# Niraj Rout

> Niraj Ranjan Rout is the co-founder and CEO of Hiver, a customer-service software company that grew from a simple Gmail collaboration idea into an AI-enabled, multichannel support platform. An IIT Kharagpur-trained engineer who wrote C++ compilers at Mentor Graphics, Rout has spent more than a decade turning the everyday inbox into structured work for support teams.

- **Role:** Co-founder and CEO at Hiver
- **Organizations:** Hiver, GrexIt Inc., Mobicules, Mentor Graphics
- **Education:** B.Tech. in Electronics and Communications Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur
- **Known for:** Co-founded Hiver and led its evolution from a Gmail collaboration utility into a customer-service platform., Bootstrapped Hiver to more than 1,100 paying customers before its 2018 Series A., Raised a $4 million Series A in 2018 and a $22 million Series B in 2022.

## Career timeline

- **2002-2007** — Worked at Mentor Graphics, writing C++ compiler software for chip-emulation systems.
- **2007** — Left Mentor Graphics and pursued entrepreneurship, including a mobile local-search product that did not succeed.
- **Late 2000s** — Co-founded Mobicules, an app and web development business serving US customers.
- **2011** — Co-founded the company that became Hiver with Nitesh Nandy; the product was initially called GrexIt.
- **2012** — GrexIt launched publicly and reached the Google Apps Marketplace.
- **2015** — GrexIt was renamed Hiver after the term became closely associated with the Greek debt crisis.
- **2017** — Hiver launched the customer-service-focused version of its product.
- **2018** — Hiver raised a $4 million Series A led by Kalaari Capital and Kae Capital after bootstrapping to more than 1,100 paying customers.
- **2022** — Hiver raised a $22 million Series B led by K1 Capital, with existing investors participating.
- **2026** — Hiver describes itself as an AI-enabled customer-service platform for complex support, offering Hiver in Gmail and Hiver Omni.

## Achievements

- Co-founded Hiver and led its evolution from a Gmail collaboration utility into a customer-service platform.
- Bootstrapped Hiver to more than 1,100 paying customers before its 2018 Series A.
- Raised a $4 million Series A in 2018 and a $22 million Series B in 2022.
- Built Hiver into a product that the company says is trusted by more than 10,000 teams worldwide.
- Created a SaaS business that sells globally, with the United States accounting for more than half of revenue in 2022.

## Latest updates

- **2026-04** — In an interview with Unite.AI, Rout discussed Hiver's approach to AI, customer experience, product development, and engineering culture.
- **2026-01** — Hiver highlighted product updates including AI usage dashboards, Ask AI improvements, and AI-powered quality-assurance insights.
- **2026-01** — Hiver's current company profile presents Hiver Omni and Hiver in Gmail as two routes for teams handling complex customer support.

## Links

- Website: https://hiverhq.com
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nirajranjan
- Twitter/X: https://twitter.com/nirajr

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/niraj-rout
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-08-17