Section 34
Sridhar Vembu
Built Zoho, a privately owned global software firm, and moved work into rural Tamil Nadu. (Zoho Corporation)
- life
- Born 1968
- era
- 1991 to 2010
- 88%
- Share of Zoho held by Vembu and family (about) · 2021
- 5 crore (50 million)
- Zoho users worldwide (over) · 2021
The story
Sridhar Vembu was born in Thanjavur district and studied at IIT Madras and Princeton University. He worked at Qualcomm in the US before founding AdventNet in 1996. The company was renamed Zoho in 2009.
Zoho sells software that small and large businesses use for sales, accounts, email and more. It has stayed privately owned, with about 88% held by Vembu and his family. Forbes valued it at nearly $2.5 billion in 2020.
In late 2019 he moved to Mathalamparai, a village in Tenkasi district. Zoho runs offices in Tenkasi and Renigunta (Andhra Pradesh), where around 200 engineers from 10 villages work close to home. He received the Padma Shri in 2021.
Timeline
- 1996Founds AdventNet.
- 2009AdventNet is renamed Zoho.
- 2019Moves to Mathalamparai village in Tenkasi.
- 2020Forbes values Zoho at nearly $2.5 billion.
- 2021Receives the Padma Shri.