Zoho Corporation, a global technology company headquartered in Chennai, has announced an investment of ₹70 crores in the Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC). The funding is directed toward supporting the development of sovereign digital technology in India and increasing technological accessibility for businesses of varying scales.
Expanding the Digital Ecosystem
The investment aligns with Zoho’s ongoing initiatives to integrate micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) into the digital economy. Prior to this funding, Zoho has facilitated MSME participation on the ONDC platform through its finance and business suite. Applications such as Vikra (a seller app built for the ONDC Network), Zoho ERP, Zoho Books, Zoho Inventory, and Zoho Commerce act as entry points for businesses to connect with the broader national market.
According to the company, the newly announced capital will be utilized to further expand the network’s ecosystem and accelerate the adoption of digital commerce tools among Indian enterprises.
ONDC’s Foundational Infrastructure
ONDC was established to build open digital rails that promote interoperability, inclusivity, and efficiency across multiple sectors of the Indian economy. The open-network model is designed to address structural challenges inherent in traditional digital commerce, such as fragmented systems, high entry barriers for smaller merchants, and market trust deficits.
Recent data indicates significant network scale, with ONDC enabling 218 million transactions during the 2025–26 financial year. The network spans several primary sectors, including retail, logistics, mobility, and financial services, aiming to strengthen unit economics and provide new operational channels for enterprises, consumers, and gig workers.
Sector-Specific Growth and Adoption
The network’s impact is visible across various trade and service verticals:
- Retail and General Trade: The ONDC DigiDukaan initiative reported onboarding over 10,000 kirana (neighborhood) stores within months of its launch, facilitating the digitization of general trade procurement.
- Rural Commerce: Commerce models enabled by ONDC drove an 11-fold increase in order volumes for farmers, craftsmen, and rural artisans during FY 2025–26.
- Logistics: The implementation of the FIFO (first-in, first-out) fleet allocation model scaled by 50 times within a six-month period. This framework is aimed at improving resource utilization and providing better earnings opportunities for gig workers.
- Mobility: Expanding beyond traditional e-commerce, ONDC-powered metro ticketing is now operational across nine distinct metro transit systems and is accessible through more than 25 different consumer applications.
Zoho’s financial backing aims to reinforce this growth trajectory, supporting ONDC’s mandate to establish a foundational digital infrastructure for the next phase of India’s economic development.
Commenting on this, Sivaramakrishnan Iswaran, CEO of Zoho Payment Technologies and Global Head of Finance and Operations BU, Zoho, said:
India’s economy depends heavily on MSMEs, yet they face challenges on all fronts—from limited market access to structural constraints imposed by conventional digital platforms that rarely align with their unique needs. ONDC, which is an excellent initiative, gives power back to MSMEs, enabling them to expand their customer reach and achieve sustainable growth.
Zoho shares with ONDC its philosophy of building sovereign technology to champion accessibility, flexibility, and inclusion of business of every size. We further believe that the private sector must play its part in nation building. In alignment with this vision, Zoho is proud to contribute to this ambitious initiative, strengthening the country’s Digital Public Infrastructure and paving the way for broader, more equitable participation in the digital economy.