Zoho’s rural revolution

For over 25 years now, Zoho has been leading rural initiatives. But it was after the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic that the SaaS unicorn really doubled down on these plans.

Zoho’s rural revolution

Friday April 23, 2021,

4 min Read

For over 25 years now, Zoho has been leading rural initiatives. But it was after the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic that the SaaS unicorn really doubled down on these plans.


So far, the company has opened 30 satellite offices in rural and non-urban areas around the world. 

Zoho

It all began in 2011 when Zoho opened its first rural office in Mathlamparai, Tenkasi, a newly-created district in Tamil Nadu. 


According to a study conducted by Economix Consulting Group (ECG), Zoho's initiatives — creating new housing facilities, investing in agriculture, and increasing awareness about organic farming — have had a positive impact on overall income, women empowerment, education and skill-building, employment, and community development in the region.


Hiring locally has also led to an improvement in the standard of living.

Zoho

Sridhar Vembu

Sridhar Vembu, CEO and Co-founder, Zoho Corp, says,

"Through this initiative, we can attract talent from a broader pool of candidates, many of whom would have been overlooked by traditional hiring models."



The Interview

Customer retention is as important as customer acquisition in attaining meaningful long-term growth for any business. With developments in AI and machine learning, customer support has seen significant changes with automation, improving efficiency, and saving costs. Gaurav Singh, Founder and CEO of Verloop; Mswipe's Ankit Bhatnagar; and Shreyas Daga, Co-founder and CEO of MyGate share their insights.



Editor’s Pick: Manav Arya’s journey

A college dropout, Manav Arya's 13-year journey in mobile gaming started when he had to drop out of college and run a motorcycle garage. There, he met the CEO of Trine Games and has since never looked back. To date, Manav has worked with top brands like Junglee Games, Paytm First Games, Octro Inc, and The Walt Disney Company. The newly-appointed Head of Rush (Hike's gaming-focused platform), talks about his journey, his views on the gaming industry, and his plans. Read more. 

Manav Arya - Hike

Manav Arya


Startup Spotlight

Helping people tackle lifestyle diseases with nutritious food


According to the Indian Journal of Community Medicine, lifestyle diseases are one of the growing health concerns in India, with over 135 million people suffering from obesity. To address this problem, Snigdha Kumar and Shrijit Venkatesh launched Cora Health as a health and wellness startup that offers an ecommerce platform to help users get access to healthy food alternatives. Read more.

Cora Snapshot

Illustration: YS Design


News & Updates







Before you go, stay inspired with… 

Zoho

Sridhar Vembu, Founder, Zoho Corp. The company believes there is a huge market for SaaS in India

“There is a lot of latent talent in the world that is waiting for an opportunity... By bringing high-paying jobs to villages, Zoho is helping restore the talent where it belongs.”


Sridhar Vembu, CEO and Co-founder, Zoho Corp



Now get the Daily Capsule in your inbox. Subscribe to our newsletter today!