Rising from the Ashes: The story of Zoho

The Chennai-based firm’s story is also the story of its founder, who built a multi-million dollar company after turning down venture capital money and bootstrapping it all the way through.

Sunday May 29, 2022 , 3 min Read

Earlier this week, Zoho Corporation invested about $2.6 million (Rs 20 crore) in Thiruvananthapuram-based robotics company Genrobotics Innovation—making it the software firm’s seventh investment in Indian startups.

“Nurturing a thriving deeptech ecosystem in India is one of Zoho’s priorities, and the investment in GenRobotics is a continuation of that commitment,” Sridhar Vembu, Founder and CEO, Zoho, said in a release.

The Chennai-based firm’s story is also the story of its founder, who built a multi-million dollar company after turning down venture capital money and bootstrapping it all the way through.

Now in its 27th year, Zoho is a $690 million revenue company, with more than 75 million users. Read more.

Editor’s Pick: Menstrupedia

When Aditi Gupta and Tuhin Paul started Menstrupedia in 2013, the entrepreneur ecosystem did not understand why the founders wanted to educate young girls about menstruation. They saw no business value in it.

On Menstrual Hygiene Day, Aditi reflects on the startup’s journey in building a successful business around menstrual health education and its far-reaching impact. Read more.

Startup Spotlight

‘MoEVing’ the last-mile delivery on one platform

Amid the rising demand for electric vehicles, Gurugram-based full-stack electric mobility platform MoEVing is tapping into the growing opportunities in the last-mile ecommerce delivery market.

The roughly one-and-a-half-year-old startup has already secured $10 million in funding from several global investors. In March, it launched its first multi-modal electric vehicle charging space in Bengaluru and hopes to open more such facilities, especially in smaller cities and towns. Read more.

News & Updates

PB Fintech reported a total income of Rs 591 crore in the fourth quarter of FY22, doubling the revenue of the same quarter a year ago. However, it reported a loss of Rs 219.6 crore in Q4 FY22, which was 3.4 times the loss in the corresponding quarter a year ago.

Electric automaker Tesla, which has been seeking a reduction in import duties to sell its vehicles in India, will not manufacture its products locally unless it is allowed to first sell and service its cars in the country, Founder and Chief Executive Elon Musk said in a tweet.

The Centre is looking to develop a framework to keep a check on fake reviews on ecommerce websites. The Department of Consumer Affairs (DoCA), after studying the mechanism followed by ecommerce entities in India and the best practices available globally, will develop these frameworks.

[Jobs Roundup] D2C brand Smytten provides free trials and curated shopping across 15+ lifestyle categories. This month, the brand raised Rs 100 crore in pre-Series B led by Fireside Ventures and Roots Ventures. If you want to be a part of Smytten’s growth story, check out these job openings.