In an interview, Saravanakumar, 48, shared that employees in most startups receive shares that hold little value, prompting him to give something more tangible. Three years ago, he promised his employees a bonus equivalent to six months’ salary in January 2025—a promise he has now kept.
Founded in 2011, Kovai.co is a bootstrapped startup based in Coimbatore, with clients including BBC, Boeing, and Shell. The company offers three main solutions: Document360 for creating help pages, Biztalk 360 for connecting back-end applications like Salesforce and SAP, and Turbo 360 for reducing cloud costs by up to 30%.
Saravanakumar, who spent ten years as an IT worker before moving to London 25 years ago, saw an opportunity to fill a market gap and founded Kovai.co. The company now generates $15 million in annual revenue and is valued at $100 million. After fulfilling his promise to employees, Saravanakumar aims to grow Kovai.co into a unicorn with $100 million in revenue.