Uniqus Consultech Inc, a tech-enabled global platform that offers ESG and accounting and reporting consulting services, has raised $12.5 million by selling a minority stake in a Series A funding round led by VC firm Nexus Venture Partners and Sorin Investments, an early-stage tech fund founded by private equity veteran Sanjay Nayar, former Chairman of KKR India.
A clutch of industry and consulting leaders like Pirojsha Godrej, Anant Goenka, Apoorva Patni, Keki Mistry, Ranu Vohra, Dhanpal Jhaveri, Vijay Malhotra, Bala Swaminathan and Sridar Iyengar also participated in the round, which also signalled the launch of operations by Uniqus.
Uniqus was co-founded by Jamil Khatri, former Global Head of Accounting Advisory Services and Member of the India Leadership Team of KPMG, and Sandip Khetan, former Head of Financial Accounting Advisory Services of EY India.
“The firm will eliminate auditor independence conflicts by not providing any audit services and has created an attractive equity stock option pool to enable high-quality talent to participate in its value creation," said an official release. It will initially focus on the US, India, and the Middle East, which represent a $15 billion addressable market opportunity.
The release added that Uniqus has acquired SustainPlus – a firm that has been providing ESG consulting to leading companies in India, Europe, the Middle East, and the US since 2017. Anu Chaudhary, founder & CEO of SustainPlus, one of the foremost global ESG specialists based in India with over 20 years of experience, has joined the Uniqus leadership team as the Global Head of ESG.
“We intend to create a scalable, global firm which unlike conventional consulting firms will invest upfront in tech,” Khatri told Moneycontrol , elaborating on the triggers for the fund raise.
Commenting on the investment, Nexus Venture Partners’ Anup Gupta stated, "There is a large market need to enable enterprises in their journey of adopting leading ESG and financial accounting & reporting practices. Uniqus is addressing this opportunity by using technology to leverage top-notch global talent. We are excited to partner with Jamil, Sandip, Anu and Team Uniqus."
Sharing his views on the investment, Sorin Investments’ Sanjay Nayar said, “Uniqus’ cutting-edge offerings are the culmination of work done by professionals with strong backgrounds and track records who have factored in what clients need holistically across the ESG and financial reporting domains.”
Khatri is also an active investor in the startup space and backs several companies including digital health and wellness platform HealthifyMe.
Moneycontrol was the first to report Khatri's exit from KPMG on Jan 27, 2022.
Nexus Venture Partners, a leading Silicon Valley-India VC firm has multiple category-creating investments in digital India and the global technology sector such as Delhivery, Postman, Zepto, Turtlemint and others.
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