In 2022, Coimbatore-based AI startup Kovai.co made a promise to its employees -- stay with the company for three years, and you’ll be rewarded with a bonus equivalent to six months' salary in January 2025. Cut to 2025, Kovai.co founder Saravanakumar distributed Rs 14.5 crore in bonuses to over 140 team members last month.
He says that the initiative, 'Together We Grow', was announced to reward loyalty of employees. On January 31, the first batch of 80 employees—many of whom had been with Kovai.co since before 2022—was rewarded as the bonus landed in their accounts alongside their salaries.
When asked about the generous bonus, Saravanakumar explained, "Startups often promise employees riches, but the shares they offer are usually just symbolic. I wanted to offer something tangible."
Founded in 2011 by Saravanakumar, Kovai.co is a SaaS (Software as a Service) provider that offers business-to-business solutions. The company, named after its home city of Coimbatore, now serves major corporations like BBC, Boeing, and Shell.
He said it was a conscious decision to not roll out ESOPs. “I chose not to announce ESOPs because they are essentially paper money until a company takes external funding or goes for an IPO... This is not tied to targets. It’s a bonus for those who stayed with us for three years,” he said.
A 48-year-old Saravanakumar, originally from Coimbatore, had moved to London 25 years ago. After spending a decade there working in the IT sector, he realised an opportunity in the market that prompted him to start his own company back in his hometown. Despite being a bootstrapped startup without any external investment, Kovai.co has flourished.
The company offers three key products: Turbo 360, Document 360, and BizTalk 360. Turbo 360 helps clients reduce cloud costs by up to 30 per cent, Document 360 supports the creation and management of help pages, and BizTalk 360 integrates backend applications like SAP and Salesforce on a single platform.
Today, Kovai.co generates annual revenue worth $15 million, with the company valuation estimated at $100 million.
Saravanakumar’s ultimate goal is to turn Kovai.co into a unicorn, aiming to achieve $100 million in revenue by 2030.