Netguru is a Polish software development and software consultancy company founded in 2008. Headquartered in Poznań, Poland, it's a globally operating business, with local offices including Warsaw, Kraków, Wrocław, Gdańsk and Białystok. It provides software design and product design, both for early-stage startups and corporations.
Since 2013, Netguru declares yearly growth of nearly 100 percent. It landed three times in Deloitte's Technology Fast 50 Central Europe ranking, and twice on the "FT 1000," the Financial Times''' list of fastest-growing companies in Europe. In 2016, Netguru reached PLN 28.2M () of income, and PLN 5.1M () net profit, closed 2017 with turnover of PLN 40M (), and in 2018, doubled it at around PLN 80M (). In 2021, Netguru reached zł230 million (US$57.2) income.
History
Founding years
Netguru was founded in Poznań, Poland by Wiktor Schmidt (an automation and robotics student at the Poznań University of Technology), Jakub Filipowski (a web designer and philosophy student at the Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań), and Adam Zygadlewicz (an e-commerce entrepreneur), who met thanks to popularity of Filipowski's blog about the internet Yashke.com. The three opened the first coworking space in Poland in a rented office in central Poznań, where they developed websites together. Since 2007, through their own foundation Fundacja Polak 2.0, they also organized first BarCamp community meetings for innovation enthusiasts in Poland, along with further events: the International Startup Fair Democamp, the ShopCamp workshops, and the Hackfest.
On May 8, 2008, Schmidt, Filipowski and Zygadlewicz registered their software development business, as Netguru. Their first contracts were a Web 2.0 travel portal Kolumber.pl, for the media publishing corp Agora, and an employer relations portal for Bank Zachodni WBK. Netguru developed also their own microblogging social platform, a charity service, and a recruitment support tool HumanWay, awarded at startup competitions Seedcamp Warsaw and Aulery. Beside functional development and community management, the company was specializing in consulting and market analysis. Since September 2007, the Netguru has been documenting its portfolio and web development industry on an official blog.
In September 2010, Zygadlewicz announced a first coworking space for startups and freelance developers in Warsaw. In July 2011, Filipowski, along with entrepreneurs Borys Musielak and Anna Walkowska, moved their businesses together into a mansion in Żoliborz, establishing the Reaktor, which evolved into the first networking hub in Poland, and the venue for the Warsaw startup scene. Filipowski and Schmidt contributed the famed article on the internet website Antyweb, "There Will Be No More 'Polish Equivalents'", about web services Allegro, Gadu-Gadu, and Nasza Klasa, as local copycats of EBay, ICQ, and Classmates.com, respectively. The article’s punch line: "Let's get to work, get rid of complexes, and create models with a global or at least pan-European potential".
Focus on web development
From 2012, Netguru has been developing applications and platforms solely in Ruby on Rails. In 2013, HumanWay was acquired by the recruitment house Grupa Pracuj. Zygadlewicz exited Netguru, while Schmidt and Filipowski focused entirely on web applications for British, American, and German startups.
In 2014, Netguru became a partner for Spree Commerce. At the time, its portfolio included a market research provider GlobalWebIndex, and a language-learning platform Babbel. In 2015, Netguru implemented a mobile app for a media marketplace Transterra Media, which allows news outlets to manage and publish pre-produced videos. Netguru formed a team of product designers working with IKEA and Volkswagen. The team also created a personal assistant system for a domestic robot.
International expansion
In 2014, Netguru moved onto Israeli and the Middle East markets, to support entrepreneurs from across the UAE & the MENA regions. In 2015, the company joined the London fintech community. In 2016, it created a mobile bicycle-sharing platform for Citi Bike. And in 2017, it developed Helpr which connects British social care workers with care recipients.
In 2016, Netguru recorded an increase in revenues and growth, with no investment support – over PLN 30M (60% year-over-year growth); in 2017, about PLN 40M (), and in 2018, around PLN 80M (). In 2013, the company had about 50 employees; in 2016, over 300, and in 2018, 500 employees around Poland. Between 2016–2018, Netguru reached an EBITDA margin of 15%. In 2022 900 employees were reached, but in the beginning of 2023 150 of them were laid off.