Sixteen years ago, Unilog was established in Bangalore, India as a provider of content for product catalogs, creating, organizing and managing massive amounts of product content or SKUs (the product information that displays on websites and e-catalogs).
But as the market for outsourced IT services became more of a commodity, growth stalled and a new business model was required.
“By this point we had really created a niche for ourselves in wholesale distribution,” says Suchit Bachalli, president of U.S. Unilog. “But I realized what would sustain us in the long run was to venture away from data services and get into the product/software side of the business. So, we took what we knew about master data management and product catalog services to turn it into a robust e-commerce product called CIMM2. Essentially, we found a way to replicate the Amazon e-commerce experience for suppliers, wholesalers and end-users.”
The pivot ultimately led Unilog to Wayne, where it established its U.S. headquarters in 2011.
“One of our big customers, supplyFORCE, was there [in King of Prussia] and we had discovered that there were a number of very beneficial resources and economic incentives that Pennsylvania and the Greater Philadelphia region could offer to young, foreign-owned businesses like us,” recalls Bachalli.
Sales, marketing, business development, tech support and technology innovation for CIMM2, Unilog’s flagship product, are based in Wayne. Since moving there, the company has grown its U.S. customer base to about 100.
Most recently, as a member of the Chester County Economic Development Council’s Ideas X Innovation Network (i2n), Unilog received a large tax credit through the Keystone Innovation Zone program. The credit will allow the company to accelerate its technology development and support overall expansion, including creating new jobs. Currently Unilog employs 20 in Wayne.
Source: Suchit Bachalli, Unilog
Writer: Elise Vider