Eric Yuan founded Zoom in 2011 after leaving Cisco Webex.
Yuan had been an executive at Webex and was involved in its development before Cisco acquired the company. He left Cisco in 2011 with a group of engineers and created a new videoconferencing business intended to improve the experience for users on computers and mobile devices.
The company was incorporated as Saasbee, Inc. and later renamed Zoom Video Communications. Zoom’s videoconferencing product launched in 2013, so the founding date and product-launch date are not identical.
A common mix-up is calling Zoom a Cisco product because Yuan’s earlier career was at Webex. Zoom was an independent company, and its rapid worldwide adoption became especially visible during the COVID-19 pandemic.