Zoho invests $8.3M in India's open commerce network ONDC
What's the deal? Zoho Corporation is putting ₹70 crore (roughly $8.3M) into the Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC), a government-backed initiative that aims to decentralise e-commerce in India. The investment will support ONDC's mission to build an open, interoperable digital marketplace — one that reduces small businesses' dependence on dominant e-commerce platforms.
ONDC works by letting buyers and sellers connect across different applications, rather than locking them into a single platform. Zoho is expected to contribute technology solutions that streamline seller onboarding and improve platform connectivity.
Why now? India's digital economy is expanding rapidly, and ONDC adoption is reaching an inflection point. The network needs credible technology partners to make its decentralised model work at scale, and Zoho — a profitable, privately held software company with deep roots in India — fits that role.
What could go wrong? ONDC's biggest challenge remains convincing enough buyers and sellers to use it instead of established platforms like Amazon and Flipkart, which offer convenience and trust that a decentralised network has yet to match. Interoperability across dozens of apps sounds elegant in theory but can create friction in practice.
The signal: Zoho's investment signals growing corporate confidence in India's open digital infrastructure ambitions. It joins a widening roster of companies backing ONDC, suggesting the network is moving beyond a government experiment toward something the private sector takes seriously. If ONDC gains traction, it could become a model for how countries build alternatives to platform monopolies in e-commerce.
Read more: businessnewsthisweek.com
