ÜNİKA was founded in 1936 upon the directives of ATATÜRK, the founder and the president of modern Turkish Republic to manufacture paper insulated cables which were strongly needed at that time since the country was constructing its infrastructure.

The name of the company was Istanbul Cable Factory at the foundation period. In 1968, the name was changed as "ÜNİKA Universal Kablo Sanayi ve Ticaret A.S." with the start of it’s re-structuring program.

Being a pioneer company in the manufacturing cables, Ünika has been the main source of expertise, training and qualified employees for the growing cable industry in Turkey throughout the years. In the late 1980s the company chose the policy to almost wholly withdraw from the manufacturing 'run off the mill' type general purpose electric cables and directed his efforts towards manufacturing special purpose cables.