Zoho Corporation has invested ₹70 crore in Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC) to support sovereign digital infrastructure development in India and improve technology access for MSMEs.
The Chennai-based SaaS company said the investment aims to make digital commerce more inclusive and interoperable for small businesses across the country.
“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,” said Sivaramakrishnan Iswaran, CEO of Zoho Payment Technologies and Global Head of Finance and Operations BU at Zoho.
Backed by the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT), ONDC is building an open and interoperable ecommerce network designed to reduce entry barriers for businesses and create a level playing field in digital commerce.
According to ONDC, the network processed around 218 million transactions in FY26.
Zoho said several of its products, including Zoho Books, Zoho Inventory, Zoho Commerce, and Vikra, are already helping MSMEs digitise operations and integrate with the ONDC ecosystem.
ONDC also highlighted the rapid growth of its DigiDukaan initiative, which has onboarded more than 10,000 kirana stores within months of launch.
The network added that order volumes for farmers, artisans, and rural sellers increased 11X during FY26, reflecting rising adoption of open digital commerce infrastructure in non-metro markets.
The investment comes as India intensifies efforts to build public digital infrastructure across commerce, payments, logistics, and financial services to reduce dependence on closed platform ecosystems.
Last month, ONDC appointed Vibhor Jain as its Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer after previously serving as Chief Operating Officer and acting CEO during the leadership transition.
Zoho’s investment also underlines growing participation from Indian technology firms in building domestic digital infrastructure platforms aimed at supporting small businesses and strengthening India’s digital economy ambitions.
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