Why Bucks County’s EPAM acquired this Boston design firm

Bucks County software company EPAM has added a second Boston office after acquiring design firm Continuum.

The acquisition adds 150 staffers to EPAM’s U.S. workforce of 1,600, the majority of whom are based in its Newtown, Conshohocken and Philadelphia locations.

Including its offices in Europe and Asia, EPAM employs close to 26,000. No financial terms from the deal were immediately disclosed.

EPAM acquires @_Continuum, expanding global innovation, design and physical product development capabilities. Read more: https://t.co/LYsP9V6x0z

— EPAM Global (@EPAMSYSTEMS) March 15, 2018

The Boston company is known for designing in prototyping and designing products like the Swiffer, which it developed for Procter & Gamble in the 1990s. It also put a modern spin on the shopping cart for Target.

Why did the move make sense? Per the company, Continuum’s spaces for collaboration will allow EPAM to combine advanced prototyping technologies including mechanical, electrical and robotics engineering, along with AR/VR experimentation tools.

“The addition of Continuum expands our global presence in strategic markets in North America, Europe and Asia and brings to EPAM a deeper and more transformational, human-centered design approach, which will help us to better connect our customers’ physical and digital business,” said Arkadiy Dobkin, EPAM’s CEO and president.

EPAM works with “120 companies from the Fortune 1000 list,” and has provided companies like Sephora and Vodafone with digital solutions.