India (Commonwealth Union)_ From the quiet lanes of rural Tamil Nadu, Sridhar Vembu is building India’s answer to Big Tech, and the world is paying attention. In an era where most tech giants operate from gleaming skyscrapers in Silicon Valley, one man is doing things differently and making an impact. Sridhar Vembu, the Indian tech genius and the founder of Zoho Corporation, has stayed away from venture capital, celebrity startup culture, and city life. Instead, he has chosen to build world-class technology from a village in Tamil Nadu. And now, with two new homemade products—Ulaa, a privacy-focused web browser, and Arattai, a messaging app—he is challenging none other than Google Chrome and WhatsApp.
Who is Sridhar Vembu?
Sridhar Vembu was born in 1968 in a modest, middle-class family in Thanjavur, Tamil Nadu. After graduating from IIT Madras in electrical engineering, he earned a PhD from Princeton University in the US and started his career as a systems engineer at Qualcomm. But the corporate world did not satisfy him for long. In the early 2000s, Vembu returned to India, not to Bengaluru or Hyderabad, but to the villages. He settled in rural Tamil Nadu and began to build what would become Zoho, a global software company, from scratch. He trained local youth to become software developers and insisted on a “rural-first” model long before it became trendy. Today, he continues to live simply, often cycling through village roads, despite being one of India’s wealthiest tech entrepreneurs, with a net worth of over $5.8 billion.
Zoho Ulaa: A rival to Google Chrome
Earlier this month, Zoho’s latest product, Ulaa, made headlines when it climbed to the top of Apple’s App Store charts in India, overtaking Google Chrome. The browser is designed with one clear message: your data should stay yours. Ulaa, which means “journey” in Tamil, supports syncing across Android, iOS, Windows, Mac, and Linux devices. It lets users carry their bookmarks, passwords, and browsing history through a Zoho account. But what distinguishes it is its strong privacy-first policy. Ulaa does not allow advertisements or trackers to follow users across the internet. It also includes useful features like tab grouping, memory-saving tools, and a clean, distraction-free reading mode. While Ulaa’s long-term performance remains to be established, its recent surge in popularity underscores a growing demand for alternatives, particularly among users who are tired of being watched online.
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Arattai App: A homegrown alternative to WhatsApp
In 2021, Zoho quietly launched Arattai, a messaging app built in India for Indians. The name means “casual chat” in Tamil, and that is exactly what it was designed for. But recently, the app’s popularity has exploded. After Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan endorsed Arattai publicly, downloads skyrocketed. Vembu revealed that sign-ups jumped from 3,000 a day to over 350,000 a day in just three days. Arattai has all of the features that users anticipate, such as group chats, video and phone conversations, tales, and broadcast channels, but it also includes something more important: trust. Unlike WhatsApp, which is owned by Meta in the United States, Arattai is built in India and does not promise to monetize personal data. With increased concerns about digital privacy, particularly following many high-profile data thefts, Arattai is winning over customers with its promise to keep discussions secure and private.
Zoho Corporation: Built without a single VC dollar
Zoho is one of India’s most successful and unique technology businesses. Founded as AdventNet in the late 1990s, it has grown into a bootstrapped software behemoth with over 50 cloud-based products for organizations. Zoho supports over 100 million customers in over 180 countries, providing services ranging from CRM and HR to accounting and project management. Zoho’s uniqueness stems not only from its product line but also from how it was built. The company has never received venture capital. It grew entirely from its own revenues, allowing it to remain independent and long-term focused. Vembu also founded Zoho Schools of Learning in 2004, which trains children from rural and poor backgrounds in coding and computing. Many graduates now form Zoho’s core engineering teams. In FY 2023–2024, Zoho posted revenue of ₹8,703 crore and was valued at over ₹1.04 lakh crore. Earlier this year, Vembu stepped down as CEO to focus on R&D as the company’s chief scientist, a role more in line with his passion for building from the ground up.
How homegrown apps are challenging Western tech giants
The rise of Ulaa and Arattai is happening against the backdrop of rising economic tensions between India and the United States. Following US tariffs on Indian imports, the Indian government has stepped up its push for “Swadeshi,” locally produced alternatives to global items. Union ministers have openly supported apps like Arattai and Zoho-built tools in government presentations, replacing Google Maps with MapMyIndia and PowerPoint with Zoho Show. These endorsements provide local apps with unprecedented visibility and legitimacy. WhatsApp’s largest market is India, which has over 500 million users, and Google Chrome is the dominant mobile browser. However, even a tiny fraction of users migrating to local alternatives might have a significant influence on both market share and digital sovereignty.
A new kind of tech revolution
Sridhar Vembu’s story is not only about countering global forces. It is also about proving that great products can be crafted in Indian villages, that ethical companies can thrive without external funding, and that privacy of data can be honored. In a world that is sick of constant surveillance, addictive design, and people vs. profit technology, Vembu offers a refreshing point of view that is rooted in simplicity, intention, and a humble belief. He is a powerful example that Indian creativity can not only compete but also lead.
