What’s the story
Chennai-based tech giant, Zoho Corp, has unveiled plans to venture into semiconductor fabrication in India.
The company’s CEO, Sridhar Vembu, confirmed this in a conversation with CNBC TV18 during the ‘Zoholics’ user conference in Austin.
Sridhar emphasized India’s need for more fab units and Zoho has applied under the India Semiconductor Mission.
The company will make a formal announcement once the process is complete.
Diversifying into hardware segment
In addition to semiconductor fabrication, Zoho Corp is also branching out into the hardware sector.
“We have started a hardware division for data centres in Nagpur,” said Vembu.
The company has already initiated production and plans to commence deployment soon.
This move aligns with Zoho’s focus on B2B hardware production, with future plans to venture into consumer hardware as well.
Zoho Corp recently launched “CRM for Everyone”
Zoho Corp, renowned for creating CRM (Customer Relationship Management) products for global companies, has recently launched a new product called “CRM For Everyone.”
According to Vembu, this product is designed to democratize CRM workflows and enable more teams to participate in CRM activities through an AI interface.
The company’s aim is to make CRM more accessible and user-friendly.
Rise in customer acquisition
Despite a predicted slowdown in growth from 30% in FY24 to between 17-20% this fiscal year, Vembu reported an increase in customer acquisition numbers.
He stated, “We are seeing an increase in customer count despite SAAS revenues falling across the world.”
The company is currently onboarding 32,000 new organizations every month worldwide and aims to onboard one million organizations as Zoho customers within the next two years.
Zoho Corp invests in rural Indian start-ups
Zoho’s growth is mirrored in its investments in promising rural start-ups in India. Vembu disclosed recent investments include long-range drone start-up Yalli Aerospace and power-tools technology start-up Karuvi. He plans to invest more in R&D-driven startups that align culturally with Zoho and have rural connection.
