I-GATE

Sunil Wadhwani (CEO) and Ashok Trivedi (president), Indian emigres who met at a party in the late 1970s, formed Mastech in 1986. Started in Carnegie Mellon graduate Wadhwani's home, the company offered systems integration and networked computer software development consultants to information technology (IT) departments. Demand blossomed with the increased pace of technological change that left in-house IT departments struggling. Sales leapt from $200,000 in 1987 to $50 million by 1993.

Mastech fed its expansion by making overseas recruiting a top priority. The company attracted a broad base of technical talent interested in traveling the US on different jobs rather than working full-time at a single company. In the mid-1990s Mastech established an offshore software development facility in India to take advantage of that country's lower employment costs and its large pool of qualified job candidates.

The company opened offices in Canada and Singapore in 1995, and went public a year later. It continued growth in 1999 through acquisitions, buying UK financial services firm Direct Resources, among others.

In 2000 Mastech restructured as a holding company, changing its name to iGate Capital and forming independent, e-commerce consulting-focused units. Also that year it formed a venture fund to invest in e-services companies. The restructuring helped cause losses for 2000. In response iGate stopped funding the investment arm in 2001, and shuttered or sold its interests in several operating companies.

In 2002 the company further divested itself of capital, changing its name to iGate Corporation.