Unitas Software rapidly grows exports in the USA and Europe

Established in 1995, the Coleraine based software development company specialises in software solutions for the poultry industry.

The new deals have been signed with Kreher’s Farm Fresh Eggs in New York, and Vital Farms, an ethical food company headquartered in Austin, Texas. Additional contracts have been secured in Holland with an Organic Egg Farming Co-op.

Making the announcement during a visit to the company, Steve Harper, Invest Northern Ireland’s Executive Director of International Business said: “As one of Northern Ireland’s leading agri tech companies, Unitas Software recognises the value in continued investment in research & development and is showing a strong commitment to exporting. It has also benefited from a range of Invest NI support for trade and market development activities to strengthen its business and secure these new contracts.

“In just four years, Unitas has used our R&D support to enhance, define and improve its software and grow from selling in the UK to breaking into Europe and most recently the US. Our teams in the US and Europe helped identify potential customers and made initial introductions, which has led to it winning new business and building an excellent inmarket reputation for the delivery of its software. This is impressive progress and is a great example of how our partnership approach with companies is working.”

Over the last five years, Invest NI has offered Unitas Software £161,590 of support for R&D, trade and technical development assistance. Business development work with Invest NI has resulted in recent presentations with a number of the largest egg producers in the world.

Chris McCoubrey, Director of Unitas Software explained: “Our Poultry Manager solution enables our customers to manage their organisations in a more efficient way and brings a new level of intelligence to increase the ability of our customers to connect all parts of the supply chain. Invest NI’s support has been key in helping us achieve the global success we have had so far. Over the last five years, we have used its R&D support to consistently improve our products and provide our clients with a competitive advantage through our cloud based platform.

“The Going Dutch program gave us the confidence to look outside Northern Ireland and has proved invaluable for us, especially in terms of language translation, arranging meetings and generating potential customers. Before the Going Dutch experience, our sales were predominantly in the UK. Now over 50 per cent of our business is export and growing. We have visited the US numerous times and utilised the support of Invest NI’s team to secure customers in Wisconsin, New York and Texas which puts us in a position for further growth in the coming months and years.”

Invest NI’s Grant for R&D is part funded by the European Regional Development Fund under the EU Investment for Growth and Jobs Programme 2014-2020.

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