The concept of the unicorn company is huge in the US and startup ecosystems. When Investors think of tech, they think of the most obvious startups such as Uber, Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn.
These tech companies are valued at over a billion dollars and are part of an exclusive group of companies attracting a massive amount of interest from investors and the general public alike.
But there's very little publicity regarding potential unicorn companies elsewhere in the world. In an interview with SoftBank CEO Nikesh Arora, he mentions that "I am perfectly fine
with people not knowing about Japan".
And in a similar case, are the companies that are growing at astronomical rates, and aren't on an international scale like Uber, but should be.
Take Infibeam as an example.
The hidden jewel in the global ecommerce landscape that is all set to be not just a billion dollar company, but much more.
Have you ever heard of it? The chances are you haven't.
Yet this Indian ecommerce and ecommerce enabling company has made major waves in this part of the world.
Furthermore, they have all the tools necessary for success in an ecommerce market that's expected to surpass the $100 billion mark by 2017.
Who is Infibeam?
Infibeam is a company established in 2007 in Ahmedabad, India, which quickly became an organization divided into multiple businesses.
The founders and co-founders Vishal Mehta, the Managing Director, Vijay Subramanium, the CIO and the CTO, Ajay Chandra concentrates the business on ecommerce enabling and ecommerce.
In a world where founders are chasing after photo sharing apps, social networking sites, and food delivery, Mehta, Subramanium and Chandra are chasing after one of the biggest, and somewhat obvious opportunities for business; helping businesses build their own ecommerce storefronts and generate sales.
A Unique Business Model
The reason why it's been so successful is because like most unicorns, it has converted its technology assets to generate revenues with a unique business model.
This ecommerce company has gone out of its way to offer its software platform to merchants with required tools to sell online. The significant growing part of Infibeam's business is Buildabazaar, with more than 42,000 registered merchants.
Many experts have compared its ecommerce enabling project as a major competitor to Shopify, as it offers many of the same functions, and even goes beyond what Shopify can do in some cases.
The other significant part of the company is its main ecommerce webstore Infibeam.com sells books, electronics, and lifestyle products from merchants on Buildabazaar, which it has pinpointed as the most lucrative markets for its Indian audience.
Through building strong ties with other prominent brands, they have managed to gain investment and success in equal measure.
The uniqueness in the business model lies in enabling ecommerce for companies and in also managing one of the leading ecommerce companies in India.
The benefits of a unique business model can't be underestimated.
Frequently, new companies that are gaining investment from venture capitalists all have unique business models.
It's practically become a requirement for success.
Impressive Financial Background
Infibeam hasn't gained publicity out of nothing, and has posted financial results to match its potential.
In July 2015, it became the first ever ecommerce company in India to file for an Initial Public Offering (IPO), attracted investors from all over India.
This is why Infibeam has a future that eclipses that of a normal unicorn company.
Unicorns are typically known for having little financial data to back up their potential, such as SnapChat which recently flipped on the revenue switch.
Infibeam has mirrored the progress of Acerta Pharma, a Dutch company dedicated to coming up with new cancer treatments, raising $7 billion in the past year, and have stakeholders that include British pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca.
While not in the profit making sector, Acerta Pharma has the numbers to back up the success of its product through a range of key studies.
Infibeam's IPO has also allowed foreign investors to invest in the Indian ecommerce growth story.
The Right Industry
Much of Infibeam's work has been in assuring its long-term future by investing in both ecommerce and ecommerce enabling services allows it to exist even during slow periods.
When the general public is not spending as much, they can simply rely on their enabling services instead.
History validates this strategy.
During the Dot-com bubble crash of 2001, companies like Webvan, Pets.com suffered, whereas organizations offering ecommerce enabling services thrived, such as in the case of Cisco.
Furthermore, data shows that total spend in technology for stores is bigger than the amount spent on ads, demonstrating that this is still a great industry to have a presence in.
Infibeam started from a small base and then steadily expanded their businesses as they gained customer trust and recognition.
Pedigree Designed for Global Success
Following in the footsteps of many successful unicorn companies, Infibeam was founded by Vishal Mehta and a couple of other co-founders from Amazon in the US.
One look at Infibeam and it quickly becomes apparent that they were inspired by the work they were carrying out at Amazon, and it has been used to great effect.
Infibeam has been successful in entering difficult markets, such as the Middle East, where it has worked with Jumbo Retail, one of Infibeam's esteemed clients in that region.
Similar stories have been seen across the world as the company continues to expand its influence.
It's also worth mentioning that historically companies run by non-Westerners have done very well.
The numbers don't lie and most speculators put it down to a superior work ethic developed due to a past of working in challenging economies.
Sequoia Capital is known as one of the most successful Venture Capital firms ever.
It was founded and continues to be operated by a largely immigrant board.
Their success stories include Google, Yahoo, PayPal, and Instagram.
Speaking of Google, there's a reason why their style of leadership has won it business all around the world.
The team at Infibeam credits a significant amount of their success to following the same style of leadership that puts their passionate employees at the heart of the operation.
This means that they can repeatedly get more out of the people working for them.
Through a culture of hard work and true ownership where employees have significant ownership in the company, Infibeam has quietly grown until it finally managed to have something tangible to put on the table to both potential clients and investors.
That style of leadership has paid dividends for the company.