Krakow is the city to be for many IT firms from Scandinavia. Some of them are well established businesses and others are startups. Both consulting firms as well as product companies are here. There are at least several reasons why Krakow is such a popular destination:
- Good cultural fit – friendly people who are culturally similar to Scandinavians,
- Geographical proximity – the same time zone and 2 hours away from Oslo, Stockholm, or Copenhagen,
- Access to talent pool – big universities and hundreds of IT businesses,
- Competitive costs – good quality to cost ratio,
- Charming city – medieval city with a great atmosphere.
Overview of firms
We looked at the Krakow IT market and here is what we have found. We focused on small- and medium-sized operations. We will provide a generic overview based on the information provided on company websites, LinkedIn profiles, and other publicly available sources.
 |
Episerver – www.episerver.com |
A product company developing web content management and e-commerce platforms. Founded in 1994. Originated in Sweden. They currently have offices in the US, EMEA, Australia, and Asia. Episerver does not have a physical office in Krakow. The small team of developers works fully remotely directly with a development team in Sweden.
- Team in Krakow: developers
- Established in Krakow: 2016
- Employees in Krakow: <5
 |
Esatto – www.esatto.se/en |
A digital agency from Sweden. Esatto provides strategic advisory, concept development, design and system development. Founded in 2013. Currently, the company has around 50 employees in offices located in Stockholm and Sundsvall. They are currently actively recruiting in Krakow to build a 3rd office.
- Team in Krakow: developers
- Established in Krakow: 2017
- Employees in Krakow: <5
 |
eZ Systems – ez.no |
A product company. They develop web content management platforms. Founded in 1999 in Norway. eZ Systems has more than 85 employees in 8 offices throughout Europe, North America, and Asia.
- Team in Krakow: developers, testers, support engineers
- Established in Krakow: 2017
- Employees in Krakow: 20
 |
Ezy – www.ezy.se |
A Swedish IT company. They provide products and services for travel industry. Founded in 1996. They have around 30 employees in Varberg, Gothenburg, and recently Krakow.
 |
Forte_ Digital – www.fortedigital.no |
A startup from Norway. Forte_ Digital is a consulting company with a focus on technology. They provide technology advisory, web and mobile development services to international customers. They have offices in Oslo and Krakow.
- Team in Krakow: advisors, developers
- Established in Krakow: 2017
- Employees in Krakow: 10
 |
Idium – idium.pl |
Idium is a company that offers full service digital marketing to businesses. Established in 1999. Idium Poland is a Krakow branch. Norway-based Idium develops and sells web-based content management systems for SMEs.
- Team in Krakow: design, technology, implementation
- Established in Krakow: 2012
- Employees in Krakow: 21
 |
iStone – www.istone.com |
A Swedish consulting corporation. They have over 600 employees in 12 countries. iStone manages the implementation, maintenance and development of business and IT solutions. In Poland they have a small operation in Katowice and in Krakow.
- Team in Krakow: developers
- Established in Krakow: 2017
- Employees in Krakow: <5
 |
Making Waves – makingwaves.com |
A consulting company. Making Waves designs and develops digital services and solutions, including portals, e-commerce, intranets, mobile solutions, custom-built applications and market communications. They have offices in Oslo, Stockholm, Krakow, and Chicago and around 400 employees.
- Team in Krakow: graphic and interaction designers, developers, content editors
- Established in Krakow: 2005
- Employees in Krakow: 90
 |
Medius – www.mediusflow.com |
A product company. Medius is a provider of invoice automation solutions. Founded in 2001. It has over 220 employees working from offices in Sweden (5 offices including HQ), the US, Australia, Canada, Denmark, Norway, the Netherlands, Poland, and Malaysia.
- Team in Krakow: developers, business analysts, testers, DevOps, support
- Established in Krakow: 2009
- Employees in Krakow: 55
 |
Schibsted Tech Polska – www.schibsted.pl |
Schibsted Tech Polska is a programming hub for other companies and units in the Schibsted Media Group. They include the biggest media houses in Norway and Sweden, a classified ads site and several other companies. Schibsted has two operations in Poland: Gdansk and Krakow.
Good cultural fit with Scandinavia
As you might have noticed some of these companies are well established businesses in Krakow, but there are also newcomers. This means that Krakow continues to be an interesting destination for businesses from Scandinavia. From what I keep hearing from my friends in Sweden and Norway, this goes beyond the economic factors. Krakow is a nice place to work. It is very international while at the same time preserves its historical roots and culture. People are nice and friendly. All these aspects attract investors from Scandinavia, who value such factors.
Check out also: 7 Reasons Why You Should Set Up A Subsidiary In Poland Instead Of OutsourcingScandinavian firms are perceived as good employers, thus attract IT talent. They strive for their culture to permeate the local office. People are important, their opinions matter, working conditions are good, and you will rarely see a tie :). If you look at the job offers, you will quickly realize that the people and team factors are important.
Scandinavian firms usually value:
- flat structure,
- good and informal relationship between managers and employees,
- resolution of conflicts by compromise,
- gentle approach to work-life balance,
- teamwork.
This combination of Scandinavian culture, Polish IT talent and the city of Krakow seems to play well for smaller and bigger digital businesses. At the end of the day it’s all about connecting the right people together.
Find out more about the Krakow IT Market from our Krakow IT Market Report 2021.
Since you’re here…
… we have a small favour to ask. We love bringing you interesting content. If you enjoyed this article, please like us and follow us on social media. This helps us reach more people and grow our business.
