US e-logistics company moves its R&D to Vilnius

US-based e-logistics company Carggo has announced about the moving of its software development center to Vilnius. The company has plans to increase its staff by recruiting another 65 local professionals. According to Carggo, it chose Lithuania as an R&D hub due to the country’s IT talent, convenient infrastructure and excellent work/life balance. The Vilnius-based team will work on the company’s proprietary IT platform to be launched on the US market in Q3 of 2018.

Smooth blending in

‘Vilnius won us over by its young talent, strong traditions of tech education, and a relatively small market which ensures that outstanding professionals are always visible,’ Andrejus Mačianskis, the company’s CFO of Lithuanian descent who was born and raised in Russia, explains. ‘Besides, Vilnius already speaks for itself as the place-to-be for many international IT companies. This serves as testimony to the high level of technical expertise the local talent pool has to offer.’

This summer, Carggo intends to relocate around 35 of its software developers from Russia, where it used to run most of its R&D operations. Mačianskis believes that lifestyle-wise the move will be an improvement for the team and the overall attractiveness of Carggo as an IT employer should increase.

“We are hoping for a smooth blending in. The city is compact, cosy and easy to get used to quickly but at the same time it is diverse, full of culture and is in the heart of Europe,” the company’s CFO says.

Go Vilnius, the official business and tourism development agency of Lithuania’s capital, is providing extensive support in coordinating the relocation process for the company and its staff.

‘Relocating a few dozen Carggo staff members and their families to another country is no small challenge. A welcoming and professional attitude from the host’s side is very important in making this process smoother. Our goal is to help make the establishment of Carggo’s operations in Vilnius as stress-free as possible,’ says Go Vilnius Director Inga Romanovskienė. ‘Our agency is working with the Carggo team to help them on various levels, from choosing an office in Vilnius to apartment renting, and questions pertaining to the everyday lives of the relocating families, like registering their children at kindergartens or schools in the city. This is part of our ongoing work with companies and individuals considering Vilnius for their next professional step.’

Fast track for non-EU talents

Carggo will be relocating its R&D office in two waves and migration and employment formalities are nearly complete. The employees of the locally established UAB Carggo Europe will be benefitting from the EU Blue Card program that facilitates the migration procedures for highly-skilled individuals.

‘The case of Carggo – a company that relocates a significant number of its staff from outside of EU – is not unprecedented. We have already seen, for example, entire game development studios come here from Ukraine, Belarus and Russia,” says Mantas Katinas, Managing Director of the foreign investment development agency Invest Lithuania. “The EU Blue Card definitely makes things easier, and the interest expressed by companies like Carggo shows that Vilnius has high chances of attracting innovators from non-EU countries by opening the European market to them.’

According to Minister for Economy Virginijus Sinkevičius, the decision from a company developing an innovative product for the global market to move its team to the Lithuanian capital shows that Vilnius is one of the most attractive and fast-growing tech centres in Europe.

‘Multinational is a word that describes the teams of the most advanced tech companies, and Lithuania follows this trend as well.  The relocation of Carggo Europe’s team, which is relatively large for our country, and their ambition to triple the headcount by tapping into the Lithuanian talent pool serves as another step Vilnius takes to establish itself as the region’s Silicon Valley,’ states Virginijus Sinkevičius, Lithuanian Minister for Economy.

Growing R&D potential in Lithuania

Following its settlement in Vilnius, Carggo intends to hire 65 local professionals by the end of 2018, e.g. software developers and architects.

“We are looking for people who are not only experts in their fields – be it software engineering or systems’ analytics – but are also supportive, outgoing, and pulling on the rope together in the same direction, with the same intensity,’ Evgenii Konshin, Carggo Europe’s Chief Executive Officer, commented . ‘What we offer is the chance to work on the ground-breaking product that will soon change the way shipping operations are handled worldwide. It comes without saying that flexibility, a relaxed workplace environment, and professional growth opportunities are all part of the deal’, Mr. Konshin noted.

The company intends to closely cooperate with local universities and offer students opportunities for professional development and working in a multinational environment in an industry that moves global trade and business.

‘We envision multiple ways Carggo Europe and Lithuanian universities can help one another thrive,’ says Evgenii Konshin. ‘This can be anything from traditional internship opportunities to hackathons and maybe even dedicated scholarships for the brightest students.’

About the company

Carggo was founded by a team of supply chain management, finance and IT professionals in 2016. The team holds a collective experience from such industry leaders as: Auriga, Acronis, BP, Citigroup, CarPrice, Caterpillar, Lyft, Mail.ru, Parallels, Teradata, Vimpelcom, Yandex and others.

With a clear vision of conquering the logistics world, Carggo is aiming to disrupt the US – its home market – first. The $700+ billion trucking industry is already transforming, with innovative decisions based on machine learning and Big Data being adopted by both carriers and shippers. What distinguishes Carggo from other digital freight matching companies is proven industry expertise, full responsibility taken for every shipment booked via the Carggo platform as well as pricing transparency which is not currently provided by current logistics intermediaries.

Currently, Carggo employs over 60 employees across several offices in Europe and the US. By 2019, the company expects to grow to 300 people globally, a third of whom is expected to be working in research and development.