="testimonial-logo peri" src="//www.zohowebstatic.com/sites/zweb/images/zoho_general_pages/zh-our-story-testimonial-peri.png"><p class="testimonial-text"><span class="highlightselection">"Zoho has always focused on how to make their customers, employees, and community better, and I believe that’s the key to their success."</span></p><span class="author-name testi-name">Brent Leary, <em>Analyst</em></span><span class="author-role testi-role">Founder of CRM Essentials</span><div class="testimonial-author-wrap mob_ver"><div class="testimonial-author-wrap-innr"><div class="author-left"><img src="//www.zohowebstatic.com/sites/zweb/images/zoho_general_pages/zh-our-story-testimonial-brent-leary.png"></div><div class="author-right"><span class="author-role-ttl testi-role">Analyst</span><span class="author-name testi-name">Brent Leary,</span><span class="author-role testi-role">Founder of CRM Essentials</span></div></div></div></div></div><div class="slick_sec"><div class="lf watchvideo zc-popup-video" data-video="https://player.vimeo.com/video/626124899?dnt=1&autopause=1&dnt=1&autoplay=1&api=1&quality=1080p&player_id=0&app_id=58479"><img src="//www.zohowebstatic.com/sites/zweb/images/zoho_general_pages/zh-our-story-testimonial-laura-baasch.png"><div class="play-button"><div class="play-button-icon"><span>Watch video</span></div></div></div><div class="rt_slick"><img class="testimonial-logo peri" src="//www.zohowebstatic.com/sites/zweb/images/zoho_general_pages/zh-our-story-testimonial-peri.png"><p class="testimonial-text"><span class="highlightselection">“One of the best things we’ve found about using Zoho is the simplicity of having everything in one place!”</span></p><span class="author-name testi-name">Laura Baasch, <em>Customer</em></span><span class="author-role testi-role">Internal operations at Quicket Experience Awesome</span><div class="testimonial-author-wrap mob_ver"><div class="testimonial-author-wrap-innr"><div class="author-left"><img src="//www.zohowebstatic.com/sites/zweb/images/zoho_general_pages/zh-our-story-testimonial-laura-baasch.png"></div><div class="author-right watchvideo zc-popup-video" data-video=" https://player.vimeo.com/video/626124899?dnt=1&autopause=1&dnt=1&autoplay=1&api=1&quality=1080p&player_id=0&app_id=58479"><span class="author-role-ttl testi-role">Customer</span><span class="author-name testi-name">Laura Baasch,</span><span class="author-role testi-role">Internal Operations at Quicket Experience awesome</span><div class="play-button"><div class="play-button-icon"><span>Watch video</span></div></div></div></div></div></div></div><div class="slick_sec"><div class="lf watchvideo zc-popup-video" data-video="https://player.vimeo.com/video/626120477?dnt=1&autopause=1&dnt=1&autoplay=1&api=1&quality=1080p&player_id=0&app_id=58479"><img src="//www.zohowebstatic.com/sites/zweb/images/zoho_general_pages/zh-our-story-testimonial-paul-grimes.png"><div class="play-button"><div class="play-button-icon"><span>Watch video</span></div></div></div><div class="rt_slick"><img class="testimonial-logo peri" src="//www.zohowebstatic.com/sites/zweb/images/zoho_general_pages/zh-our-story-testimonial-peri.png"><p class="testimonial-text"><span class="highlightselection">“Zoho is solving problems for us we didn't even know we had."</span></p><span class="author-name testi-name">Paul Grimes, <em>Customer</em></span><span class="author-role testi-role">VP of Marketing at Lubrication Engineers, Inc.</span><div class="testimonial-author-wrap mob_ver"><div class="testimonial-author-wrap-innr"><div class="author-left"><img src="//www.zohowebstatic.com/sites/zweb/images/zoho_general_pages/zh-our-story-testimonial-paul-grimes.png"></div><div class="author-right"><span class="author-role-ttl testi-role">Customer</span><span class="author-name testi-name">Paul Grimes,</span><span class="author-role testi-role">VP of marketing at lubrication engineers, Inc.</span><div class="play-button watchvideo zc-popup-video" data-video="https://player.vimeo.com/video/626120477?dnt=1&autopause=1&dnt=1&autoplay=1&api=1&quality=1080p&player_id=0&app_id=58479"><div class="play-button-icon"><span>Watch video</span></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></section><section class="our-story-made-in-india"><div class="codeIn"><h6>Made in India. <span>Made for the World.</span></h6><img alt="Made-in-India" src="//www.zohowebstatic.com/sites/zweb/images/zoho_general_pages/zh-our-story-made-in-india.svg"></div><div class="codeNM"><h6>Business Software. <span>Our Craft. Our Passion.</span></h6><img alt="Business-Software" src="//www.zohowebstatic.com/sites/zweb/images/zoho_general_pages/zh-our-story-made-in-us.svg"></div></section><section class="zwc-footer-sec"><div class="content-wrap"><h4>Ready to do your best work?<span class="dis-block">Let's get you started.</span></h4><div class="zh-home-btn"><a class="zh-sign zh-btn arrow-icon white" href="/signup.html?all_prod_page=true">Sign Up Now</a><a class="zh-access zh-btn arrow-icon white" href="/all-products.html">Access your apps</a></div></div></section></div></div></div> </main> <footer><div class="zw-product-footer"></div><div class="zw-global-footer"></div><div class="zw-only-copyright"></div><div class="zw-promo-bottom"></div> </footer> <aside><div class="zw-other-info"></div> </aside><script src="//www.zohowebstatic.com/sites/zweb/js/common/zcms.js"></script><script src="//www.zohowebstatic.com/sites/zweb/js/common/slick-plugin.js"></script><script src="//www.zohowebstatic.com/sites/zweb/js/common/zohocustom.js"></script><script src="//www.zohowebstatic.com/sites/zweb/js/product/zoho_general_pages.js"></script><script src="//www.zohowebstatic.com/sites/zweb/js/translation/zoho_general_pages/12002.js"></script><script src="//www.zohowebstatic.com/sites/zweb/js/node/zoho_general_pages/12002-en.js"></script></body></html>