Zoho Corporation

In a 2021 company history, co-founder Sridhar Vembu placed its beginnings around late 1995 to early 1996 and described early teams in India and the United States. AdventNet began in network management software, with several technical and commercial partners involved.⁠[1]

In a 2011 account, Vembu said the company’s main business in 2003 was WebNMS network management software. After a customer project was cancelled, the team reconsidered its direction; his article connected that experience with the later development of Zoho CRM.⁠[2]

An EY profile says the company began building software services under the Zoho brand in 2005 and changed its name from AdventNet to Zoho Corporation in 2009. Zoho is both a common company name and a software brand; the group also operates other brands.⁠[3]

In July 2017, the company launched Zoho One, initially combining more than 35 web applications with mobile apps under centralized administration and single sign-on. Zoho described the suite as an operating system for business; its product count and features could change later.⁠[4]

In a 2026 announcement, Zoho Corporation identified four brands: Zoho, ManageEngine, Qntrl and TrainerCentral. Brands should not automatically be treated as separate legal entities.⁠[5]

The company says Zoho Schools of Learning began in 2005 with six recent high-school graduates, providing training in mathematics, engineering and English followed by apprenticeship opportunities. Zoho presents the program as a recruitment and training pathway; the initial figures describe that early period.⁠[6]

In a 2021 announcement, Freshworks said Zoho had sued it in California federal court in 2020 over alleged trade-secret misappropriation. Freshworks said a former sales employee improperly accessed and used Zoho sales-lead information without company direction; the parties settled and Zoho dismissed the suit.⁠[7]

Zoho’s company timeline says co-founder Sridhar Vembu became chief scientist in 2025 to focus on research and development, while Shailesh Kumar Davey became Zoho Corp’s chief executive. The timeline also lists changes to leadership of other businesses.⁠[8]

In May 2025, ReutersReutersReuters is an international news agency founded in London in 1851 by Paul Julius Reuter and is now the news business of Thomson Reuters. It provides text, photo, video, and graphics coverage to media and institutional clients and distributes it through channels such as Reuters Connect.Open the full entry reported that Zoho had paused a chipmaking plan estimated at $700 million. A person familiar with the matter cited difficulties finding an appropriate technology partner; Vembu subsequently confirmed the pause and said the company lacked sufficient confidence in the technology path.⁠[9]

In February 2026, Zoho Corporation announced more than one million paying customers and over 150 million users worldwide. It also reported 2025 year-over-year growth of 32% in customers and 20% in revenue. These are company-reported figures, and paying customers and users are different measures.⁠[5]

In September 2026, the company described software offerings for different industries, saying they connect industry workflows with its wider application suite. This is the company’s account of its product direction; coverage and functions depend on each offering.⁠[10]

After ZohoDay in 2026, a Forrester analyst wrote that Zoho’s applications share a platform and that AppOS provides a common data foundation for customer and partner extensions. The article also discussed industry solutions and regional markets; these are the analyst’s observations on the event and strategy.⁠[11]

Zoho Corporation’s official website is https://www.zohocorp.com/ (opens in a new window). The corporate site and its brand websites describe the group and its different product lines.⁠[12]