Coimbatore AI Startup Gives Rs 14 Crore Bonus To Employees

An AI startup based in Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, has done what most startups dream of doing - creating wealth for their employees. Kovai.co is a startup providing business-to-business SaaS solutions and was founded by Saravanakumar in 2011.

Fourteen years later, Saravanakumar decided to fulfill his promise to his employees - by giving 140 of his staff Rs 14 crore in bonuses. 

Saravanakumar gives the bonus cheque to his employees. (Photo credit: Saravanakumar)

Kovai.co, which is named for the city it was founded in, prides itself in having big names like the BBC, Boeing and Shell among its clientele. 

Its founder Saravanakumar is a native of Coimbatore, also known as Kovai, but left for London 25 years ago. "I was a regular IT worker for over a decade," Saravanakumar told NDTV Profit over phone from London. "But I found a gap in the market and decided to set up this startup. It is completely bootstrapped and we have no external funding," he said. 

The gap in the market yielded three core products — Turbo 360, Document 360 and Biztalk 360. Turbo 360 is a product that helps customers save up to 30% in cloud cost optimisation. Document 360 helps build and update the Help page for clients, and Biztalk 360 is a niche product that connects backend applications like SAP, Salesforce and others and integrates them on one platform. 

Kovai.co currently makes $15 million in revenue annually and is worth $100 million, Saravanakumar said. 

On being asked why his startup has rolled out such a generous bonus, Saravanakumar replied with a question: "Why do people work for startups?"

"They want to become rich one day. But with most startups, employees get shares - it's paper money. You don't really know what you will get out of it or when. I wanted to give my employees something tangible. Three years ago I told them - stay with us for three years and I will give you six months of your salary of January 2025 as a bonus," he said. 

Saravanakumar made good on his promise, as a total of 140 employees were cumulatively awarded with a bonus of Rs 14 crore. 

The 48-year-old founder and CEO of Kovai.co spends most of his time in London, while 250 employees work out of Coimbatore. "I want to make Kovai.co a unicorn," he said. "The ambition is to make $100 million in revenue by 2030. Things are going in the right direction." 

Saravanakumar's parents live in Mettupalayam, Coimbatore, while he lives with his wife and two sons in London, visiting every eight months. 

And it's not just the ambition to become a unicorn that drives Saravanakumar. His love for cars is well known among his employees. He has even drawn a roadmap of cars he would like to buy as Kovai.co hits new milestones.

Saravanakumar has a wall with a roadmap of cars that he dreams of buying. (Photo source: Saravanakumar)

"I sacrificed the Bugatti Chiron which I want to buy to give the bonus to my employees," he laughed.

Saravanakumar with his Lamborghini Porsche at his home in London. (Photo source: Saravanakumar)

For now though, the Lamborghini Porsche will have to do. Until the next milestone by Kovai.co.