Fintech innovator Woolsocks has announced plans to expand its team in Vilnius ahead of launching its finance management app in key European markets. The company seeks to strengthen its software development, operations and compliance capacities.
Woolsocks was founded in 2021 in Vilnius by two serial entrepreneurs and veterans of the start-up world, Niels Klok and Jasper Anderluh, who sold their previous joint venture – the online stockbroker DEGIRO – for €300M.
Starting out with just a lone CEO in a 20 sq. m. office, the company now employs 20 people in Vilnius (130 in sister companies around Europe) and occupies a spacious 200 sq. m. office in the city’s Central Business District. New hires will be distributed across 6 development teams and significantly-expanded operations and compliance departments in Vilnius.
Woolsocks aims to challenge today’s fintech app market by rolling out a groundbreaking “super-app” that combines the functionalities of several European fintech unicorns. Slated for release in the coming weeks, it was designed to help people take back control of their finances, save money, and optimise spending. This will be enabled by a slew of financial tools, such as cashback, single-dashboard account management, and a convenient donation mechanism.
According to Álvaro Vidal Blanco, Head of Marketing at Woolsocks, the decision to establish the company in Lithuania was motivated by the country’s large IT talent pool, vibrant fintech ecosystem, mature start-up culture, and business-friendly legislation.
The app will first be released in several key European markets, including France, Italy, and Spain, and will go live in most of the EU by 2023. Developed with simplicity and convenience in mind, the app is intended for all smartphone users, regardless of age, which the developers hope will multiply its appeal even further. In the words of Mr Blanco himself: “We want both our mothers and our sons to be able to use our app”.
Elijus Čivilis, General Manager of Invest Lithuania, sees Woolsock’s decision to develop its innovative product in Lithuania as the result of the country’s continuous efforts to become Europe’s best fintech launchpad. “Lithuania’s business-friendly regulatory environment, lively fintech and start-up ecosystems, and broad talent pool allows it to go toe-to-toe with the best of them,” Mr Čivilis said.
