Zoho pumps ₹70 Cr into ONDC as retail order volumes wobble post-incentive cuts
Zoho's ₹70 Cr ($7.3 Mn) bet backs ONDC's sovereign commerce stack and 7.64 Lakh sellers across 616 cities. But retail orders fell to 4.6 Mn in Feb 2025 from a 6.5 Mn Oct 2024 peak after subsidies tapered, testing whether MSME adoption can hold without sweeteners.
What happened
Zoho invested ₹70 Cr in ONDC to back India's open digital commerce protocol and MSME adoption, even as retail order volumes slipped to 4.6 Mn in Feb 2025 from a
Key facts
- ₹70 Cr
- $7.3 Mn
- 21.8 Cr transactions FY26
- 616 cities
- 7.64 Lakh sellers
- 1.6 Cr orders May 2025
- 4.6 Mn retail orders Feb 2025
- 6.5 Mn peak Oct 2024
- 10,000 kirana stores
- 11x rural seller growth
- 50x logistics scale
Why this matters
The funding-versus-volume divergence opens a window to partner or acquire ONDC-native enablement startups at reset valuations, while incumbents like Zoho lock in protocol-layer influence that will be expensive to match in 18 months.