In early 2001, a professor at the University of Tokyo requested an Indian acquaintance to edit a technical research paper. The acquaintance was Abhishek Goel, who was then working as an in-house AIESEC consultant in Tokyo and who would later be a co-founder of Cactus.

Abhishek agreed, but hesitatingly because he didn't have a technical background. To his surprise, the professor was very impressed with his editing. Soon, Abhishek was editing papers for that professor in his spare time. He realized that researchers in Japan often have difficulty publishing papers in spite of their world-class research activities. Being non-native speakers of English, they find it hard to meet the high language standards of international journals.

This experience motivated Abhishek to create a team of professionals in India with academic inclinations and superior English skills, a team that could thoroughly edit research papers to make them fit for publication anywhere.

In April 2002, Cactus was born.