Sridhar Vembu's Zoho opens new campus in Kerala, acquires Asimov Robotics

Zoho Corporation, a Chennai-based SaaS major which owns and operates Zoho and ManageEngine, has strengthened its commitment to in-house research and development (R&D) by acquiring robotics startup Asimov Robotics, inaugurating a new campus in Kerala, and forming a string of deeptech collaborations. 

The announcements were made during the opening ceremony of Zoho's new R&D campus in Kottarakkara, attended by Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and Finance Minister K. N. Balagopal.

The Kottarakkara campus, which currently has a 250-seat capacity, is set to become a hub for Zoho’s research efforts in artificial intelligence and robotics. The company also announced its partnership with the Kerala Startup Mission (KSUM) to launch a Deep Tech Product Studio, which aims to catalyze high-impact research collaborations among startups and research institutions.

“Our Kottarakkara office will be dedicated to enhancing our R&D projects in various fields starting with AI and Robotics,” said Shailesh Davey, Co-founder and CEO of Zoho Corp. “Apart from our own work, we will be collaborating with like-minded deep-tech organizations to amplify our efforts. Our goal remains the same: to develop these capabilities in India and make the country self-reliant in terms of critical technology.”

Zoho’s acquisition of Asimov Robotics, a Kerala-based startup founded in 2012, marks its formal entry into robotics. Asimov specialises in providing robotic solutions to industries for addressing hazardous, inefficient, and repetitive scenarios. Under Zoho, the Asimov team will continue its work from the Kottarakkara facility, guided by Zoho’s engineering leadership. 

"This collaboration with Zoho would be a significant step in strengthening Kerala's local ecosystems by enabling intellectual property creation, product research, and development from rural areas. The Zoho campus at Kottarakkara, currently nearing completion, stands as a pilot model for this transformative approach. This is a consorted effort between multiple agencies which included, employers, skilling, academia, infrastructure, capital and public participation and could be adopted as a model for the rest of the state," said K. N. Balagopal, Minister of Finance, Government of Kerala.

Zoho’s internship program in the region has already yielded results. Since opening its Kottarakkara office in 2024, the company has onboarded 40 employees via a nine-month training pathway. Interns undergo a three-month skill development course, with mandatory training in C, C++, and Python, followed by six months of project work. Those who pass the evaluations are absorbed into the company.

In addition to the KSUM studio, the company announced R&D associations with Boson Motors, Vipus Advanced Materials, vTitan, Zentron Labs, Verdant Telemetry & Antenna Systems, Netrasemi, Genrobotics, Energy 24by7, and IIT Bombay. These collaborations are aimed at solving targeted technological problems and fostering applied research.

Anoop P. Ambika, CEO of KSUM, said Zoho’s involvement validates Kerala’s growing appeal as a destination for deep-tech R&D. “We are extremely glad that Zoho has already tied up with several startups from the state in building an R&D ecosystem in Kottarakkara,” he said.

The event was attended by several dignitaries, including Sridhar Vembu, Co-founder and Chief Scientist at Zoho, and Shailesh Davey and Tony Thomas, co-founders of Zoho and Zoho US, respectively. Also present were ISRO’s former chairman Dr. S. Somanath and Member of Parliament Kodikunnil Suresh.