In today’s day and age, businesses need to be agile and nimble. However, that’s easier said than done with large enterprises that have many divisions operating under silos. Getting the simplest of things can take a significant amount of time and resources especially when it comes to development and dealing with legacy systems. Even when you do finally roll out a new feature or product, you can’t be 100% sure that it’ll serve the market appropriately with any updates resulting in more lost time and resources. Unqork addresses this. The startup, which was founded in 2017, caters to the financial and insurance industries through its platform that allows the development of new products and features to streamline customer acquisition and onboarding. This is all done without writing a single piece of code and this reduces development time drastically.
AlleyWatch sat down with founder and CEO Gary Hoberman about giving the individuals who understand business the power to code, how his experience at some large organizations inspired the business, and the company’s future plans.
Tell us about the product or service that Unqork offers.
Unqork makes it easy for an individual who best understands a business to create even the most complex business applications through our transformational DIY Enterprise platform. It all starts with our no-code approach, achieving 100% of the functionality the business needs without needing to write or generate a single line of code. Through the power of no-code development, the everyday business professional can create front- and back-end applications via an easy-to-use drag-and-drop interface, empowering engineers to focus on creating the products that truly differentiate a business and spend less time troubleshooting legacy systems.
What inspired you to start Unqork?
As the former Global CIO of MetLife, and Managing Director at Citi before that, I witnessed the substantial amount of dollars and resources spent on technology that was unable to deliver the value that businesses needed to differentiate themselves in the market. It’s not a technology issue (language or platform) or methodology issue (waterfall vs. agile) but rather recognizing one simple fact: a business doesn’t know what it needs until it’s live in production.
The barrier to time to market is code. I founded Unqork to remove that barrier, enabling companies and their IT teams to get back to what they do best – whether that’s product design, underwriting, risk management or claims servicing – and set them up for success.
How is Unqork different?
Unqork streamlines the process of getting new products to market, reducing the time to launch from months with hard-coded solutions to just weeks with Unqork. We see no-code not as a category but as an attribute to DIY Enterprise. Unqork created the platform to solve the most complex, most regulated, hairiest challenges any company can throw at us, and we delivered every time. Unqork’s no-code platform delivers recognizable value to an organization by handling platform development, and we continue to make new and reusable components that support our clients’ customer experience and business growth.
What’s more, Unqork works seamlessly with any existing system, including paper, freeing up company data and making silos a thing of the past. Additionally, Unqork can replace an entire backend system, enabling a business to simply migrate its applications to the Unqork platform rather than worry about how to shift legacy IT to the cloud.
What market does Unqork target and how big is it?
Unqork primarily serves the financial community, but our Enterprise DIY platform is industry agnostic and can be of benefit to any vertical. Currently, we work with 17 global financial institutions including Goldman Sachs, as well as leading insurance carriers Liberty Mutual and John Hancock.
What’s your business model?
Unqork focuses on creating efficiencies that allow our clients to concentrate on their customer experience and drive value. In fact, we only get paid when the customer sees value. Typically, service providers require money up front before installing new platforms, and if the project falls flat, can charge even more money to find a solution. Unqork clients only pay for success once the platform is in production and is generating revenue. We handle the full stack, from sales, to servicing, to distribution. The product is extremely scalable and helps our clients grow their business.
Who do you admire in the startup world and why?
John Foley, founder for Peloton for two reasons. First, he created an awesome product bringing the world of digital exercise straight into my home. Coming up on 1,000 rides myself, it was the one product that fit my competitive nature while being able to fit into my busy schedule. Second, his journey on funding is incredible, like ours.
What are the milestones you plan to achieve in the next six months?
Acquiring new talent to continue Unqork’s growth is a big initiative for the company following this latest round of funding, in addition to expanding the self-service capabilities of our platform. More than 120 professionals across our clients, consultants and system integrators have been trained on the Unqork platform. We will work closely with our clients in the coming months to enable them to use our platform and technology independently.
What advice can you offer companies in New York that do not have a fresh injection of capital in the bank?
Focus on revenue, clients, and delivery.
Where do you see the company going now over the near term?
Unqork continues to grow at a rapid pace and we don’t plan on stopping. Our team has grown to more than 70 full-time employees since our founding in 2017. We look forward to driving value for our clients and their customers.
What’s your favorite restaurant in the city?
Rosa Mexicana in Union Square
