Unicorn (Software company)

Unicorn is a group of companies providing information systems and IT solutions. The company was founded in 1990 Vladimír Kovář. Unicorn has branches in the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Ukraine, Netherlands, Germany and Norway.
Unicorn has created solutions that are widespread and used by businesses from various industries (banking, insurance, e-mobility, energy and utilities, communications and media, manufacturing, commerce and public administration). The company is also the operator of the Internet service Plus4U, which provides a portfolio of services for people, small and medium-sized businesses. Unicorn is a partner of Microsoft, IBM, Red Hat, Oracle, Atlassian, SAS and SAP Clients include more than 1100 companies and organizations from 30 countries of the world, more than 375 thousand users of the Plus4U.net internet service and 830 students of Unicorn University.
==History of the company==
Unicorn was founded in 1990 by Vladimír Kovář. Within two years, the company had a turnover of over 1 million dollars. In 1997, the form of the company changed to a joint-stock company. Expansion abroad began in 2000, specifically the first foreign development center was established in Bratislava. The company's annual turnover exceeded 1 billion Czech crowns in 2006. Unicorn founded Unicorn University in 2007, which received master's degree accreditation in 2019 and fully distance learning accreditation in 2020. In 2011, a branch was opened in Kyiv, Ukraine, and in 2014 in Arnhem, the Netherlands. Over the past few years, Unicorn has acquired a number of companies focusing on different industries through acquisitions. In 2022, the company's sales exceeded 7 billion Czech crowns. As of February 2023, Unicorn has 25 development centers in 20 cities in 6 European countries.
==Industries==
===Energy and Utilities===
In 2015, Unicorn developed and commissioned the real-time BritNed Control Point System (BNCPS), which controls in real-time the level and direction of power flow in the BritNed subsea interconnector between the Netherlands and Great Britain. In 2018, Unicorn won the tender for the supply of the LIBRA international platform for the optimization of regulatory backups in national energy systems. For the coordinator of electricity networks in Central Europe, TSCNET, Unicorn developed the AMICA system, which creates network security analyzes based on information about energy exchanges between transmission system operators. In 2019, Unicorn supplied the IFA2DS dispatch system for the IFA2 subsea interconnector under the English Channel, which is used to connect the transmission systems of France and Great Britain. The submarine interconnector has been managed by the IFA2DS system since January 2021. Unicorn also supplied the dispatching system for the Nemo Link submarine interconnector between Great Britain and Belgium. In 2020, Unicorn introduced the Inca system for dispatching high voltage direct current (HVDC) cables, which provides calculation of planned and optimized electricity flow. In 2021, Unicorn won a tender to supply a register of gas and energy certificates of origin used for cooling and heating for the Swedish Energy Agency.
==Awards==
Unicorn won the Microsoft Awards 2019 in individual categories for the Digitization of production processes solution at Astra Motor, "Nursing" self-employed persons for the Ministry of Industry and Trade of the Czech Republic, and Red Monster online training courses for primary and secondary schools. Unicorn is regularly ranked in the Top 100 ICT companies in the Czech Republic compiled by CIO Business World magazine. In 2022, Unicorn won the IBM Automation Partner award and the IT project of the year award for the Norwegian Energy Certificate System project. Unicorn was included in the list of Top 10 companies that stand at the forefront in providing solutions over the Esri platform. 
Category:Companies established in 1990
Category:Information technology
Category:Companies