Uniqus Consultech raises $12.5 mn, eyes $100 mn revenues in next 5 years

Uniqus Consultech founded by former KPMG global accounting advisory head Jamil Khatri and Sandip Khetan, former head of Financial Accounting Advisory Services of EY India launched operations on Thursday with a focus on ESG and Accounting & Reporting Consulting raising $12.5 million in series A funding.

The firm has hired around 50 people and will triple its strength by the end of 2023 with a revenue target of $100 million in the next five years. 

Uniqus is also offering its employees equity stock pool options to attract high quality talent. The company plans to invest the funds raised in technology and scaling up business across India, US and Middle East. 

The firm has decided to stay out of audit business to eliminate auditor independence conflict. “Opportunity to advise clients independently without getting bogged down by auditor conflicts is a very significant ask of companies. So we are making sure that we don't fall into the trap of a conflict,” Khatri said. 

With consultancy their main business, Uniqus is not concerned about the dominance of the Big four in the audit and accounting business. 

“Consultancy market was never dominated by only a few organisations. It has never got tech integrated into the business and never truly operated as a global organisation. Those are the issues we are trying to solve,” Khatri added.

As part of its ESG focus, Uniqus has acquired ESG consultancy SustainPlus. Its latest funding round was led by Nexus Venture Partners which has multiple investments in digital India and the global technology sector such as Delhivery, Postman, Zepto, Turtlemint among others. 

Khatri said that even as the BRSR framework is evolving in India, going forward the audit of these reports is likely to be made mandatory. “It is a matter of time before that audit becomes mandatory. That is what we have to be geared for at the level of companies and consultants,” Khatri said.