Swiss-Israeli fintech startup okoora is constant its European growth by coming into the Polish market. The fintech plans for its operations in Poland to ultimately embrace workplaces for gross sales, advertising and buyer help workers, in addition to an R&D centre to help its continued product growth.
Because it continues to increase within the European Union (EU), okoora hopes its entry into Poland will assist make it simpler for Polish companies to handle and execute cross-border forex transactions.
Okoora’s Automated Enterprise Forex Administration (ABCM™) platform permits companies to handle the dangers related to volatility in forex change charges. As well as, okoora additionally affords banking companies (BaaS) through APIs that allow fintech corporations, banks and different monetary establishments to supply transactional banking companies associated to international forex to their shoppers.
“We come to Poland with the assumption that the marketplace for forex administration options can and needs to be disrupted. When okoora researched the European market, Poland scored excessive attributable to its developed banking sector, excessive stage of international commerce and different related parameters,” defined Benjamin Avraham, founder and CEO of okoora. “Poland additionally affords financial incentives that make it look like a good suggestion to open an R&D centre right here. We consider that is the perfect place to jumpstart our European growth.”
The growth into Poland follows the opening of the corporate’s workplaces in Limassol, Cyprus, in 2023 with the first aim of assembly EU regulatory compliance. Nevertheless, Poland is the primary sizable European market the place okoora intends to market and promote its companies to the native enterprise group.
Fintech success in Poland
Poland’s fintech scene is flourishing, with 368 fintech corporations based mostly in Poland. Worldwide gamers resembling Binance, Curve, Klarna, Revolut and Tink all have workplaces or R&D centres in Poland.
Poland’s monetary companies market can be the most important within the Central and Jap Europe area. In keeping with the European Central Financial institution, the 2021 worth of property within the Polish banking trade totalled €564billion. This quantity is sort of double the €336billion of the Czech Republic, which is the second largest within the area.
Polish banks are arguably extra agile and faster to develop new software program. In truth, in lots of circumstances, these banks have been early adopters of options resembling cellular banking and digital funds, in accordance with the ‘The way to do FinTech in Poland 2023‘ report.
One purpose okoora chosen Poland as its subsequent level of growth was as a result of SMEs make up over 99 per cent of all enterprise within the nation – and these are okoora’s goal group.
The SMEs are liable for virtually half of GDP (45.3 per cent), in accordance with the government-led Polish Company for Enterprise Growth. Exports account for round 50 per cent of whole income for Polish SMEs, indicating their robust integration into world commerce. That is considerably greater than the EU common, the place exports make up about 30 per cent of SME revenues.
“One other facet for which Poland was chosen for the start of the growth is the excessive worth of transfers on the platform to this point between the Israeli shekel and the Polish zloty – Poland ranks within the EU High 5, forward of such economies as Spain and France,” added Avraham.
