ZAGREB, 3 Oct, 2021 - One of Croatia's leading IT companies, Infinum, continues to expand into new markets and is opening an office in Podgorica, expecting a 25% growth this year, Infinum chief operating officer Nikola Kapraljević told Hina.

"2020 was marked by global chaos caused by coronavirus, but despite the difficulties, people found a way forward and technology played a key role, so we also spent much of the year developing new processes, tools and systems. We continued to cooperate with most clients, and our teams have the opportunity to work on interesting and innovative solutions in health care, education, renewable energy, finance, and even music," said Kapraljević.

Revenue growth of over 20% in 2020, 2021

In 2020, he said, they generated about HRK 100 million in revenue, which was 22% more than in 2019, and they expect continued growth in 2021.

"We want Infinum to continue the growth trend with an additional 25%. When we add our two sister companies, Porsche Digital Croatia and Productive, we expect that the joint revenue in 2021 will amount to HRK 150 to 160 million," Kapraljević said.

Stressing that such results and success were achieved because of the employees, he said they currently employed over 350 people, and in 2021 alone more than 70 new employees joined Infinum, which he hopes would increase to 100 by the end of the year.

Kapraljević said that in addition to the offices in Croatia (in Zagreb and Varaždin), Slovenia and New York, they have a good team in Montenegro with 15 people, and they are currently working on designing a bigger office in Podgorica, since they see great potential in that market.

In addition to Montenegro, they are actively working on developing the brand in Western Europe and expanding in the UK market, and "are keeping an eye on various development centres across Europe, where we plan to establish Infinum as a quality partner for the development of digital products".

Since exactly a year ago, in September 2020, Infinum formed a partnership with Porsche and opened a new company, Porsche Digital Croatia, Kapraljević said that the companies were celebrating the company's first birthday in the best possible way -- the company is growing and developing rapidly and well, constantly employing talented people and working on interesting projects with currently nearly 50 employees.

"We are working on products that enhance the experience of Porsche customers and those that help to optimise... Porsche's manufacturing process," he said.

Kapraljević also said that the company was currently developing a mobile application for functionality control and car surveillance, as well as a platform for short-term and long-term Porsche rental.

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As Poslovni Dnevnik/Lucija Spiljak writes on the 9th of September, 2020, the leading Croatian software design and development company, Infinum, in partnership with Porsche Digital, a subsidiary of Germany's Porsche, is opening a development centre for software design and development, artificial intelligence and machine learning called Porsche Digital Croatia. The centre wil be located in Zagreb.

Representatives of both companies announced at a recent press conference that Porsche Digital Croatia will start operating at the end of September and that Infinum and Porsche Digital will invest a massive ten million euros in the company and product development over the next three years. The company will, among other things, develop digital products and services that will improve the digital ecosystem of the Porsche Group. It will first work on expanding existing offers and creating new online ones designed for customers.

They have already started hiring employees in Zagreb in Strojarska, where Infinum is located, and where the headquarters of the new company will be, where about fifteen people are already working on projects. By the end of the year, that number will grow to thirty employees, and over the next three years they want to hire about one hundred experts across various fields.

The adaptation of the automotive industry to new technologies was a great opportunity for Infinum, said Tomislav Car, CEO and one of the company's founders. A car lover himself, he points out that the automotive industry was a step further for Infinum.

Porsche Digital Croatia plans to hire 100 experts in the next three years

''We have equal ownership shares In the new company with Porsche Digital. With fifteen years of experience in creating digital products and services on large projects, this is an opportunity to shape the digital future with Porsche,'' said Car. Infinum, which started with just two workers, employs about 250 professionals across ten countries around the world today. To recall, Infinum has stood out for several years in a row on Deloitte's prestigious list as the fastest growing technology company in Europe and beyond. The two companies are connected, the representatives of Infinum and Porsche Digital agreed, with the same business spirit and way of working.

Porsche Digital Finance Member Ralph Knoll said that Infinum is like ''what Porsche Digital was looking for”, thanks to Infinum’s awards and global projects, as well as their investment in employee satisfaction and education.

''We need an international network within which we can use all the possibilities of digitalisation, and with it good teams. The first step towards that is the strong partner we found in Infinum and the new office in Zagreb,'' said Stefan Zerweck, Chief Operating Officer of Porsche Digital. This new partnership is important for the competitiveness and placing Croatia as a desirable IT destination on the world map, but also for the opportunity to expand and strengthen the image in the automotive industry.

Zagreb is already considered one of the growing innovation centres in Europe with a strong technology scene and academic community, as well as very many talented young engineers and developers. In addition, as Knoll pointed out, their partnership will attract young talent to Zagreb and Croatia, especially since they offer employment opportunities to engineers, designers, project managers and more.

Engineers will develop process-oriented products in the new company Porsche Digital Croatia, as well as top quality for the Porsche and/or the VW Group, and some of the employees will focus on improving the user experience. Infinum also revealed that it will work on backend systems, data analysis, mobile and web applications, data science and user experience design, but didn't reveal much about the products at hand.

"It will be a similar principle as it was before in Infinum, but with a focus on the automotive industry," the company said.

Locations in Europe

Porsche Digital employs around 160 people in several locations around the world, and in addition to the Croatian capital city of Zagreb, the global innovation network consists of three other locations across Europe and four additional offices in Israel, China and across the Atlantic in the USA. They also have development centres in Ludwigsburg, Berlin, Tel Aviv, Shanghai, Atlanta and the famous Silicon Valley. This isn't the first investment of this German sports car manufacturer here in Croatia. It was huge news that Porsche bought a stake in Rimac Automobili two years ago, taking a 10 percent stake, and it was among the first Porsche investments ever and the first in the field of electric cars, with the aim of developing electric vehicles and their related technology. Last year, there was also talk of Croatia's involvement in a large investment by Volkswagen in the European southeast worth a billion and a half euros.

No conversation with the ministry took place, despite the claims that Croatia would ''fight for an investment like this''...

Then, Darko Horvat, the former Minister of the (former) Ministry of Economy, Entrepreneurship and Crafts (which is now the Ministry of Economy and Sustainable Development) announced that Croatia would fight for such an investment. Infinum stated plainly that there was no discussion of a new partnership with the Ministry of Economy and Sustainable Development on the matter whatsoever.

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