Zoom Video Communications (Zoom) on Tuesday said it will set up a technology centre in Bangalore and hire key talent over the next few years to expand its presence in India.

Zoom’s popularity in India has increased during the lockdown phase as most people worked from home. The investment is being made to leverage this interest, the company said in a statement.

Zoom, which provides video meetings, voice, webinars, and chat across desktops, phones, mobile devices, and conference room systems, said the latest commitment represents a growing strategic investment in India.

The company has one office in Mumbai, which is expected to triple in size.

“From January to April 2020, Zoom has seen 6,700 per cent growth in free user sign ups in India,” the statement added.

“India is a important country for Zoom and we expect to see continued growth and investment here,” said Eric S Yuan, CEO of Zoom.

The company added that the expansion into Bangalore will supplement its existing research and development centres and support Zooms engineering leadership, which is based at its San Jose, California, headquarters.

The exceptional engineering and IT talent made Zoom select Bangalore, the company said while adding that it will immediately begin recruiting engineers, IT, security, and business operations headcount in the area. It also said the employees will work from home until the Covid-19 situation has improved.

Velchamy Sankarlingam, president of product and engineering, added that it plans to hire key employees for the technology centre over the next few years.