Tech services company UST Global Inc. of Aliso Viejo sees more expansion this year after making its latest move with an investment in Bay Area-company Smart Software Testing Solutions Inc. (SSTS).
UST Global said it “has been on an acquisitions and investments spree since last year,” listing investments in Aprexo, Cogniphi Technologies and Ksubaka, as well as the acquisition of SCM Accelerators, ComplyUSA, Contineo Health and Necsia Cybersecurity Division.
“And many more to come this year,” UST said July 29.
Fast-growing UST Global, with $1.1 billion in revenue last year, provides a variety of tech services to large corporations. Its client list consists of Fortune 500 and Global 1000 companies.
Testing Platforms
SSTS, a software testing and product company with more than 70 employees, is based in the Alameda County city of Dublin.
Terms of the deal with UST Global were undisclosed. A deal in the $5 million to $10 million range looks likely; news reports indicate SSTS raised a Series A fund in the $1 million range in 2016.
SSTS provides technology to test the quality of other companies’ software products. The company develops smart software testing platforms for mobile, web and Internet of Things devices powered by emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence and predictive analytics.
OpKey and pCloudy are two main software testing platforms provided by SSTS. Both tools focus on streamlining and improving the software development lifecycle by employing manual and automated testing.
Corporate Necessity
“Continuous digital validation across mobile, cloud and web applications has become a necessity for enterprises undertaking digital transformation initiatives,” said Sunil Kanchi, chief investment officer and chief information officer of UST Global.
Kanchi leads the corporate investments by UST Global and is responsible for mergers and acquisitions, corporate venture capital, and partnerships.
UST said the “automation testing market” is expected to reach approximately $19.3 billion by 2023.
Chief Executive Krishna Sudheendra is on the Business Journal’s 2019 OC 500 list of top local influential figures. The company has deep ties with India.
Sudheendra took over the CEO spot in May 2019 from founder Sajan Pillai, who retired. The company raised $250 million from the Singapore sovereign wealth fund to fund expansion in 2018.
Work Return
The company in June introduced its Return to Work Digital Solutions for Enterprises. The readiness model includes integration of public COVID-19 and employee data to show the impact to businesses and help manage employee risk.
Last month, UST introduced two new cloud offerings, UST CloudDesk and UST MultiCloud Manager, in response to an increased global demand for secure, stable solutions that enable boundaryless workplace and multi-cloud management for enterprises.
The company has 25,000 employees globally, with 15,000 of them in India and 172 of them in Orange County. It counts more than 140 clients.
