Chennai has quickly established itself as India’s SaaS capital. Boasting some of the country’s largest IT parks and several prominent universities and colleges, the city is a prime spot for software companies of all kinds to flourish. From finance to fish farming, these local standouts are innovating across a wide range of industries.
Software Companies in Chennai to Know
- Tata Consultancy Services
- PayPal
- Zoho
- Freshworks
- HappyFox
- Chargebee
- FourKites
- Aspire Systems
Top Software Companies in Chennai
CONTUS Tech is known for its media streaming products like VPlayed and OntheFly that help businesses manage, stream and monetize video and audio content. It also creates custom software using Amazon Web Services that helps businesses build to scale. CONTUS Tech is headquartered in Chennai and has another location in California.
HCLTech’s software division is responsible for products like BigFix, an endpoint management tool, HCL Commerce E-Cloud, an e-commerce platform, and app-development platform HCL Domino. The Indian company has its headquarters in Noida and additional locations in 59 other countries. HCLTech employs more than 220,000 people.
Intelsat operates a network of communications satellites that provides services like data networking and telecommunications. Government and military entities, telecom companies and internet service providers rely on it for consistent, reliable connectivity, as does the aerospace industry, to which it provides in-flight internet connectivity for business jets, commercial planes and government flights.
IT giant IBM offers hardware, software and consulting services. Its acquisition of software company Red Hat in 2019 expanded its software portfolio, which now includes the Linux operating system and other open-source solutions. IBM maintains a cloud data center in Chennai.
DXC Technology helps companies run mission-critical systems and operations. Its offerings include consulting, engineering, cloud services and cyber security. DXC Technologies is known for its software designed for the insurance industry, helping insurers manage the entire lifecycle of a policy, including administration, claims management and reinsurance.
Ideas2IT shepherds ideas into high level software delivery. Founded in 2009, its client list includes Roche, Medtronic, Facebook and Siemens. Ideas2IT is headquartered in Texas and employs more than 1,000 people across locations in the U.S., Mexico and India.
PayPal allows individuals to send and receive money as well as cryptocurrency, and enables retailers to accept payments from all major credit cards both online and in their brick-and-mortar stores. Headquartered in California, the fintech giant has three India offices in Bangalore, Hyderabad and Chennai. These technology centers are the largest for PayPal outside of the United States, according to the company, and are dedicated to product development, cloud computing, user experience design, artificial intelligence and blockchain.
Virtusa provides IT outsourcing, digital engineering and business transformation services. The company serves clients in the travel, financial services, healthcare, media and entertainment industries. Virtusa is headquartered in Massachusetts, and its delivery center in Chennai is one of its largest facilities.
FourKites provides supply chain visibility software for about 1,200 of the world’s biggest brands, including Kraft Heinz, Coca-Cola and Nestlé. The company tackles the unique challenges shippers in virtually every industry face, using proprietary algorithms to calculate shipment arrival times, reducing operating costs and improving on-time performance in the process. Headquartered in Chicago with an office in Chennai, FourKites has been recognized as one of the best places to work in India, and was named as one of Forbes’ next billion-dollar companies.
Technology services firm Aspire Systems works with some of the biggest banks and financial institutions in the world, helping them leverage technology across every step of their digital transformation journeys. Its services include DevOps<, cybersecurity and software engineering. Founded in 1996, Aspire Systems has achieved a CMMI level 3 certification and has been recognized as a top employer in India for a decade.
Multinational Indian tech company Wipro Limited began in 1945 as a manufacturer of cooking oils and has grown to be a major tech company in India. It provides enterprise software, game engineering and software-as-a-service consulting. Wipro Limited employs 240,000 people in offices around the world.
Valued at more than $153 billion, Tata Consultancy Services is the second largest Indian corporation and one of the top IT firms in the world. Operating under Tata Group, the nation’s largest conglomerate, TCS assists organizations across a variety of industries with their business operations and technological advancement, providing services in everything from data analytics to cybersecurity. While the company’s headquarters are in Mumbai, its largest campus is located in Chennai.
Tech consulting company Cognizant helps its clients modernize their businesses and reimagine processes. Its Cognizant Flowsource is a software engineering platform that allows designers and product owners to build their own software. Cognizant’s headquarters is in New Jersey, and it employs more than 300,000 people around the world.
Wheelocity is a Chennai-based software company to keep an eye on. The up-and-comer integrates fulfillment and distribution centers, last-mile hubs, dark stores and logistics tech to make the fresh food supply chain more efficient throughout India. Founded in 2021, Wheelocity has received funding from Lightspeed India Partners, and counts standouts like Instamart, Ninjacart, Dunzo and Blinkit among its customers.
Aquaconnect offers data-driven tools and solutions to shrimp and fish farmers. India is the second largest fish-producing country in the world, accounting for about 8 percent of global production, and Aquaconnect aims to digitize that industry. One of its offerings, Aquasat, uses geospatial data derived from deep learning models, in conjunction with satellite remote sensing, to help farmers determine whether or not a pond is suitable for fish or shrimp cultivation. It also has a platform called Aquabazaar that connects farmers with potential buyers.
Founded in 2002, Adrenalin is considered a pioneer in the human resources tech space, offering a range of software that handles everything from recruitment, to employee engagement to compensation and benefits. The platform essentially covers all aspects of the employee life cycle, all the while applying AI and data analytics to help employers make the most informed HR decisions. Adrenalin is headquartered in Chennai and has six other offices throughout India, as well as several international offices.
Tech Mahindra creates a variety of digital solutions and platforms for businesses. Its software offerings include a customer experience platform called Yantr.ai, a data-driven analytics platform called Whatfix and a service management tool called BMC Helix. Headquartered in Pune, Tech Mahindra has offices in over 50 countries.
HappyFox provides help desk software to help companies manage their customer requests, whether they come from email, phone calls or social media. The platform integrates with a variety of common business applications for accounting, customer feedback, CRM and commerce, including Google Suite, Salesforce, Jira and Slack. Serving more than 12,000 companies across dozens of countries, HappyFox is headquartered in California and has a large campus in Chennai, where it has product, marketing, sales and engineering teams.
Restaurant management company Toast offers a variety of software products to help eateries of all sizes process payments, handle online orders and much more. In 2021 the Boston-based company acquired xtraCHEF, a Chennai-based restaurant management startup, and has maintained a strong presence in India ever since. It now has offices in both Bangalore and Chennai, which house several departments, including engineering, IT and administrative services.
With more than 55 software products, Zoho assists with business operations, from sales and marketing to password management and recruitment. The platform has thousands of customers around the world, including prominent companies like Ikea, FedEx and Amazon. Zoho is dual-headquartered in both Texas and Chennai, and has offices throughout North America, Asia, Africa and Europe.
Freshworks offers a suite of applications ranging from IT ticket tracking tools to call center management software, counting major brands like Honda and Klarna among its more than 60,000 global customers. The company is reportedly one of the first tech companies in India to hit a $1 billion valuation, and made its public debut on the New York Stock Exchange in 2021. Freshworks moved its corporate headquarters from Chennai to California in 2018, but still maintains a large office and headcount here.
Tech giant Google’s software offerings include Google Workspace, Google Chrome browser and Android mobile phone systems. In 2024, Google partnered with Tamil Nadu state to inaugurate the Tamil Nadu AI Labs at Chennai. The labs will train two million local youth in artificial intelligence. While the company already had an Indian presence in Bangalore and Hyderabad, this is its first location in Chennai.
IT and consulting company Hexaware provides services and products for connected IT ecosystems. The company uses AI for its software development platform RapidX and its operations platform Tensai. Hexaware employs 27,000 people across 40 offices in 19 different countries.
Chargebee provides billing, accounting and analytics software to subscription-based businesses. Counting Freshworks, Calendly and Toyota among its thousands of customers, the fintech firm aims to help companies mine more revenue from their subscribers and better manage their finances. Chargebee was last valued at about $1.4 billion, and has acquired several smaller startups over the years to grow its product offerings, including Numberz (now Chargebee Receivables) and Brightback (now Chargebee Retention).
Infosys helps businesses navigate digital transition with consulting, outsourcing and software development services. Its software offerings include Finacle, a customer service platform for banking institutions, Equinox, a digital commerce platform, and Meridian, a work productivity platform. Headquartered in Bangalore, Infosys is one of the largest Indian tech companies.
Dell Technologies’ well-known software products include Microsoft Office, McAfee antivirus, and Adobe creative suites. The American technology company, which is also the world’s third-largest personal computer vendor, has offices in several Indian locations. Its Chennai office is the only one outside the United States that encompasses all business functions, including research and development, finance, analysis, manufacturing and customer care.
CSC provides businesses with services like business administration, administrative alternative asset management and capital markets transactions. It aims to use cutting-edge technology to make cloud computing services, cybersecurity and data analytics more efficient. The company has an office at Thiru Vi Ka Industrial Estate in Guindy.
Amazon’s software tools include the cloud platform Amazon Web Services, business intelligence tool Amazon QuickSight and a growing suite of AI tools like Amazon Lex, Amazon Forecast and Amazon CodeGuru Security. Amazon opened a new office space in Chennai in 2022, occupying 18 floors in the World Trade Centre in the Perungudi area.
Capgemini provides businesses with tech services including cybersecurity, data analytics, AI and enterprise management. It partners with 85 percent of the 200 largest public companies on the Forbes Global 2000 list, and employs more than 340,000 people around the world.
Udemy is an online learning platform offering nearly 250,000 courses on topics ranging from leadership to generative artificial intelligence, serving students and organizations worldwide. Headquartered in San Francisco, California, the company has over 10 hubs globally, including one in Chennai.
