Unite has reported a strong financial year 2021. Despite ongoing challenges in the global economy, the B2B platform company once again achieved a two-digit growth rate. Unite’s revenue increased year on year by 18% to €406m, while the net revenue was up by 16% reaching €53m.
“We’re looking back at a very successful year for Unite. Although global markets were still impacted by the ongoing challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic and supply chain issues, we provided our buyers and suppliers with a reliable B2B platform. Due to our resilient business network, we were able to provide stable e-procurement and supply chain processes to our ecosystem. This is in high demand in today's volatile market environment,” said Dr Sebastian Wieser, CEO of Unite.
A year of growth and strategic evolution
In 2021, Unite not only demonstrated consistent financial growth in challenging times, it also achieved an important milestone in its strategic development. The former Mercateo Group combined its two lines of business – the Mercateo B2B marketplace and the Unite Network – under the Unite brand. Unite represents the company’s 20-year legacy of bringing buyers and suppliers together for mutual benefit.
To lead Unite’s continued strategic development, founder Dr Sebastian Wieser was appointed Chairman of the Executive Board and took on the role of CEO. Moreover, the previously German legal company structure was transformed into a European Stock Corporation now called Unite Network SE.
At the end of 2021, Unite Financial Services EU AS was established in Estonia. The application for an e-money institution (EMI licence) was then submitted to the regulator. Business activities of Unite Financial Services are expected to start in Q4 of 2022. Introducing a new business area for Unite, this subsidiary has been established to provide innovative financial services to Unite’s platform participants.
New platform participants and partners in the Unite ecosystem
Unite enables buyers and sellers to respond to increasingly dynamic volatility requirements and maximise their commercial value in a sustainable way. These benefits were reflected in the Unite ecosystem which continued to grow in 2021. The Crown Commercial Service (CCS), the UK’s largest public procurement organisation, named Unite as one of two suppliers on its new Tail Spend Solution Framework allowing its public sector end-users to efficiently manage their long tail spend via Unite’s cohesive e-procurement solution. One of Unite’s customer wins in the private sector included EnBW Group, one of the largest energy companies in Germany and Europe. EnBW is focusing on a sustainable procurement and growth strategy along with many other businesses that joined the Unite ecosystem in 2021.
Unite continued to strengthen its partner network to meet the demands of new sectors as well as high-profile market players and experts. The successful collaboration with SAP Ariba or consultancy partners like Expense Reduction Analysts (ERA) underlines Unite’s ecosystem strategy to connect the economy for sustainable business.
“We get a lot of positive feedback for our business strategy from our platform participants and partners. We’re confident that our platform approach, our growing ecosystem and our scalable network concept will enable them to tackle volatility and sustainability challenges both today and in the future. With the challenges we face, businesses depend on trust-based relationships and safe infrastructure for building and sharing value now more than ever. With the Unite brand, all our sails are set for this shared goal,” added Dr Sebastian Wieser.
