Netguru

Netguru is a Polish custom software development, product design and technology consulting company founded in Poznań in 2008. It works with early-stage startups, growing technology companies and large corporations to design, build and improve digital products. Its services cover front-end and back-end web development, mobile applications, user-experience and product design, software architecture, business consulting, digital transformation, agile delivery and selected data, automation and machine-learning initiatives. The company grew out of the Polish internet and startup community. Its founders, Wiktor Schmidt, Jakub Filipowski and Adam Zygadlewicz, met through online and entrepreneurial activities associated with Filipowski’s internet blog and the founders’ involvement in technology events. Before and around the company’s formation, they helped organize community initiatives including BarCamp meetings, the Democamp startup fair and other gatherings for entrepreneurs and developers. Netguru’s early work included websites and online services for organizations such as Agora and Bank Zachodni WBK, as well as internally developed projects including a recruitment-support product called HumanWay. During its early expansion, Netguru became closely associated with Ruby on Rails and focused increasingly on web applications for clients in Western Europe and North America. It later broadened its technical and commercial offering to include mobile development, e-commerce, marketplaces, social platforms, data systems, trading applications, business agility and product strategy. Its portfolio has included work connected with organizations and products such as GlobalWebIndex, Babbel, Transterra Media, IKEA, Volkswagen, Citi Bike and Helpr. The company has also undertaken robotics and machine-learning projects, including work on image recognition and middleware for a consumer assistant robot. Netguru’s growth was largely organic during its major expansion period. The company reported rapid annual growth from 2013 onward and appeared multiple times in Deloitte’s Technology Fast 50 Central Europe ranking and the Financial Times FT 1000 ranking of Europe’s fastest-growing companies. Publicly reported historical figures included income of PLN 28.2 million in 2016, turnover of approximately PLN 40 million in 2017, approximately PLN 80 million in 2018 and PLN 230 million in 2021. These figures are historical and should not be interpreted as current financial guidance. Headcount expanded from roughly 50 employees in 2013 to more than 300 in 2016, about 500 in 2018 and approximately 900 in 2022; the company reported layoffs affecting about 150 employees at the beginning of 2023. The business has expanded both geographically and through acquisitions and minority investments. It established or maintained a presence in several Polish cities, including Warsaw, Kraków, Wrocław, Gdańsk and Białystok, while serving international clients. Transactions included the incorporation of a team from the Internet-of-Things company Vorm in 2017, a 2018 merger with IT support and DevOps provider ITTX, the acquisition of software house Bitcraft in 2018, a minority investment in Pilot44 in 2022, and majority investments in e-commerce-focused companies Mohi.to and WeCanFly in 2022. Netguru also operates as a knowledge and community brand. It has published practical guides on project management, design and agile delivery; organized coding, product-management and design events; supported technology education; and conducted design-thinking workshops. Its positioning is that of a relatively high-end, distributed digital product partner able to combine engineering, design and consulting rather than a narrowly defined outsourcing vendor.

Netguru was established in Poznań, Poland, on 8 May 2008 by Wiktor Schmidt, Jakub Filipowski and Adam Zygadlewicz. The founders came from different parts of the emerging Polish technology and startup ecosystem: Schmidt studied automation and robotics, Filipowski combined web design with philosophy studies, and Zygadlewicz had an e-commerce background. Their collaboration developed through Filipowski’s internet writing and through community-building activities associated with Fundacja Polak 2.0. Before the company’s registration, the group supported BarCamp meetings, the Democamp international startup fair, ShopCamp workshops and Hackfest events. The founders initially worked from a rented central Poznań office that also functioned as a coworking space. Early contracts included the Kolumber.pl travel portal for media company Agora and an employer-relations portal for Bank Zachodni WBK. Netguru also experimented with its own digital ventures, including a microblogging service, a charity platform and HumanWay, a recruitment-support tool that received recognition at Seedcamp Warsaw and the Aulery awards. In this period the company combined implementation work with consulting, market analysis and public documentation of web-development practices. The company’s community role expanded beyond Poznań. In 2010, Zygadlewicz announced a Warsaw coworking initiative for startups and independent developers. In 2011, Filipowski worked with other entrepreneurs to establish Reaktor in a Warsaw mansion in Żoliborz. Reaktor became a networking venue for the Polish startup scene. Around the same time, Filipowski and Schmidt argued publicly for Polish technology companies to pursue globally competitive products rather than imitate established foreign services. From 2012, Netguru concentrated its development activity on web applications, with Ruby on Rails becoming a major part of its technical identity. HumanWay was acquired by Grupa Pracuj in 2013, and Zygadlewicz subsequently left the company. Schmidt and Filipowski then focused the business on web applications for British, American and German startups. Netguru became a Spree Commerce partner in 2014 and expanded its international commercial activity into Israel and the wider Middle East and North Africa region. Its portfolio during this period included work for GlobalWebIndex and Babbel. In 2015, it delivered a mobile application for Transterra Media and built a product-design capability that worked with brands including IKEA and Volkswagen. The firm continued to diversify into mobile products, connected devices and sector-specific platforms. In 2016, it created a mobile bicycle-sharing platform for Citi Bike. In 2017, it developed Helpr, a service connecting social-care workers with care recipients. It also began developing business-consulting, product-prototyping and marketing-strategy capabilities, helping organizations adopt business agility and software-based innovation. Netguru’s technical experiments included a deep-learning image-recognition application developed during a Microsoft hackathon in Prague and robotics middleware produced with Temi and MicroscopeIT-related collaborators. Netguru’s growth during the mid-2010s was reported as largely organic. The company stated that it achieved near-100-percent annual growth from 2013 in some periods. Reported income was PLN 28.2 million in 2016, turnover was approximately PLN 40 million in 2017 and approximately PLN 80 million in 2018. The company reported roughly 50 employees in 2013, more than 300 in 2016 and approximately 500 in 2018. In 2021, reported income reached PLN 230 million. Netguru was included in Deloitte’s Technology Fast 50 Central Europe three times and appeared twice in the Financial Times FT 1000. It was also recognized in Poland’s Forbes Diamonds and by industry-review organizations including Clutch. The company began a series of corporate transactions in 2017. It took over a team of developers and designers from Internet-of-Things company Vorm in December 2017. In May 2018, it merged with IT support and DevOps provider ITTX, and in July 2018 acquired software house Bitcraft. In March 2022, it acquired a minority stake in Pilot44, an innovation studio based in San Francisco. In July 2022, it acquired majority stakes in Wrocław-based Mohi.to and WeCanFly, strengthening its e-commerce design and implementation capabilities. Leadership changed in June 2019 when Marek Talarczyk became chief executive officer, Wiktor Schmidt became executive chairman and Małgorzata Madalińska-Piętka joined the board as chief financial officer. Talarczyk stepped down in May 2023, after which co-founder Jakub Filipowski took over as chief executive. The company reached approximately 900 employees in 2022, but reported layoffs affecting around 150 people at the start of 2023, reflecting a more difficult market for technology services. Alongside client work, Netguru developed an educational and publishing identity. It produced guides on project management, design processes and agile delivery; collaborated with Typeform on a report about web-development trends; organized Code College, hackathons, Ruby on Rails workshops, design meetups and project-management sessions; and conducted design-thinking workshops based on sprint methods associated with Google. These activities reinforced its positioning as a full-service digital product partner rather than solely a contract software-development shop.

1. 2023Leadership transition

   Jakub Filipowski takes over as CEO after Marek Talarczyk steps down.

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2. 2022Expansion through Pilot44, Mohi.to and WeCanFly

   Netguru invests in Pilot44 and acquires majority stakes in Mohi.to and WeCanFly.

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3. 2019Marek Talarczyk becomes CEO

   Talarczyk becomes chief executive officer, with Schmidt becoming executive chairman.

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4. 2018ITTX merger and Bitcraft acquisition

   The company merges with ITTX and acquires software house Bitcraft.

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5. 2017First corporate transaction

   Netguru takes over a development and design team from Internet-of-Things company Vorm.

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6. 2014International and commerce expansion

   Netguru expands into Israel and MENA markets and becomes a Spree Commerce partner.

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7. 2013HumanWay is acquired

   Netguru’s recruitment-support product HumanWay is acquired by Grupa Pracuj, while the company focuses more heavily on international startup clients.

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8. 2012Focus shifts to web applications

   Netguru concentrates its development work on web applications and builds a strong Ruby on Rails specialization.

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9. 2008Netguru is registered in Poznań

   Wiktor Schmidt, Jakub Filipowski and Adam Zygadlewicz register Netguru as a software-development business.

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High-end custom digital product development and technology consulting for startups, scale-ups and enterprises

• Custom web applicationsSoftware development service2008

  Netguru’s core offering is the design and engineering of bespoke web applications. Projects have included SaaS platforms, marketplaces, e-commerce systems, social networks, data products and trading-related systems. The service can span discovery, product definition, interface design, front-end and back-end implementation, testing, deployment and ongoing improvement.

• Mobile applicationsSoftware development service2015

  The company develops mobile products for consumer, media, transportation and care-related use cases. Examples associated with its historical portfolio include a mobile application for Transterra Media and a bicycle-sharing platform for Citi Bike. Netguru’s mobile work combines product design, native or cross-platform engineering, backend integration and operational support.

• Product design and UXDesign service2015

  Netguru provides product strategy, user research, interaction design, visual design, prototyping and design-system work. Its designers have worked with large organizations including IKEA and Volkswagen. The offering is intended to connect customer research and business objectives with usable, testable digital experiences before and during software delivery.

• Consulting and digital transformationProfessional services2017

  Since the late 2010s, Netguru has presented a broader consulting capability covering business agility, product discovery, prototyping, innovation and software-enabled transformation. Its workshops and consulting engagements are designed to clarify business problems, validate product concepts and help larger organizations adopt more iterative delivery practices.

• Machine learning and robotics solutionsEmerging technology service2018

  Netguru has undertaken selected machine-learning and robotics initiatives. In 2018, it participated in a Prague hackathon project involving deep-learning image recognition and neural-network segmentation. It also worked with the robot manufacturer Temi on middleware for a consumer assistant robot, including natural-language-processing capabilities.

• 2018Disruption Forum

  Germany · Europe

  Netguru hosted the Disruption Forum in Berlin for fintech professionals and startup participants.

  Outcome. The event developed into a recurring fintech community gathering.

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• 2017Netguru Code College

  Poland

  Netguru organized summer coding workshops that introduced participants to web-application development with Ruby on Rails professionals.

  Outcome. The program broadened the company’s developer-education and community activities.

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• 2017Design-thinking sprint workshops

  International

  Netguru began conducting workshops using structured design-thinking sprints to investigate business questions, prototype ideas and test concepts with customers.

  Outcome. The workshops were positioned as a way to reduce product and feature-launch risk.

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• 2010Apps for Good platform

  United States · Spain · Portugal · Poland

  Netguru developers created an online platform for Apps for Good that enabled teachers, students and experts to collaborate on technology projects in schools.

  Outcome. The platform supported educational collaboration across several countries.

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• 2022E-commerce and innovation expansionM&A

  Netguru pursued expansion in innovation services and e-commerce experience design.

  What changed. It acquired a minority stake in Pilot44 and majority stakes in Mohi.to and WeCanFly.

  Aftermath. The transactions expanded Netguru’s international innovation network and e-commerce capabilities.

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• 2018ITTX merger and Bitcraft acquisitionM&A

  Netguru broadened its technical delivery and service capabilities beyond its earlier Ruby on Rails-centered profile.

  What changed. It merged with ITTX, an IT support and DevOps provider, and acquired software house Bitcraft.

  Aftermath. The transactions strengthened the company’s engineering, infrastructure and delivery offering.

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• 2017Team acquisition from VormM&A

  Netguru sought to expand its engineering and design capacity through its first reported corporate transaction.

  What changed. It took over a team of developers and designers from Internet-of-Things company Vorm.

  Aftermath. The transaction marked the beginning of Netguru’s later acquisition and investment program.

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• 2014Appeal of Netguru trademark rejectionOther

  Netguru sought European Union trademark protection for its name in computer-services-related classes, but the application was rejected for lack of distinctiveness.

  What changed. The company appealed the rejection to the General Court of the European Union.

  Aftermath. The General Court dismissed the appeal, finding that the combination of “net” and “guru” could be understood as promotional language rather than a distinctive indication of commercial origin.

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• 2023Netguru reduces headcount during a difficult technology-services market

  The company reportedly laid off approximately 150 employees at the beginning of 2023 after reaching roughly 900 employees in 2022.

  Other
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• 2022Netguru acquires a minority stake in Pilot44

  Netguru took a minority stake in San Francisco-based innovation studio Pilot44.

  M&A
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• 2022Netguru acquires majority interests in Mohi.to and WeCanFly

  The company acquired majority stakes in the Wrocław-based e-commerce UX agency Mohi.to and e-commerce agency WeCanFly.

  M&A
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• 2019Netguru appoints Marek Talarczyk as chief executive officer

  Marek Talarczyk became chief executive officer, while Wiktor Schmidt moved into an executive chairman role and Małgorzata Madalińska-Piętka joined the board as chief financial officer.

  Leadership change
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• 2014EU trademark application for Netguru is rejected

  The European Union Intellectual Property Office rejected Netguru’s application to register the name in several computer-services classes. The General Court later dismissed the company’s appeal, finding the combination insufficiently distinctive for the relevant services.

  LawsuitRegulation
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1. Netguru — Wikipedia
2. Netguru official website