Chennai the capital city of Tamil Nadu, home to professional labor is fast earning the moniker “The gateway to the south India”. This is owing to the state government of Tamil Nadu’s unequaled development initiatives, as well as the state’s economic model, which actually provides a healthy climate for entrepreneurs to grow.
Recent studies shed light on Chennai’s thriving start-up environment, providing a clear picture of how the region is swiftly becoming a powerhouse for SaaS-based firms.
According to our research, in a state with 55 universities, 2,267 colleges, 527 technical institutes, and 447 polytechnics. Every year, around 400,000 engineers and technicians are added to the workforce. Infosys, HCL, Tata Consultancy Services, Capgemini, Zoho are some of the top IT companies in Chennai.
Chennai’s diverse and considerably trained workforce is a major draw for these businesses. The primary reason for this is that it gives many options for SaaS firms to build their enterprises within the city.
3 factors that played a key roles in Chennai’s Favor of becoming a hotspot for Saas companies
a. Thriving environment
The ecosystem’s nature is also an important aspect of Chennai’s startup boom. Chennai is home to one of the world’s most vibrant start-up incubator networks. The Startup Centre, Paypal Startank, Anna University Incubator, IIT-M Exploration Park, and others have all helped to foster an atmosphere conducive to innovation, experimentation, and new idea generation. Chennai has once again proved that it possesses the appropriate conditions for the development of a major technological superpower.
b. Special economic zones
The second factor is the abundance of Special Economic Zones (SEZ) in Chennai. SEZs are areas with specific rules controlling business and trade mobility. They enable firms to operate in a competitive, stress-free environment.
In Tamil Nadu alone, 55 SEZs are in operation while Chennai has 18 of them inside the city limits, providing ample space for new firms and start-ups to develop.
c. Student population
One of the major contributors is Chennai’s big student population. In Chennai, there are several institutes of science, technology, and engineering, including IIT Madras, Chennai Mathematical Institute, Anna University, and a rising number of private colleges. There are also a considerable number of recently graduated people looking for work.
How Chennai emerged as a favorite hot spot for Saas Firms
The majority of enterprises in Chennai’s start-up community are SAAS-based. As a result, the emergence of creative enterprises is not restricted to recent years. However, the number of organizations offering software services has increased significantly.
Since the 2015 funding boom, more than 2,000 SAAS-based start-ups have been formed in India. Almost one-fourth of them are headquartered or have offices in Chennai.
Top Saas Companies in Chennai
Chennai, tamil nadu’s capital has rightfully earned the title of the country’s SAAS capital. While both of these businesses are the largest success stories in the universe of Indian-based SAAS companies, having just reached the $500 million revenue barrier, they aren’t the only ones pushing the Chennai brand in the market.
Let’s take a peek at some of the best SaaS companies that are thriving in Chennai.
a. Freshworks
Freshworks is a SaaS company that offers customer interaction solutions for IT, customer service, marketing, and human resources. Freshdesk, Freshservice, Freshsales, Freshteam, and the Freshworks Neo platform are among the products it creates. Analytics, administration and security solutions, collaboration, event streaming, and client records are all available through the products. Freshworks offers a culture that promotes quality work, pride and enjoyment in one’s work, speed of execution, and a customer-centric attitude.
b. Zoho
Zoho Corporation is an Indian technology company that creates web-based business products. It’s well-known for its online Zoho Office Suite. Sridhar Vembu and Tony Thomas founded the company in 1996, and it now has a presence in seven locations.
Its worldwide headquarters were in Chennai, while its corporate headquarters were in Texas. Because Zoho is a product-based software company, there is always room for growth and creativity.
c. Kissflow
Kissflow, formerly Orangescape, is a well-known cloud-based B2B Indian IT company that provides excellent SaaS platforms for business operations, work process automation, and digital ecosystems. Kissflow can let you initiate procedure requests, see tasks that require user actions, and approve outstanding tasks. Kissflow is based in Chennai, India, and also has operations in North America. Kissflow is proud of its collaborative culture, which fosters employee innovation in its day-to-day activities.
d. Chargebee
Chargebee is a well-known worldwide FinTech company that offers subscription-based billing systems for SaaS and eCommerce companies. It was created with the goal of providing clients with a world-class billing experience and managing customer subscriptions. Chargebee’s highly skilled team provides appropriate support that enables businesses to swiftly implement best practices and regulatory requirements. Chargebee emphasizes its ‘people-first’ approach to its work culture and is thus chosen by a wide range of professions.
e. Fourkites
FourKites is another well-known technology corporation with its headquarters in Chicago. FourKites connects end-to-end supply chains throughout the world using extremely durable and dynamic technology, enabling their clients and their clients to collaborate more effectively.
FourKites has been named one of the greatest places to work in India for mid-sized businesses. It focuses on resolving complicated challenges that control substantial change for the digital future of the globe and It’s also been named one of Forbes’ Next Billion-Dollar Startups.
f. Happyfox
HappyFox is a software-as-a-service support platform. They provide an enterprise-grade support desk ticketing system as well as well-curated live chat software. It has customers from over 70 countries and is based in Irvine, California.
Its products are utilized by enterprises with external or internal support operations in the media, education, e-commerce, information technology, retail, manufacturing, government, non-profit, and a variety of other fields. The main reasons that attract competent individuals are HappyFox’s career progression and salary.
State government’s initiative
The state administration is aiming to involve community entrepreneurs. In addition, support structures like as venture capital and angel investors are projected to encourage SaaS growth in Chennai. In Chennai, the state government has begun the process of developing a FinTech city. While a FinTech framework is being developed, the State hopes to use the plan to build a fintech environment that will attract both domestic and foreign financial institutions. As a result, Chennai would become one of the world’s main financial services cities, notably a worldwide SaaS hub.
