Chain IQ, a spin-off of UBS, has launched a platform to enable the digital coordination of procurement requirements. The firm is now planning to open an office in Shanghai.
There a several rumors swirling around Chain IQ since the Zurich-based but globally active firm has been very tight lipped on its business development, and has released no earnings figures.
Founded four years ago from a UBS spin-off, it is active in the field of business procurement outsourcing, or BPO, and employs some 300 staff, 80 of them in Switzerland.
Prominent Bank Clients
The company currently has around 30 large-sized customers, which generate spend volume of some 35 billion Swiss francs ($35.2 billion), as CEO Urs Dogwiler confirmed to finews.asia.
Along with the two Swiss bank giants, UBS and Credit Suisse, it also counts French bank BNP Paribas and U.S. asset manager Guggenheim Partners as clients. Of the total sales, 40 percent is generated by financial institutes, 25 percent industrial firms, 15 percent in the gastronomy sector and 20 percent from other sectors. In Asia, its biggest growth market, Chain IQ has already won six clients, including Singapore land developer Surbana Jurong.
UBS Mandate
The major shareholder of Chain IQ is the Swiss entrepreneur and start-up king Claudio Cisullo (pictured above). His career began more than 30 years ago in IT, and later had a mandate from UBS which led then to the Chain IQ project
As part of its «digitalization roadmap 2020», Chain IQ this year developed an app and platform called «smart joint sourcing» which enables different global procurement processes to be bundled digitally and offered to the market.
Office in Shanghai Planned
The application of these «smart joint sourcing events» can generate savings of 15 percent to 30 percent for companies through this auction process, according to Chain IQ head Dogwiler.
The system’s integrated «artificial intelligence» ensures an efficient steering, approval and development of all sourcing and procurement issues.
Chain IQ currently operates 12 business locations spread across four continents and 20 countries, with six main offices in Zurich, London, New York, Singapore, Mumbai and Bucharest. It is now planning to open an office in Shanghai (pictured above).
