Exadel to quadruple its Lithuanian team as part of €19 million investment

As the new Vilnius office of Exadel, an international software engineering company, opens its doors, the company has announced ambitious plans to grow its operations in Lithuania. The US-based company currently employs over 50 specialists in Lithuania, and is now planning to recruit a further 150 staff in the coming two years. This recruitment drive is part of a long-term, five-year development plan for which the company plans to invest €19 million.

Exadel’s founder, president and CEO, Fima Katz, believes Lithuania’s talented and mobile workforce is what sets it apart as an investment location. “When we were deciding where to carry out a large-scale expansion, alongside Lithuania we also looked at Poland, Belarus, Germany and Canada,” Mr Katz explains. “We chose Lithuania because it has universities which train the specialists we need, plus it already has a talent pool of skilled specialists. Moreover, compared to the other Eastern European countries where we have branches, Lithuania is a much more stable location. People here are free to travel both to other European countries and to the USA. The factor of mobility was important,” he concludes.

Exadel provides software engineering services to clients across the globe. Its Lithuanian team will be developing IT products for companies operating in commercial and investment banking, asset management and other sectors. The team will also be part of the development of innovative automotive systems designed to reduce the risk of accidents in poor weather conditions, though the management aren’t able to give detailed information on this project at present.

Exadel’s client base includes the likes of HP, General Electric, AT&T, RedHat, Microsoft, Bank of America, UBS and many other world famous companies. For these clients Exadel has offered premium level services delivered by highly experienced programmers. Going forward, the company is aiming to build up the number of young, mid-level IT specialists, project managers and quality managers in its team.

As Mr Katz explains, this new focus will require close collaboration with educational institutions. “When expanding our activities in Lithuania we will try to cooperate more closely with universities in Vilnius, Kaunas and Klaipėda,” he comments. “On the one hand, we will share our knowledge and experience with students and the academic community. On the other hand, the most talented students will be offered the opportunity to gain employment in our company. We think that this cooperation will be mutually beneficial.”

One significant aspect of Exadel’s expansion in Lithuania is that it will not only be looking for specialists in the country’s capital, Vilnius. Alongside its new Vilnius office, the company also has an office in the port city of Klaipėda, plus it plans to open an office in Kaunas, Lithuania’s second largest city.

Mantas Katinas, General Manager of the foreign investment agency Invest Lithuania, believes Exadel’s decision to open offices beyond the capital will raise awareness of the talent available across the country. “Exadel’s expansion is important because it will take place not only in Vilnius, which is already popular with IT companies, but also in Klaipėda, which remains a largely untapped resource amongst foreign IT companies,” Mr Katinas explains. “Exadel’s office in the city, and its cooperation with higher education institutions there, will undoubtedly contribute to the attractiveness of the port city to IT enterprises.”

Exadel also has offices in the USA, Poland, Germany, Russia, Ukraine and Belarus.