WeWork Companies Inc. today inked an acquisition intended to expand its appeal to larger enterprise customers. 

The co-working giant is buying an Israeli market intelligence provider called Unomy Ltd. that focuses on helping salespeople find business prospects. Its service provides access to information about over 100 million professionals at some 17 million companies worldwide. Built-in search filters provide the ability to narrow down the list based on industry, employee count and the other factors that influence a firm’s client acquisition efforts.

From there, Unomy enables salespeople to enrich every lead record with data from external sources. They can then start reaching out and fine-tune each pitch based on the background information they’ve gathered. 

Since its launch in 2012, Unomy has been adopted by Microsoft Corp., Check Point Software Technologies Ltd., Citrix Systems Inc. and other technology heavyweights. WeWork became a customer as well at some point along the way, which is how it became acquainted with the service.

The company is presumably acquiring Unomy so that future feature development can be better aligned with internal requirements. Ron Gura, senior vice president of digital product at WeWork, told TechCrunch that the startup’s technology will help support its effort to attract more enterprise customers. He said this segment currently accounts for about 30 percent of renters.

Shared office space can be quite useful for the enterprise crowd. An organization looking to move into a new region, for instance, could set up shop in a co-working location until a permanent branch is ready. That can shorten an expansion plan by upwards of months.

For WeWork, enterprise contracts are a valuable source of revenue. They can be much more profitable than deals with startups and the other small firms that constitute the bulk of its user base.

In parallel with the push to expand into more parts of the business world, WeWork is also broadening its geographic reach. The company recently launched a Chinese division with the support of $500 million in funding from SoftBank Group Corp. and other high-profile investors. SoftBank’s home country of Japan is on the roadmap as well. 

Image: WeWork