In a world that runs heavily on investments and big-shot funding for startups, there is a company thriving mightily without any external funds. Handmade in India, Keka has grown to become the leading provider of HR automation services in the country within a span of 6 years. “Veni, Vidi, Vici – We came, we saw, we conquered” from Julius Caesar pretty much sums up what the team did in terms of disrupting the SME HRTech market.

Vijay and Sashi, the founders, were busy growing their software services business and looking for the right HR solution to support them. Frustrated with the poor user experience and clunky interfaces of the existing options, the team decided to build a solution themselves, paving way for the birth of Keka in 2016, a true employee experience platform.

It enabled companies to put to sleep mundane and tedious tasks of workplace administration. Keka helps HR practitioners to focus on their vital assets, their employees, making it easier for any company to make the journey from good to great.

What does “Keka” mean?

One question that almost everyone asks is “What does Keka mean?”. In Telugu, it colloquially means Awesome. At a time when people name companies with 2 or 3 pieces of English words mish-mashed together, the Founder chose a meaningful name explicitly as a reflection of his love for the Telugu language and for the simplicity the term offered- a theme that’s consistent with the product as well.

How “Keka” was born?

Keka started as a squad of 5 and ascended to become a stellar team of 150 in the past 5 years. With an average age of 25, the company is vibrant with the energy of a young team, a bunch of millennials, living to inculcate the idea of working tirelessly but not aimlessly. When they were asked to describe their work at Keka with one word, the employees echoed one single feeling above others, “Inspired”.

Keka is a ‘Made in India’ product and the organization is super proud of that. It has ascended to become the face of the modern-day HR world, supporting companies and bringing value to the nation. It is often said, Rome wasn’t built in a day and Keka is no different. Their journey from zero to 5400+ customers wasn’t a cakewalk but a pleasant and inspiring trek for sure. As a bootstrapped entity, they had the freedom to do the right thing for their customers and employees without undue pressure for blind growth.

Leaving a mark on the SME industry in India, definitively one of the toughest customer segments is no ordinary feat. This is a customer that demands the completeness of an enterprise product experience at a pocket-friendly price. Maintaining the balance between both these needs requires a tremendous focus on the product.

Keka is growing rapidly to become the HR product of choice for employee-first organizations. As the ‘Tesla’ of the Indian HR market, Keka is transforming the world of Human Resources with its software. During the odyssey, it has impacted companies from multiple industry verticals including tech hospitality, gaming, mobile devices, pharmaceutical and many others.

The culture at Keka is one of extreme ownership. And this is the major propellant for Keka’s growth and success. Every single person carries more than their weight and they strongly adhere to their mission of creating inspiring digital workplaces where employees can do their best work.

The key to such a culture is simplicity and self-accountability. These core aspects are reflected very strongly in their product as well. Users of Keka feel more empowered and connected to each other with the great user experience it offers. The software permits them to focus on their core activities and shape their company’s future.

The expedition around disrupting the HR world was possible through the perseverant work of the backbone of Keka, Vijay Yalamanchili. He has every aspect of a rebel attitude, one who takes the charge and faces problems head-on, rather than being the boring CEO who is often defined as a pain in the ass.

Like every story, Keka also had its share of ups and downs. When the pandemic cast a shadow over the world, companies started sacking workers- directly impacting Keka’s revenue. The organization showed resilience with even the employees coming forward to volunteer for pay cuts, but it was not necessary.

They took a leap of faith and within one quarter of staying put on its course, the tide turned. The market responded to Keka’s willingness to remain strongly invested.  This was achieved through the years of experience they had gathered and a strong instinct of landing safely on their feet. This included expanding the product even more to empower their customers. Things took a turn for the better and within 3 months of it, Keka was thriving again. The company recorded double the revenue growth generated in 2019, exceeding all expectations- still with no external funds.

Over the years, they revolutionized the universe of HR with software that revolves around employees – the foundation of any business.  And with this ideology in mind, they are moving towards a new goal- Global expansion. Their end mission is to leverage the potential they hold by entering the bigger space with their Indian roots and take the world by storm. The company understands the intricacies of the HR arena and identifies Keka as the medium to tackle each problem of the field as it comes.