Poland grew to be a popular outsourcing destination. No wonder!
Trusted ranks, such as the Top Coder ranking place Polish developers among the Worlds’ best engineers. There is a number of strong arguments that support this statement. The educational background is strong, as we’re one of the countries with the highest percentage of university-educated young people, according to the New York Times. Poland is located in the CEE region, which is strongly connected with the Western world. Thanks to the cultural ties with the West, we have hardly any issues with establishing successful communication.Moreover, we work in modern, trusted technologies, contribute to the general web app safety due to advanced levels of Quality Assurance and constantly broadening our skills. Of course, such a set of advantages might raise concerns about how much that business opportunity might cost but don’t worry, software development in CEE won’t cost you an arm and a leg! We are strongly convinced that it’s the people behind the product that make it bloom, grow, and rock! Recently, we presented 10 awesome products that were built in CEE, this time we focus on famous software products built by (or with some help of) Polish developers:
1. IVONA
The widely recognized Text-to-Speech (TTS) Polish company that developed its own BrightVoice and Rapid Voice Development technology. IVONA is a high-quality, crystal-clear voice – or more precisely, an array of 47 voices – speaking in 24 voices, resulting in a natural, easy to comprehend TTS experience. They contribute not only to enhancing life comfort of people with disabilities but support a wide range of businesses with their solution. In 2013, the company was acquired by Amazon and now their skilled team contributes to building new features beneath the giants’ wings in the Development Center located in Gdańsk. Currently, IVONA is more widely known as Amazon Polly, a service that turns text into lifelike speech using advanced deep learning technologies.
2. Brand24
A professional, robust solution used to monitor the Internet and social media that tracks the online activity of several thousand brands online. Using an automatic sentiment analysis algorithm, Brand24 follows the brand mentions as the internet far and wide. It enables easy integration with Slack for direct access to all mentions of the brand in question. Founded in 2011 and developed in Poland, it grew to be the go-to choice internationally. It is used by such entities as Uber, IKEA, and the White House. It is recognized by AdsOfTheWorld, the Entrepreneur, Forbes, and Adweek.
3. BlaBlaCar
The online carpooling marketplace, established in 2006. BlaBlaCar raised several rounds of funding, starting with €600,000 in 2009 and $100 million in 2014, which enabled dynamic development. The application connects drivers and passengers willing to travel together to allow them to split the costs of the journey. The company itself is based in France, while some of its software development is outsourced to Poland. BlaBlaCar is available in 22 countries, serving 70 million users.
4. Jeppesen and Lufthansa
Jeppesen, a company associated with Boeing, and Lufthansa, world-famous air-carrier, landed their development centers in Gdańsk, located on the Polish coast. Jeppesen, having 200 specialists aboard their Polish branch, is transforming the world of navigational information and data delivery. Lufthansa Systems Poland is a branch with over 700 specialists in a diverse range of expertise, working on the better execution of aviation processes. Hiring hundreds of developers and analysts, both aviation giants work on contributing to safe air transport globally.
5. Migam
Polish-built and not well known (yet!) abroad online sign language translations application, founded in 2011. The company started as a free sign language dictionary, over time, it gradually grew by other functions, including courses and issuing course books, most known by the Migam Translator. It was awarded and recognized by numerous entities, including the UN World Summit Award, Chivas the Venture 2016 and New Europe 100 2014.
6. Malwarebytes
A globally known anti-malware solution for Windows, Android, and iOS. Founded by Marcin Kleczyński, Polish-born developer named one of Forbes Magazine’s ’30 Under 30′ Rising Stars of Enterprise Technology in 2015. Malwarebytes challenged safety giants’ (such as McAfee and Symantec) position since their solutions didn’t offer full protection against malware threats. The company co-started by the Polish moving spirit is now an established brand with over 500 employees and a range of handy products.
7. DocPlanner
Founded in 2011 and making the healthcare experience more human. Known under various names: Docplanner, Znamy Lekar, Doktor Takvimi, Znany Lekarz. By their powers combined, they form Docplanner: the foremost online healthcare platform which enables patients to find local physicians and book appointments online. Docplanner secured a total $34M in equity funding in 4 rounds, gathering $20M in their latest round. Docplanner is one of the most popular patient engagement solutions, available in 30 countries in multiple language versions, is used by 20 million patients, processes 340.000 bookings monthly and lists over 5 million healthcare specialists graded by over 2 million reviews from patients.
Read also: Benefits of AI in healthcare
8. UXPin
An online tool to design, prototype and collaborate on projects, available also as a desktop application for Windows and iOS, easily integrates with Sketch. Used by thousands of professionals worldwide and appreciated for its great functionality. The use of UXPin’s tools, like Design System Libraries and Free Flow Documentation, enables easy project cooperation and reduces issues during the development process. The company is located in Gdańsk and among its users are such entities as PayPal, HBO, Microsoft, Adidas, and Sony.
9. LiveChat
An online customer service software company with live support, backed by help desk software and web analytics. Serves over 26.000 paid customers in over 150 countries. LiveChat helps its clients build better relationships with their customers and increase conversion sales. Remarkable clients include Expedia, IKEA, orange, PayPal, ING, and Huawei. Being one of the main market players, the company has offices on both sides of the Atlantic, both in Poland and in the US.
10. Brainly
An educational technology company, established and built in Poland, that grew into 150 million users online community of pupils and experts. The company operates several social learning networks, enabling sharing and exploring knowledge in a collaborative matter and engaging in peer-to-peer assistance if obstacles occur. Recently, Brainly acquired Bask with the intention to introduce video technology into the platform.Whether it’s making the world move safer (Jeppesen) or cheaper (BlaBlaCar), providing egalitarian education (Brainly), better access to health services (DocPlanner) or improving living conditions of people with disabilities (IVONA, Migam), the global impact of these products is indisputable. No wonder that Polish developers are said to be some of the best in the world!
What other famous software products built by Polish developers do you know?
