Croatian IT company Infinum recently announced that it is opening offices in neighboring Montenegro, with the aim to bring new employment opportunities to the Western Balkans countries.
Founded in 2005, Infinum specializes in software design and development. The company has a team of 350 specialists and develops high-end digital solutions for mobile and web to global clients, ranging from venture-backed startups to established enterprises across different industry verticals.
With a continuous growth of over 20% in the last two years, Infinum now looks to expand and invest in the IT community in the Western Balkans. The company’s first stop is Montenegro, where Infinum plans to invest more than €3M over the next two years.
“Montenegro is not a big market, but we concluded that there are a lot of quality people, so that motivated us to open an office. We are bringing new employment opportunities, 16 years of know-how, experienced developers, a structured workflow, and a strong client portfolio to Montenegro”, the company told The Recursive in a statement.
Montenegro on its way to digital innovation
As Montenegro has a big talent potential and the IT scene is just beginning to shape up, the company is also looking to establish its Infinum Academy, a free development and design course for students, and initiate cooperation with universities in Montenegro down the road.
The tiny Balkan coastal country’s startup ecosystem is still in its early stages. There have been dozens of tech startups, most of them funded by foreign investors.
At the moment, Montenegrin authorities are also working on making changes in the legislature that would be beneficial for startups. Companies in the country are also beginning to look for new funding models including VC and other types of investments funds that could help boost their businesses.
“It’s a great environment for younger engineers to grow and gain experience working with companies such as Philips, Porsche, Royal Caribbean, KPMG and the like”, Infinum’s managing director Mladen Rakonjac added.
Infinum has managed to grow to more than 350 people in 16 years, developed its own SaaS product Productive and turned it into a company, started a joint venture with Porsche Digital and opened two new offices this year.
“Our goal is to build successful businesses, products and expand through acquisitions. We want to grow, expand into new markets, acquire companies and invest in interesting businesses”, the company told The Recursive.
Western Balkans getting noticed
Recently, other regional IT companies have also been expanding to the Western Balkans. Bulgarian software development company Melon announced in November that it is entering into a joint venture with Frakton, a Kosovo-based IT company.
Earlier this year, another Bulgarian company, trust service provider Evrotrust opened up a new office in North Macedonia. According to Evrotrust the team in North Macedonia will mostly focus on business development and promote its identity verification solutions in the region.
