An “HR company” can mean different things in different contexts – it could be a payroll software vendor, a compensation benchmarking consultancy, or an executive search agency. 

With that caveat, this list is focused on companies that provide the infrastructure and consulting services needed to manage organisations, as opposed to staffing agencies or recruitment platforms that facilitate individual job searches.

This article provides detailed information on the top 10 HR companies, including their founding dates, owners, areas of focus, and services.

Quick Comparison

Rank	Company	Founded	Owner / Founders	Headquarters	Core Focus
1	Greytip Software (greytHR)	1994	Girish Rowjee & Ahmed Sayeed Anjum	Bengaluru	HR & Payroll Management Software
2	PeopleStrong	2005	Pankaj Bansal (Founder & Group CEO)	Gurugram	HR Tech Platform & Workforce Solutions
3	Keka HR	2014	Vijay Yalamanchili (Founder & CEO)	Hyderabad	Cloud HR & Payroll Software
4	Darwinbox	2015	Jayant Paleti, Chaitanya Peddi, Rohit Chennamaneni, Vineet Singh	Hyderabad	Enterprise HCM Platform
5	HROne	2016	Karan Jain & Kanika Jain	Noida	Core HR & HCM Software
6	Zimyo	2018	Kumar Mayank, Ajay Kadyan & Naresh Gupta	Gurugram	HR & Payroll Automation
7	Aon India	Part of Aon plc (formed 1982)	Global publicly traded company	Gurugram / Dublin HQ	HR, Risk & Compensation Consulting
8	Mercer India	Part of Marsh McLennan (Mercer brand est. 1975)	Global publicly traded company	Mumbai / New York HQ	HR & Employee Benefits Consulting
9	Korn Ferry India	Part of Korn Ferry (founded 1969)	Global publicly traded company	Mumbai / Los Angeles HQ	Executive Search & Organisational Consulting
10	Willis Towers Watson India	Part of WTW (formed 2016 merger)	Global publicly traded company	Mumbai / London HQ	HR, Benefits & Risk Consulting

Greytip Software (greytHR) – A Three-Decade Pioneer of Indian HR Software

 Image Courtesy: Greytip Software  / Official Website

• Founded: 1994 (incorporated November 29, 1994) 
• Owner: Co-founded by Girish Rowjee and Ahmed Sayeed Anjum 
• Headquarters: Bengaluru, Karnataka

Greytip Software was founded in 1994 by Girish Rowjee and Sayeed Anjum, engineering graduates who launched the company at a time when it was still unusual for Indian independent software developers to create enterprise business applications. 

Its flagship product, greytHR, launched its first payroll module in 1999 and has since evolved into a cloud-based HR and payroll management software system that facilitates tens of billions of dollars in annual payroll volume for thousands of businesses.

What Greytip Software does: Develops cloud-based HR and payroll management software for small and medium businesses.

Services offered: Payroll processing and statutory compliance, leave and attendance management, employee self-service, and performance management.

PeopleStrong – Bringing Technology to India’s HR Industry

 Image Courtesy: PeopleStrong  / Official Website

• Founded: 2005 
• Owner: Pankaj Bansal (Founder and Group CEO) 
• Headquarters: Gurugram, Haryana

PeopleStrong was founded in 2005 by Pankaj Bansal, who had previously worked at the technology company Aricent Group. 

He noticed the lack of organisational maturity in India’s fragmented HR industry and set out to address the issue by founding PeopleStrong and developing an integrated suite of HR technology products that would subsequently be adopted by some of the largest Indian enterprises.

What PeopleStrong does: Provides integrated HR technology and workforce management solutions to enable end-to-end recruitment, payroll, and employee lifecycle management.

Services offered: HR technology platforms and payroll software, talent acquisition and recruitment technology, workforce analytics, and employee experience solutions.

Keka HR – Clean, Affordable HR Software for Growing Businesses

 Image Courtesy: Keka HR  / Official Website

• Founded: July 21, 2014 
• Owner: Vijay Yalamanchili (Founder and CEO) 
• Headquarters: Hyderabad, Telangana

Keka HR was founded in 2014 by Vijay Yalamanchili, who launched the company with a commitment to developing simple and affordable software with transparent pricing, as opposed to the complex sales process common to most Indian HRMS providers. 

The company remained bootstrapped for many years before raising a large funding round from investors. It has since focused on serving small and medium-sized businesses with 50 to 800 employees.

What Keka HR does: Provides cloud-based human resource management and payroll software.

Services offered: Payroll automation, recruitment and applicant tracking, leave and attendance management, and performance management.

Darwinbox – Taking on Global HR Software Giants From Hyderabad

 Image Courtesy: Darwinbox  / Official Website

• Founded: 2015 
• Owner: Co-founded by Jayant Paleti, Chaitanya Peddi, Rohit Chennamaneni, and Vineet Singh 
• Headquarters: Hyderabad, Telangana (with a global headquarters function in Singapore)

Darwinbox was founded in 2015 by four friends who set out to build enterprise-grade human capital management software that could compete with global HR tech giants such as SAP SuccessFactors and Oracle. 

At the time, there was little expectation that an Indian software company would be able to position itself as a credible alternative to decades-old enterprise software vendors, but Darwinbox eventually became a unicorn in 2022 and serves thousands of clients across 130+ countries.

What Darwinbox does: Provides a cloud-based human capital management (HCM) platform for enterprises.

Services offered: Core HR and payroll management, recruitment and onboarding, performance management and people analytics, and employee experience.

HROne – A Fast-Growing HCM Platform From Noida

 Image Courtesy: HROne  / Official Website

• Founded: 2016 
• Owner: Co-founded by Karan Jain and Kanika Jain; built by Uneecops Workplace Solutions 
• Headquarters: Noida, Uttar Pradesh

HROne was launched in 2016 to provide core HR and human capital management solutions to mid-market and enterprise organisations in India. 

The company was founded by Kanika Jain and Karan Jain, who recognised the need for more advanced HR software by Indian employers with 100 to 5,000 employees, and subsequently raised significant funding from global investors. It has been featured in international software market rankings for its customer satisfaction.

What HROne does: Provides an AI-powered core HR and human capital management platform for mid-market and enterprise organisations.

Services offered: Payroll and attendance management, talent management and recruitment, employee engagement, and workforce analytics.

Zimyo – A “Human First” Approach to HR Technology

 Image Courtesy: Zimyo / Official Website

• Founded: 2018 (incorporated January 14, 2018) 
• Owner: Co-founded by Kumar Mayank, Ajay Kadyan, and Naresh Gupta 
• Headquarters: Gurugram, Haryana

Zimyo was founded in 2018 to provide small and medium-sized enterprises and startups with an end-to-end HR and payroll automation platform that would put employee experience before transactional HR processes. It has carved out a niche for itself by targeting smaller businesses that continue to rely on spreadsheets for payroll and workforce management.

What Zimyo does: Provides an end-to-end HR and payroll automation platform for small and medium-sized businesses.

Services offered: Payroll and compliance management, attendance and leave management, employee benefits and loan management, and recruitment and onboarding.

Aon India – Global Risk and HR Consulting With a Strong India Presence

 Image Courtesy: Aon India / Official Website

• Founded: Part of Aon plc, formed in 1982 through the merger of Ryan Insurance Group and Combined International 
• Owner: Global publicly traded company 
• Headquarters: Gurugram, Haryana (Indian operations); global headquarters in Dublin, Ireland

Aon India is a part of Aon plc, a global professional services firm that has operated in the insurance and risk management space for decades, with a strong presence in human capital consulting. It provides executive compensation and employee benefits consulting to many of India’s largest enterprises.

What Aon India does: Provides HR consulting, risk advisory, and compensation services to businesses.

Services offered: Compensation and rewards benchmarking, employee benefits and health insurance consulting, talent and organisational consulting, and workforce risk advisory.

Mercer India – A Global Leader in Employee Benefits and HR Consulting

 Image Courtesy: Mercer India / Official Website

• Founded: Part of Marsh McLennan; the Mercer brand was established in 1975 
• Owner: Global publicly traded company 
• Headquarters: Mumbai, Maharashtra (Indian operations); global headquarters in New York, USA

Mercer India is part of Mercer, a global human resources consulting firm that has been operating since the 1970s and provides employee benefits consulting to multinational corporations. It has a strong presence in India, where many companies rely on Mercer’s salary surveys to set their own compensation benchmarks.

What Mercer India does: Provides HR consulting, compensation benchmarking, and employee benefits advisory services.

Services offered: Salary and compensation surveys, employee benefits and retirement consulting, talent and workforce strategy, and HR technology advisory.

Korn Ferry India – Executive Search and Organisational Consulting

 Image Courtesy: Korn Ferry India / Official Website

• Founded: Part of Korn Ferry, founded November 14, 1969, by Lester Korn and Richard Ferry 
• Owner: Global publicly traded company (NYSE: KFY) 
• Headquarters: Mumbai, Maharashtra (Indian operations); global headquarters in Los Angeles, USA

Korn Ferry India is a part of Korn Ferry, a global executive search and organisational consulting firm that has been operating since 1969. 

The company has evolved significantly over the years, transforming from a niche executive search agency into a global consulting firm after acquiring Hay Group in 2015. In India, it provides executive search, organisational design, and compensation consulting services to large corporations.

What Korn Ferry India does: Provides executive search, leadership development, and organisational consulting services.

Services offered: Senior executive search, leadership assessment and development, organisational design consulting, and total rewards and compensation advisory.

Willis Towers Watson India – Risk, Benefits, and HR Advisory

 Image Courtesy: Willis Towers Watson India / Official Website

• Founded: Part of WTW, formed through the 2016 merger of Willis Group and Towers Watson; constituent firms trace back much further 
• Owner: Global publicly traded company 
• Headquarters: Mumbai, Maharashtra (Indian operations); global headquarters in London, United Kingdom

Willis Towers Watson India is a part of Willis Towers Watson (WTW), a global insurance brokerage and consulting firm that was formed in 2016 through the merger of Willis Group and Towers Watson. The latter was itself the result of a merger between Towers Perrin and Watson Wyatt in 2010. In India, Willis Towers Watson provides employee benefits consulting and risk advisory services.

What Willis Towers Watson India does: Provides HR consulting, risk management, and employee benefits services to businesses.

Services offered: Executive compensation and benefits consulting, insurance and risk advisory, workforce and talent strategy, and employee wellbeing program design.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Which is the oldest HR company on this list? 

Greytip Software, founded in 1994, is the oldest Indian-origin HR technology company on this list, though the global consulting firms Korn Ferry (1969), Mercer (1975 as a brand), and Aon (1982) all have older international roots.

What is the difference between an HR technology company and a staffing or recruitment company? 

HR technology companies develop software applications to help organisations manage their people operations, whereas staffing and recruitment companies facilitate individual job searches.

Which Indian HR tech companies have achieved unicorn status? 

Darwinbox became a unicorn in 2022, making it one of the most prominent Indian-origin HR technology companies to reach that valuation milestone.

Which companies on this list are global consulting firms rather than Indian HR tech startups?

 Aon India, Mercer India, Korn Ferry India, and Willis Towers Watson India are all Indian operations of global consulting firms, as distinct from Greytip, PeopleStrong, Keka, Darwinbox, HROne, and Zimyo, which are Indian-founded technology companies.

Which company is best known for salary benchmarking surveys used by Indian employers? 

Mercer India is best known for its salary surveys, which many Indian companies use as a reference point for setting their own compensation benchmarks.

Which Indian HR tech companies focus specifically on small and medium businesses? 

Keka HR and Zimyo have both positioned themselves as providers of affordable cloud-based HR management software to small and medium-sized businesses.

Which company built its business specifically to compete with global HR software giants like SAP and Oracle? 

Darwinbox was founded to directly compete with global HR software vendors, which its founders recognised as a significant opportunity at the time.

What role does executive search play within broader HR consulting? 

Executive search, also known as headhunting, is a niche area within the broader HR consulting space, as it typically only involves senior leadership positions and is usually a small part of any consulting firm’s overall operations. Firms like Korn Ferry provide executive search services alongside broader organisational consulting services.

Which HR companies on this list resulted from major corporate mergers? 

Willis Towers Watson was formed through the 2016 merger between Willis Group and Towers Watson, while Korn Ferry acquired Hay Group in 2015 and subsequently rebranded to Korn Ferry Hay Group before eventually dropping the “Hay” from its name.

Why has India produced so many HR technology startups in recent years? 

The rise of enterprise software and the growing recognition that India is capable of developing products at the level of global technology giants has prompted many Indian entrepreneurs to enter the software development space. The combination of digitisation and the shift towards cloud-based solutions has created opportunities for local HR technology startups to serve both domestic and international markets.

Conclusion

India’s top 10 HR companies represent two different currents in the same stream – indigenous HR-tech startups like Greytip Software, PeopleStrong, Keka, Darwinbox, HROne, and Zimyo that have developed software to automate core HR processes like payroll, while multinational consulting majors like Aon, Mercer, Korn Ferry, and Willis Towers Watson offer their deep HR expertise to local organisations.

As Indian organisations continue to evolve their human resource management practices, these 10 companies are poised to continue dominating the scene for years to come, regardless of which year you read this in.