Day 57 of 100 · SaaS

Zoho

An IIT Madras alumnus built a global software company from rural Tamil Nadu, no outside investors.

Started atIIT Madras (alumnus)
Founded1996
FoundersSridhar Vembu & team
CountryIndia

How it started

Zoho trains young people from villages through its own school and competes with the world's largest software firms.

The lesson for your campus Talent is everywhere. Opportunity is what's unevenly distributed.

Why every campus needs an Innovation-Hub

Why we are telling this story

The next company on a list like this one has not been founded yet. Right now it is a student in a lecture hall with an idea nobody has asked about, and no room to build it in. Innovation-Hub is that room: a permanent space inside your institution where students from every department explore, experiment, collaborate and prototype.

See how to start one on your campus →

Ask the Founder

Pick a question — or write your own — and get a grounded answer about how Zoho was actually built.

Opens ChatGPT in a new tab with your question ready. Answers are generated by AI from publicly reported information — they are not statements by the founders. Always check anything important against an original source.

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The next one comes from your campus

Innovation should not be an annual event. It should be a permanent room where students are allowed to build. Bring an Innovation-Hub to your institution.

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