Information technologies are growing at a rapid pace nowadays, so development companies do their best to keep up with it and use cutting-edge solutions to get noticed in the market. Loading the team with the best experts is one of the strategic goals as well. So no wonder, that more and more IT companies see Ukraine as a generous soil to expand their business. Today, we will tell you about top international IT companies that have their research and development centers in Ukraine.
1. Nextiva
We’d like to start with Nextiva. This company was founded back in 2005 and the headquarters is located in Scottsdale, Arizona. Company was voted as a “Top Company to Work for in Arizona” from 2011 till 2015 by Phoenix Business Journal and voted as a “Best Place to Work” from 2014 till 2015 by Deloitte’s Tech Fast 500 List. With over 700 professionals, the company is one of the quickest growing providers of cloud-based solutions for business communication. Currently, Nextiva serves more than 150,000 businesses in the USA. Products offered by the company include cloud phone systems, analytics, Nextiva Connect, Nextiva vFAX, Nextiva Drive and others. Business VoIP is one of the most successful products of Nextiva, this cloud phone system is used by more than 150,000 customers.
This amazingly successful company has one of their R&D center in Ukraine. Up to 80 people work in Nextiva’s Kyiv office, including 40 developers. By the end of the year the team is gonna grow to 100 employees. The company aims at defining the directions of the industry, thus it’s an extremely innovative place where professionals work with cutting-edge technologies all the time.
2. AppsFlyer
This Israel company’s headquarters is located in Herzliya. AppsFlyer was founded back in 2011 and until now it has grown to 500 employees, devoted to it’s mission, – to help marketers around the world grow their business. The worldwide known product of the company is a SaaS mobile marketing analytics and attribution platform. It is used by Facebook, Google, Twitter and more than a hundred of other major players in the app market. The technology, introduced by AppsFlyer, is found on 98% of the world’s smartphones.
AppsFlyer has grown its revenues by 500% in 2 years, and now there are 12 offices of the company around the world. One of them is located in the capital of Ukraine.
3. DataRobot
This young company was founded in 2012 and begun its journey as a Boston-based startup. Now, the company is well-known around the tech world and is backed by top-tier investors like NEA, Atlas Ventures, IA Ventures and TechStars. With headquarters in Boston, Massachusetts, it gathered over 200 employees who work on a predictive analytics platform. This machine learning platform is intended for data scientists to build and deploy accurate predictive models in a fraction of the time it used to take. It is intended for exploration, data insights and prototyping projects, small, middle and enterprise scale production deploy.
DataRobot has an office in Kyiv as well. Here in Ukraine the team of over 80 professionals specializing in Data Science, Machine Learning, & Big Data work on further development of the company.
4. Astound Commerce
Astound commerce is one of the leading global e-commerce providers bringing strategy, technology and marketing together. It offers its services to the top brands and retailers in the world. Founded back in 2000, this company has major experience in delivering ecommerce solutions for the global market. Astound Commerce offers 6 platforms of enterprise class, namely IBM WebSphere Commerce, Intershop, Magento, Demandware, MarketLive and NetSuite. Iconic brands like Versace, Adidas, Tommy Hilfiger, Crocs, Hugo Boss, Avenue and many other are among the clients of this company.
The total number of Astound Commerce employees approaches one thousand. The headquarters is in San Bruno, California. In Ukraine, there are R&D offices in Kyiv, Vinnytsia, Chernihiv and Uzhgorod. More offices are open in Slovakia and Bulgaria.
5. SimCorp
This software development company was founded back in 1971 in Denmark. The headquarters is located in Copenhagen, and there is an R&D center in Ukraine as well, with up to 200 professionals working for the company in Kyiv. SimCorp provides front-to-back solutions for the investment management industry. The company’s clients are the leading asset, fund and wealth managers, asset servicers, pension and insurance funds, and sovereign wealth funds. This global company regionally covers Europe, North America, and Asia Pacific.
Solutions of SimCorp are tailored for growth, so it’s no surprise the company itself has grown to 5,000 employees. Annually, the company invests 20% of its revenue into research and development, which helps it to remain the market leader.
Conclusion
As you can see, Ukraine is an extremely popular location for R&D centers of global companies with loud names. Why? It’s geographical location is convenient and the time differences with the main European cities are not critical. The prices are more affordable and salaries seem much more reasonable comparing to the US and EU as an example. But what’s much more important – Ukraine is the land of talents who are not afraid to pursue their dreams. It is the land of people who will do anything to reach their goal. It is the land of lifetime learners and hard workers. Global market leaders turned their attention to Ukraine and benefited from it greatly. Thus, R&D in Ukraine is a perfect choice!
