PE firm Investcorp acquires SaaS e-commerce solutions provider to SMEs Unilog for undisclosed sum

Technology for MSMEs: Global private equity (PE) firm Investcorp has acquired Unilog – a software-as-a-service (SaaS) based e-commerce solutions provider to small and medium enterprises (SMEs) – for an undisclosed sum. The PE firm said on Thursday it has entered into an agreement to buy Unilog, which is headquartered in the US and has international headquarters in Bengaluru, that helps distributors, manufacturers, and wholesalers increase online sales, reduce the cost to serve, and enhance their digital channel. “Unilog presents an attractive opportunity, as it operates in a large and growing addressable market driven by e-commerce adoption, which has only been further accelerated amidst COVID-19,” said Gaurav Sharma, Head of Private Equity, Investcorp India. Unilog was Investcorp’s 10th investment in the Indian market over the last four years.

Led by Suchit Bachalli, Unilog’s SaaS business has grown 3x in revenues since FY2018 serving over 350 SMEs currently in around $10 billion market for software solution services to distribution and retail businesses working in the US. “We are thrilled to have their global brand backing us as a capital partner. We strongly believe this partnership will help Unilog achieve our goals faster,” said Suchit Bachalli, CEO, Unilog.

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So far, Investcorp has made around 200 PE investments in the US, Europe, the Middle East, and North Africa region and Asia, across multiple sectors including software, data analytics, cybersecurity, and payments. In India, it had made investments in mid-market companies and focuses on sectors including consumer tech, healthcare, financial services, and technology segments. InCred, ASG, Zolo, Citykart, Intergrow Brands, Bewakoof.com, NephroPlus, Freshtohome, and XpressBees were other companies that were backed by Investcorp. “The focus is on targeting first-generation entrepreneurs scaling up businesses with asset-light models and proven unit economics,” the company said. It had $32.2 billion in total assets under management as of June 30, 2020.

The increased adoption of e-commerce solutions has come amid Covid as businesses shifted towards software that offered simplification of complex processes, inventory management, product information management, intuitive search, integration with ERP, and other related functions. According to Statista, the e-commerce software application market will grow from $6 billion in 2019 to $7.3 billion in revenues globally in 2024.