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Top Tech Companies in Kochi to Work For: 2026 Edition

Kathir • 10 min read

Kochi's tech ecosystem is different from Chennai, Pune, or Hyderabad. It is smaller in absolute scale, more evenly split between IT services delivery and a growing product company layer, and uniquely strong in deep tech, particularly robotics and underwater systems, in a way that no other Indian city of comparable size can claim.

Most lists of tech companies in Kochi either default to generic MNC names or skip the city entirely in favour of Bengaluru and Chennai. This post takes a more specific approach, covering what the city actually has: a few large IT employers that anchor the economy, a set of product companies that have scaled globally from Kochi, and an emerging robotics cluster that is genuinely distinctive.

We have organised Kochi's tech companies into three tiers: legacy companies and GCCs that have shaped the city's tech identity, anchor companies that are established and actively scaling, and emerging companies that are building something new. All funding figures are sourced from press releases and primary press coverage.

For deeper reads on specific segments, see our posts on product based companies in Kochi and robotics startups in Kerala.

Legacy Companies

These are companies that have operated in Kochi for 15 or more years and have materially shaped the city's tech employment landscape.

UST Global (Founded 1999)

UST Global is one of Kerala's most significant tech employers and one of the few large technology companies to have been founded with India as a core operating base rather than as a secondary delivery location. Founded in 1999 by Sajan Pillai and headquartered in Aliso Viejo, California, UST runs major engineering and delivery operations from Thiruvananthapuram and Kochi, with its Kerala operations representing one of the company's largest global delivery hubs. The company provides digital transformation, cloud, data, AI, and software engineering services for healthcare, retail, financial services, and insurance clients across the US, UK, and Europe. UST employs over 30,000 people globally. In 2021, the company raised $250 million from General Atlantic, confirmed by TechCrunch, at a valuation of approximately $6 billion.

Roles they hire for: Software engineers, data engineers, ML engineers, cloud engineers, business analysts, QA engineers, DevOps engineers.

Global IT Presence: TCS, HCLTech, Cognizant, IBS Software

Kochi's Infopark and Technopark campuses host several large IT services and product companies with significant local operations.

TCS runs delivery operations from Infopark Kochi, working on application development, digital transformation, and enterprise services for global clients.

HCLTech operates a delivery centre in Kochi as part of its broader Kerala presence, working on enterprise IT services and digital transformation for global clients across banking, healthcare, and manufacturing.

Cognizant runs engineering and delivery operations from Kochi, with teams working on digital engineering, cloud services, and enterprise application development.

IBS Software is one of the most significant Kochi-native enterprise software companies. Founded in 1997 and headquartered at Infopark, Kochi, IBS builds SaaS platforms for the travel, transportation, and logistics industries, specifically aviation, cruise, rail, and energy sector clients. Products include iFly (airline reservations and departure control), iCargo (cargo management), and iTravel (tour operator platform). IBS serves over 100 clients globally including British Airways, Air Asia, and ExxonMobil, and employs over 3,000 people. The company was acquired by Blackstone in 2021 for approximately $450 million, confirmed by The Hindu and Business Standard.

Roles they hire for across all four: Software engineers, Java developers, cloud engineers, data engineers, SAP consultants, QA engineers, business analysts, travel domain specialists.

Anchor Companies

These companies have established customer bases, institutional backing or meaningful revenue, and are actively scaling. They represent Kochi's homegrown product and deep tech identity.

SurveySparrow (Founded 2017)

SurveySparrow is a customer and employee experience management platform helping organisations collect, analyse, and act on feedback through a conversational, mobile-first interface. Founded in October 2017 by Shihab Muhammed, formerly of Freshworks, and Subin Sebastian, formerly of Zoho, the platform has expanded into NPS surveys, employee engagement tools, AI-powered analytics, and SparrowDesk, an AI-first customer support platform launched in October 2025. Headquartered in Palo Alto with its engineering centre at Infopark Phase II, Kochi, the company employs approximately 424 people and serves clients including FedEx, Deloitte Digital, SAP, and Siemens across 108 countries. It has raised $1.4 million in seed funding from Prime Venture Partners and has operated largely bootstrapped since.

Why it qualifies as anchor: One of Kochi's most globally scaled SaaS products, with a direct founding lineage to Freshworks and Zoho, and a product that has expanded well beyond its original survey format.

Roles they hire for: Software engineers, backend engineers, ML engineers, product managers, customer success engineers, QA engineers.

Entri (Founded 2017)

Entri is a vernacular language learning platform for competitive exam preparation and job skilling. Founded in 2017 by Mohammed Hisamuddin and Rahul Ramesh in Kochi, the platform was built around the observation that most online learning content in India is in English while a large share of job seekers are more comfortable learning in their native language. It offers over 500 courses across eight languages covering government job exam preparation, private sector skilling, and teacher training. Entri has raised a total of $13.9 million including a $7 million Series A led by Omidyar Network India in February 2022, per YourStory and Inc42. The company reports over 8 million registered users and more than 250,000 paid subscribers.

Why it qualifies as anchor: $13.9 million raised, 8 million users, and a product specifically built for the vernacular-first learner, a market most edtech companies have not served well.

Roles they hire for: Software engineers, backend engineers, mobile developers, content specialists, data engineers, product managers, QA engineers.

EyeROV (Founded 2016)

EyeROV builds Remotely Operated Vehicles and Unmanned Surface Vessels for underwater inspection of dams, tunnels, pipelines, bridges, ports, and offshore infrastructure. Founded by Johns T. Mathai and Kannappa Palaniappan P, who met as engineering students at the College of Engineering, Trivandrum and later studied at IIT Delhi and IIT Madras, EyeROV was set up in Kochi for its proximity to water bodies and industrial clients. The company has completed more than 150 projects for over 80 clients including ONGC, Adani, Maersk, Tata Power, NHPC, the Indian Navy, and DRDO. In September 2025, it secured a Rs 47 crore contract from the Indian Navy for advanced underwater ROVs. EyeROV has raised approximately $3.44 million across six rounds per press coverage from Inc42, CXOToday, and CIOL, with investors including GAIL (India) Ltd, Unicorn India Ventures, and AWE Funds.

Why it qualifies as anchor: Kochi's most internationally recognised deep tech company, with a Navy contract, 80+ global clients, and a defence-grade product built entirely in Kerala.

Roles they hire for: Robotics engineers, embedded systems engineers, mechanical engineers, AI engineers, underwater systems engineers, software engineers, field operations roles.

iHub Robotics (Founded 2021)

iHub Robotics builds humanoid and semi-humanoid robots for service environments including hospitality, healthcare, airports, and railway stations. Founded in 2021 by Athil Krishna, Akhil K. Haridasan, and Sarath S., the company manufactures its robots at a facility in Kalamassery, Kochi, with most hardware components built in-house. Its flagship product Tara Gen-1 has been exported to the UAE and Saudi Arabia. In January 2025, iHub Robotics became the first Indian company officially recognised by NVIDIA and was selected for the NVIDIA Humanoid Robotics Programme. The company has signed MoUs with EY Global and SAP Germany, and reports producing approximately 300 humanoid robots per month at its Kalamassery facility. It raised Rs 4.3 crore in pre-seed funding confirmed by Business Standard and Entrackr in March 2025, with an additional $20 million stated in October 2023 per the company's own press release though independent financial verification of that round is not publicly available.

Why it qualifies as anchor: India's first NVIDIA-recognised humanoid robotics company, manufacturing from Kalamassery with active international exports. Genuinely Kochi-built deep tech.

Roles they hire for: Robotics engineers, AI engineers, mechanical engineers, embedded systems engineers, manufacturing engineers.

BestDoc (Founded 2016)

BestDoc builds patient relationship management software for hospitals and healthcare providers, covering appointment scheduling, queue management, in-patient request management, feedback collection, and teleconsultation. Founded in 2016 by Afsal Salu, Fayaz Bin Abdu, and Soudabi Neduvanchery and headquartered in Kakkanad, Kochi, the company serves more than 250 hospitals across India and the Middle East including Apollo Hospitals, KIMS Health, Aster MIMS, and Meitra Hospitals. BestDoc has raised approximately $2.65 million including a Pre-Series A of $2.1 million led by Accel Partners and Arkam Ventures in September 2020, confirmed by YourStory and Inc42. It has an office in Dubai for its Middle East operations and has processed over 4 million patient journeys.

Why it qualifies as anchor: Accel-backed, 250+ hospital clients across India and the Middle East, and a repeat founder with a prior exit. One of Kochi's most credible healthtech product companies.

Roles they hire for: Software engineers, backend engineers, mobile developers, product managers, customer success engineers, QA engineers.

Emerging Companies

These companies are building new products from Kochi and Kerala with early but real traction.

ZappyHire (Founded 2018)

ZappyHire is an AI-powered recruitment automation platform helping enterprises screen, engage, and hire candidates. Founded in 2018 by Deepu Xavier and Jyothis KS, both former Infosys employees, and headquartered at Infopark Campus, Kochi, the platform automates resume parsing, interview scheduling, candidate engagement, and onboarding workflows. It has raised approximately $584K including a seed round of Rs 3.71 crore led by the Kerala Angel Network in November 2021, confirmed by Business Standard press release and ZappyHire's own news page. Clients include Federal Bank, Wuerth, NeST Digital, and Jiffy. The platform is used by over 17,800 recruiters globally across 50+ countries.

Why it qualifies: Genuinely Kochi-native with 17,800+ recruiters across 50 countries. Meaningful global traction for a seed-stage company.

Roles they hire for: Software engineers, AI engineers, backend engineers, product managers, customer success engineers, QA engineers.

Sastra Robotics (Founded 2013)

Sastra Robotics builds robotic manipulators that mimic human hand and finger movements to automate functional testing of physical devices including touchscreens, infotainment systems, and Human-Machine Interfaces in cars, consumer electronics, and avionics. Founded in 2013 at the Kochi Startup Village by Aronin Ponnappan, Achu Wilson, and Akhil Asokan, the company began with Rs 1 lakh in capital and built its first two robots before finding customers. Clients include Robert Bosch, HCL, Tech Mahindra, Lockheed Martin, and Honeywell. The company has raised approximately $160K–$185K, confirmed by PitchBook and CB Insights, and now operates globally as SGBI (Sastra Global Business Innovation) with subsidiaries in the US and UK alongside its Kochi operations.

Honest framing: At 13 years old, Sastra Robotics is older than most "emerging" companies and operates at a smaller scale than the anchor companies above. It is included here because it is a genuinely Kochi-origin robotics product company with global enterprise clients. This profile remains rare for a company of its size and stage from Kerala.

Roles they hire for: Robotics engineers, test automation engineers, embedded systems engineers, mechanical engineers, software QA engineers.

Genrobotics (Founded 2017)

Genrobotics builds robotic and AI systems designed to remove humans from hazardous sanitation, healthcare, and defence tasks. Their flagship product Bandicoot is widely described as the world's first robotic scavenger, an automated system for cleaning manholes and sewers operated remotely by a human above ground. More than 300 Bandicoot units are deployed across 37 sites in 19 states across India. Bandicoot 2.0 was launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in October 2018 in the presence of UN Secretary-General António Guterres. Genrobotics is headquartered in Thiruvananthapuram and has raised approximately $3 million per YourStory, Inc42, and Analytics India Magazine, with investors including Unicorn India Ventures, Zoho (Rs 20 crore investment led by Sridhar Vembu in 2022, per YourStory), and personal investment from Anand Mahindra and Rajan Anandan.

Honest framing: Genrobotics is headquartered in Thiruvananthapuram, not Kochi. It is included here because it is one of Kerala's most significant robotics product companies and is part of the broader Kerala deep tech story this post seeks to represent. For a detailed profile, see our Kerala robotics deep dive.

Roles they hire for: Robotics engineers, embedded systems engineers, mechanical engineers, AI engineers, field operations roles.

What This List Shows

Kochi's tech ecosystem is smaller than the cities covered in our other master posts. Chennai, Pune, and Hyderabad all have larger product company layers and more institutional funding activity. This post does not pad the list to match those cities. The honest count is what it is.

What Kochi does have that is genuinely distinctive is a robotics and underwater systems cluster including EyeROV, iHub Robotics, Sastra Robotics, and Genrobotics, which is unusual for a city of its size. The Kerala government's explicit prioritisation of robotics as a strategic sector, alongside the state's engineering college ecosystem and Kerala Startup Mission support, has created a small but real cluster that is visible at the national level. This is the most differentiated part of Kochi's tech story in 2026.

Frequently Asked Questions

What are the top tech companies in Kochi in 2026? Kochi's most significant tech employers include UST Global (30,000+ employees globally, founded in Kerala's context), IBS Software (aviation and travel SaaS, acquired by Blackstone for $450M), TCS, HCLTech, and Cognizant. Among product companies, SurveySparrow (CX SaaS), Entri (edtech), EyeROV (underwater robotics), iHub Robotics (humanoid robots), and BestDoc (healthtech SaaS) are all Kochi-headquartered and active.

Which tech companies in Kochi are best for software engineers? For structured growth at scale, TCS, HCLTech, and Cognizant offer large engineering teams and clear career paths. For product ownership at a growing SaaS company, SurveySparrow and Entri are strong options. For deep tech and robotics engineering, EyeROV and iHub Robotics offer work on genuinely hard problems in underwater systems and humanoid robotics. For early-stage equity, ZappyHire, BestDoc, and Sastra Robotics are worth considering.

Is Kochi good for tech jobs in 2026? Kochi has a solid but relatively compact tech market. The city's strength is in IT services delivery (TCS, HCLTech, UST Global, IBS Software), with a smaller but growing product company layer. For engineers specifically looking for product company roles, the options are more limited than in Chennai or Bengaluru, but the companies that do exist here serve global markets and offer meaningful technical ownership. The city's robotics cluster is a genuine differentiator.

Are there robotics companies in Kochi? Yes. EyeROV (underwater ROVs, Kochi), iHub Robotics (humanoid service robots, Kalamassery), and Sastra Robotics (HMI test automation robots, Kochi) are all based in or near Kochi. Genrobotics (sanitation robotics) is based in Thiruvananthapuram. For a detailed look at all four, see our Kerala robotics deep dive.

Which Kochi tech company has raised the most funding? Among the companies covered in this post, UST Global has raised the most at $250 million from General Atlantic in 2021, confirmed by TechCrunch. IBS Software was acquired by Blackstone for approximately $450 million in 2021, confirmed by The Hindu and Business Standard. Among homegrown product startups, Entri has raised the most at $13.9 million, confirmed by YourStory and Inc42.

Where to Find Roles at These Companies

Published: July 23, 2026 | blog.huntyourtribe.com

Know a Kochi tech company that should be on this list? Add your company careers page here and we will consider featuring you in an upcoming piece.

Disclaimer: Company details, funding figures, and revenue data are sourced from publicly available press coverage, company announcements, and investor reports including YourStory, Inc42, TechCrunch, Entrackr, and primary press releases. Hunt Your Tribe is not the employer for any listed role and is not responsible for the hiring process or outcome. Please verify directly with the company before applying.