Zoho plans to offer ‘books’ to small businesses

CHENNAI: Eight months after the launch of its all-in-one cloud-based business applications suite, Chennai-based Zoho finds itself in a sweet spot, even as rivals in the SaaS market face escalating customer acquisition costs for their specialised products.

Chief executive Sridhar Vembu said the company would post at least 10% more revenue in the next two-three years than previously expected, driven by business from Zoho One, the SaaS or software-as-aservice suite. A shift in customer preference to a single SaaS application targeting several areas, instead of an individual product for each work, is driving demand for Zoho One.

“We’re finding a huge upsurge in demand,” Vembu said.


Zoho’s current model allows clients to customise its products based on their requirement. To add to that, the company is designing tools that will help partners build their own product suites in the coming year, said Vembu. However, the company has not entirely shifted focus from its original growth drivers: specialised cloud applications.

On Monday, it announced a tie-up with ICICI Bank to offer cloud accounting software Zoho Books to micro, small and medium enterprise customers, to connect their banking and accounting functions. The partnership is intended to help businesses eliminate data entry, automate settlements, request working capital loans and pay suppliers directly from the platform.

Known for refusing venture capital money and building Zoho from its humble bootstrapped beginnings, Vembu has also recently turned an investor in startups, such as medical device maker vTitan Corporation and machine vision company Zentron Labs.

He said his investment philosophy is markedly different from those of conventional venture capital firms.

“We are looking for long-term technology companies that are built from India; it’s driven by the fact that India still needs a lot more R&D-driven, deep-tech companies,” Vembu said. “While VCs are looking for more of what gives them a return, in maybe a five-year or ten-year timeframe, we are not interested in an exit as such. We’re trying to build a company similar to Zoho but in other areas. We have the patience for it.”