Wunderkind Corporation, a New York-based performance marketing engine delivering tailored experiences to digital businesses at scale, announced plans to establish operations in Indianapolis following its recent acquisition of Indiana-based tech firm SmarterHQ. With this growth, the company plans to create up to 224 new Hoosier jobs by the end of 2025.
"Wunderkind choosing Indiana for growth is a testament to our thriving tech ecosystem and strong talent pipeline," said Governor Eric J. Holcomb. "We’re thrilled to welcome them to Indiana and couldn’t be more grateful for their commitment to add more than 200 high-wage, career opportunities for Hoosiers."
Wunderkind will invest nearly $3.4 million to co-locate its operations with SmarterHQ at 9102 N. Meridian, growing its operations to speed the company’s ability to ship new, high-impact products for enterprise retailers by expanding its engineering and customer success teams. The initial integration will leverage SmarterHQ’s robust segmentation for Wunderkind’s SMS platform, giving top eCommerce brands the customization needed to deliver SMS at scale.
Wunderkind, which currently employs more than 440 associates throughout London, New York, Austin and its subsidiary operation in Indianapolis, plans to grow Wunderkind to 200 employees in Indianapolis by 2025, adding an average of 40 new roles per year. Wunderkind is hiring in Indianapolis for roles in implementation, client engineering and customer success. Interested applicants may apply online.
"The Wunderkind team and our SmarterHQ friends celebrate joining the Indiana tech community with an acquisition that we are confident will accelerate our joint impact in the market and in local job creation," said Ryan Urban, CEO and founder of Wunderkind. "Marketing tech companies have thrived in Indianapolis, yielding billions in exits, and with our sustained growth we're confident Wunderkind will be able to add to the history of success in Indy."
Founded in 2012, Wunderkind (formerly BounceX) helps retailers, publishers and travel companies recognize more website visitors to deliver high-converting, individualized digital experiences. The company’s subsidiary, SmarterHQ, provides a personalization platform that helps marketers increase revenue and improve customer relationships by powering highly relevant, cross-channel experiences.
“Today’s announcement is yet another sign of Indianapolis’ strength as a growing tech hub,” said Indianapolis Mayor Joe Hogestt. “We’re excited about Wunderkind’s investment in our community and look forward to welcoming more than 200 local jobs in the next few years.”
The Indiana Economic Development Corporation (IEDC) partners with industry organizations like TechPoint, Indiana’s non-profit tech growth accelerator, in order to target business recruitment in high-skilled, high-growth sectors. TechPoint works to cultivate business development needs within the tech sectors, helping recruit industry startups, scaleups and established organizations like Wunderkind to expand or locate in Indiana.
"Wunderkind could have simply blended the SmarterHQ team into its operation, but it saw big advantages in developing a presence in Indianapolis' growing tech hub," said TechPoint CEO Mike Langellier. "We welcome them and look forward to engaging them in our vibrant tech community."
Indiana is leading a tech transformation in the Midwest, with an impressive portfolio of tech companies emerging throughout the state and contributing $15.6 billion to the state's economy each year. In 2020, 47 tech and tech-enabled firms committed to growing in Indiana, planning to create up to 3,779 new jobs, accounting for roughly 12% of the total jobs committed to the IEDC.
Pending approval of the IEDC board of directors, the IEDC will offer Wunderkind up to $3.4 million in conditional tax credits based on the company’s job creation plans. These tax credits are performance-based, meaning the company is eligible to claim incentives once Hoosiers are hired. The city of Indianapolis supports the project in partnership with Develop Indy.