Indian VC Markets - Zoho Story

[Kris Nair]

Not much is known about the people behind probably India’s only globally successful web 2.0 company - Zoho. The Hindu Business Line has a profile of Sridhar Vembu, CEO and co-founder of AdventNet, the company that owns Zoho. For the uninitiated, Zoho has developed a suite of online office productivity tools like Zoho Writer (online word processor with collaboration features) or Zoho Sheet (online spreadsheet applications with features like charting, collaboration). The company, which has its engineering team located in Chennai, has received rave reviews abroad.

Did you know that Zoho was not venture funded? Interestingly, AdventNet, since it set up shop in 1996, has not taken a paisa in VC money. Nor is it interested in taking. The company loves the operating freedom and fears losing it once an external financial investor steps in. “I don’t have anything philosophical or religious against it. It’s just a strong personal preference for the operating freedom that comes from not having to answer to financial-minded investors, while being subject to the discipline of living within our own means,” Vembu told BL.

However, he added that each company had to take its own decision based on its priorities. “Each company has to make its own decision, consistent with its goals and culture. I am an engineer at heart, and our company culture reflects that.” Now the big question is when is Zoho getting acquired. Google is present in most of the apps the company has developed. The company may be a right fit for a Yahoo or an MSN at some point, if Google doesn’t buy them.