Long before the phrase “data science” became associated with lucrative career prospects, there were already companies in India that had already invested significantly in resources to analyze business data and solve real-world queries. 

This article makes a distinction between general IT services companies and data analytics companies, featuring those that have carved a niche for themselves providing statistical and business intelligence consulting, as well as decision sciences expertise.

This article includes a brief overview of the top 10 data analytics companies in India, which are grouped according to their founding year, owner, main office location, and area of expertise.

Quick Comparison

Rank	Company	Founded	Owner	Headquarters	Focus
1	Datamatics Global Services	1975	Lalit Kanodia (Founder & Chairman)	Mumbai	Data Analytics, BPM, Digital Solutions
2	Indium Software	1999	Founded by Ram Sukumar; backed by EQT	Chennai	Data Engineering, QA & Digital Analytics
3	AbsolutData	2001	Anil Kaul, Suhale Kapoor, Sudeshna Datta	Gurugram	AI-Driven Marketing Analytics
4	Manthan Systems (now Algonomy)	2003	Founded by Atul Jalan; merged with RichRelevance in 2021	Bengaluru	Retail & Customer Analytics
5	Mu Sigma	2004	Dhiraj Rajaram (Founder, Chairman & CEO)	Bengaluru	Decision Sciences Consulting
6	LatentView Analytics	2006	Venkat Viswanathan, Ramesh Hariharan, Pramad Jandhyala; publicly listed	Chennai	Data Science & Digital Transformation
7	Affine Analytics	2011	Founder-led	Bengaluru	AI & Analytics Engineering
8	Tiger Analytics	2011	Mahesh Kumar & Pradeep Gulipalli	Chennai	Full-Stack AI & Analytics Consulting
9	Crayon Data	2012	Suresh V Shankar and co-founders	Chennai (origin) / Singapore	AI-Powered Recommendation & Analytics
10	Quantiphi	2013	Asif Hasan, Vivek Khemani, Ritesh Patel, Reghu Hariharan	Mumbai (origin) / Massachusetts	AI-First Digital Engineering & Analytics

1. Datamatics Global Services – A Data Company Founded by a TCS Pioneer

• Founded: 1975
• Owner: Lalit Kanodia (Founder and Chairman)
• HQ: Mumbai, Maharashtra

Datamatics Global Services was founded in 1975 by Lalit Kanodia, who was previously instrumental in establishing the Tata Computer Center in 1967, which eventually became Tata Consultancy Services (TCS). 

Having returned to the US to pursue his doctorate and work for the Ford Motor Company, Kanodia went on to found Datamatics Global Services.

What Datamatics does: Offers data analytics, digital transformation, and business process management services to its clients.

Services: Data analytics and business intelligence, robotic process automation, intelligent document processing, and business process management services.

2. Indium Software – From Software Testing to Data Engineering

• Founded: 1999
• Owner: Founded by Ram Sukumar; the company is now backed by private equity firm EQT
• HQ: Chennai, Tamil Nadu

Indium Software was founded in 1999 by Ram Sukumar, an industrial engineer who returned to India from the US with the vision of setting up a corporate training and software testing organization.

Now, Indium Software offers data engineering services and has rebranded itself as a digital engineering company, in addition to its traditional QA and testing services, during the last 5 years.

What Indium Software does: Offers data engineering, quality assurance, and digital engineering services to its clients in the technology sector.

Services: Data and analytics engineering, software QA and testing, cloud engineering, and AI-powered data solutions.

3. AbsolutData – AI-Driven Marketing and Sales Analytics

• Founded: 2001
• Owner: Co-founded by Anil Kaul, Suhale Kapoor, and Sudeshna Datta
• HQ: Gurugram, Haryana

AbsolutData was incorporated in 2001 by Anil Kaul, a quantitative marketing expert and a Cornell University alum with a PhD, along with his colleagues Suhale Kapoor and Sudeshna Datta. 

The company specializes in applying statistics and AI to marketing and sales, as well as analytics consulting. Before being recognized as a data analytics company, it was known as a boutique consultancy for the consumer and tech sectors.

What AbsolutData does: Provides AI-powered analytics consulting solutions to aid sales, marketing, and customer decision-making.

Services: Marketing mix modelling, customer segmentation and targeting, predictive analytics for sales, and AI-driven business intelligence dashboards.

4. Manthan Systems (now Algonomy) – Retail Analytics Built From Bengaluru

• Founded: 2003
• Owner: Founded by Atul Jalan; merged with RichRelevance in 2021 to form Algonomy
• HQ: Bengaluru, Karnataka

Manthan Systems was founded in 2003 by serial entrepreneur Atul Jalan, who previously sold his company to SAP, with a focus on business intelligence, predictive analytics, and retail consulting. 

It merged with personalization AI company RichRelevance in 2021 to form Algonomy, a unified retail analytics platform.

What Manthan (Algonomy) does: Offers AI-powered merchandising and customer analytics software solutions to the retail industry.

Services: Merchandise and demand analytics, customer data platforms and personalization, and supply chain and analytics solutions.

5. Mu Sigma – The Company That Popularised “Decision Sciences” In India

• Founded: 2004
• Owner: Dhiraj Rajaram (Founder, Chairman and CEO)
• HQ: Bengaluru, Karnataka (with US headquarters in Northbrook, Illinois)

Mu Sigma was founded in 2004 by Dhiraj Rajaram, a former management consultant at Booz Allen Hamilton and PwC, who used his own 200K USD to bootstrap the idea for decision sciences. 

Rajaram identified an opportunity for analytics consulting, which led to Mu Sigma’s formation; it has since advised over 140 Fortune 500 companies.

What Mu Sigma does: Offers decision sciences consulting services to help enterprises make better data-driven decisions by combining data science, technology, and business context.

Services: Advanced analytics and machine learning consulting, data engineering, marketing and risk analytics, and analytics talent training programs.

6. LatentView Analytics – A Publicly Listed Data Science Company From Chennai

• Founded: 2006
• Owner: Co-founded by Venkat Viswanathan, Ramesh Hariharan, and Pramad Jandhyala; publicly listed on the BSE and NSE
• HQ: Chennai, Tamil Nadu

LatentView Analytics was founded in 2006 and quickly grew to become a public limited company in India. It provides data science, analytics consulting, and digital transformation solutions to Fortune 500 companies in the retail, financial services, and technology sectors.

What LatentView does: Provides data science, analytics, and digital transformation consulting to large multinational corporations.

Services: Predictive analytics and marketing mix modelling, digital transformation and AI-powered analytics solutions, supply chain analytics and demand forecasting, and business intelligence dashboards.

7. Affine Analytics – Specialist AI And Analytics Engineering Company

• Founded: 2011
• Owner: Founder-led
• HQ: Bengaluru, Karnataka

Affine Analytics was founded in 2011 and has since positioned itself as a mid-sized analytics consultancy specializing in AI and machine learning analytics engineering. 

The company has received recognition as a “specialist consultancy” for analytics and ML from Gartner research and has worked across the retail, gaming, manufacturing, and media sectors to build AI applications.

What Affine does: Offers AI and analytics engineering solutions that combine data science, cloud, and machine learning operations.

Services: AI and data science consulting, computer vision solutions, cloud-based analytics engineering consulting, and generative AI implementation.

8. Tiger Analytics – A Full-Stack AI And Analytics Consultancy

• Founded: 2011
• Owner: Co-founded by Mahesh Kumar and Pradeep Gulipalli
• HQ: Chennai, Tamil Nadu

Tiger Analytics was founded in 2011 and has since grown into a full-stack AI and analytics consultancy that works with Fortune 500 companies in the financial services, healthcare, and consumer goods sectors. It has partnered with cloud companies such as AWS to provide generative AI solutions to its enterprise clients.

What Tiger Analytics does: Offers AI and analytics solutions to help enterprises make better business decisions.

Services: AI and machine learning solution development, data engineering and cloud analytics, generative AI implementation, and industry-specific analytics solutions for finance, healthcare, and CPG.

9. Crayon Data – Simplifying Big Data Through AI-Powered Recommendations

• Founded: 2012
• Owner: Co-founded by Suresh V Shankar, Srikant Sastri, Vijaya Kumar Ivaturi, Vivek Ravindran, and Aarti Ramakrishnan
• HQ: Incorporated in Singapore, with founding roots in Chennai

Crayon Data, a former analytics startup that has been acquired by IBM, was founded in 2012 by serial entrepreneur Suresh V Shankar. It focuses on helping enterprises adopt and adapt to big data technologies while providing prescriptive analytics products that can be used for recommendation engines in the banking, fintech, and travel sectors. Ratan Tata is an investor in Crayon Data.

What Crayon Data does: Provides prescriptive analytics powered by AI to help enterprises in the financial services and travel sectors.

Services: AI-powered customer recommendation engines, data cleansing and integration solutions, revenue acceleration solutions for travel and hospitality, and enterprise data platforms.

10. Quantiphi – AI-First Digital Engineering With Deep India Roots

• Founded: 2013
• Owner: Co-founded by Asif Hasan, Vivek Khemani, Ritesh Patel, and Reghu Hariharan
• HQ: Marlborough, Massachusetts (with major delivery centers in Mumbai and Bengaluru)

Quantiphi was founded in 2013 by four entrepreneurs who identified an opportunity for AI in enterprise transformation years before it became mainstream. 

It has partnerships with enterprise cloud providers such as AWS, Google Cloud, and NVIDIA, and leverages India’s deep engineering talent pool to provide its enterprise clients with digital engineering services.

What Quantiphi does: Offers AI-powered digital engineering, cloud, and analytics solutions to enterprises around the world.

Services: Applied AI and machine learning solutions, cloud engineering and migration, data analytics and business intelligence, and enterprise digital transformation consulting.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

1. Which is the oldest data analytics company on this list?

Datamatics Global Services, founded in 1975 by Lalit Kanodia, is the oldest company on this list. Kanodia also founded the Tata Computer Center in 1967, which later became Tata Consultancy Services (TCS).

2. What is the difference between a data analytics company and an IT services company?

While IT services companies provide a broad range of services, including consulting, software development, infrastructure, and technology support, data analytics companies focus primarily on analyzing data. Their services typically include statistical modeling, business intelligence, data science, predictive analytics, and decision sciences.

3. Which company is credited with popularising the term “decision sciences” in India?

Mu Sigma, founded by Dhiraj Rajaram in 2004, is widely associated with pioneering and popularising the concept of decision sciences in India. The company focuses on helping businesses make data-driven decisions using analytics, statistical techniques, and advanced modeling.

4. Which company on this list is publicly listed?

LatentView Analytics is the publicly listed company on this list. Its shares are traded on both the BSE and NSE stock exchanges, making it one of the prominent publicly traded analytics-focused companies in India.

5. Which companies on this list specialize specifically in retail and customer analytics?

Manthan Systems was known for specializing in retail and customer analytics, providing solutions for customer engagement, personalization, merchandising, and retail decision-making. Manthan later merged with RichRelevance to form Algonomy, which continues to focus on retail and customer intelligence.

6. Which company on this list was founded by someone who also founded what came to be known as TCS?

Datamatics Global Services was founded by Lalit Kanodia, who was also involved in establishing the Tata Computer Center in 1967. The organization eventually developed into Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), one of India’s largest IT services companies.

7. Which companies on this list are headquartered outside India, despite being Indian-founded?

Crayon Data is headquartered in Singapore, while Quantiphi is headquartered in Massachusetts, USA. Both companies were founded by entrepreneurs of Indian origin and have built significant operations serving international clients through data analytics, artificial intelligence, and technology solutions.

8. Which company started as a software testing firm before expanding its services to include data analytics?

Indium Software initially established itself as a software testing and quality assurance company before expanding into areas such as data engineering, artificial intelligence, machine learning, and digital analytics. Its broader technology portfolio now serves clients across several industries.

9. Which companies on this list have merged with or been acquired by other firms?

Manthan Systems merged with RichRelevance in 2021 to create Algonomy, combining their expertise in retail analytics and customer engagement technologies. Indium Software has also undergone an ownership change and is backed by private equity firm EQT, reflecting its growth and expansion in the technology services sector.

10. Why has India produced so many prominent data analytics companies?

India has a large pool of engineers, mathematicians, statisticians, and technology professionals, which has supported the growth of its analytics industry. The availability of skilled talent at competitive costs, combined with India’s strong outsourcing ecosystem and growing demand for data-driven decision-making, has helped Indian analytics companies serve businesses around the world.

Conclusion

India’s data analytics companies represent a deep and varied heritage, ranging from Datamatics, which was founded by the same person who later founded TCS, to Mu Sigma and its pioneering emphasis on decision sciences, and newer entrants such as Quantiphi and Crayon Data that have been able to ride the wave of cloud technology to provide AI-powered analytics solutions. 

Taken together, the 10 companies highlighted in this article are representative of India’s broader technology services and analytics consulting ecosystem, and will continue to play a critical role in enabling enterprises in India and abroad to benefit from advances in AI and data science, irrespective of the year it is.