Investcorp buys out Kalaari, others to become majority stakeholder in Unilog

By Payal Ganguly

  • 14 Jan 2021
Credit: 123RF.com

Global manager of alternative investment products Investcorp has announced the acquisition of majority shares in SaaS-based ecommerce solutions provider Unilog. 

As part of the deal, Investcorp picked up stakes of early investors Kalaari Capital, along with 22 individual investors. Kalaari Capital, which invested $3 million in Unilog in 2015, held 17.75% stake in the US company, according to data on VCCEdge.

Philadelphia headquartered Unilog, which has an international office in Bengaluru, works with mid-market B2B clients in the manufacturing, distribution and wholesale space. The company’s suite of products provides cloud-based commerce platform and product data enrichment services to 350 SMBs in the US.

“Investcorp shares our vision for the growth potential of SaaS in the SMB space,” Suchit Bachalli, CEO of Unilog, said in a statement. “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.” 

Bachalli founded Unilog in 1998 to provide online content management software, but later pivoted to offer SaaS for B2B ecommerce companies. 

Investcorp’s India investments include those in mid-market companies in the consumer segment, such as NBFC business InCred, co-living services provider Zolo, online delivery platform for meat and seafood Freshtohome and logistics player Xpressbees

“Unilog has a history of delivering a quality offering that’s on a par with some of the largest enterprise solution providers. We’re looking forward to leveraging our institutional knowledge in B2B distribution and ecommerce to help Unilog deliver their platform to the broader small and midmarket sector,” Varun Laul of Investcorp India, said.

The SaaS space saw big bets in 2020 as the pandemic pushed businesses to accelerate digitisation. In December, cloud-based SaaS provider for spa and salons, Zenoti, turned a unicorn with a $160 million capital infusion. In December, sales automation platform LeadSquared raised $32 million in a round led by Gaja Capital.