Business

Estonian FinTech firm Fitek opens UK office

Estonian FinTech firm Fitek, which specialises in e-invoice solutions (processing and automation), has expanded to the UK market, and will invest around 600,000 UK pounds over the next six months.

“We have a modern, global invoice management platform which quickly wins clients and allows them to easily do business in a variety of markets. We are always looking for possibilities to offer our solution in new markets and expansion to a number of markets is taking place at this moment. The time is ripe for entering the UK market. We have opened an office and our first employees are at work. Our market research clearly shows that the purchase invoice management platform we developed in Estonia is much awaited and highly competitive in the UK,” explains Mait Sooaru, CEO of the Fitek Group.

Fitek has doubled in size over the last three years, with operation in the Baltic states, Slovakia, Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina. With its new location in the UK, Fitek will have 270 employees in seven countries, exporting products to 20 nations.

“Our 2018 turnover prognosis is 20.6 million euros,” adds Mr Sooaru.

Fitek has selected Leeds for the location of its UK office.

“Leeds is the perfect place to base the Fitek business. Yorkshire’s economy has its heritage and strengths in the very sectors that Fitek has enjoyed huge success in right across Europe. Our solution will bring huge improvement in efficiency and cost savings to SME’s in manufacturing, construction, logistics and professional services,” explains Tristan Chuku, technical consultant and Fitek’s first UK employee.

According to Kaur Lohk, a member of the Fitek Group Board, establishing an entity in the UK is a great step for the company, because: “Great Britain, like the majority of European countries, is in its infancy when it comes to the automation of financial processes. The vast majority of invoices still move on paper or via email, though e-invoicing is a hot topic in both state institutions and private companies.”

“Our solution optimises the processes connected with our clients’ purchase invoices, converts paper invoices to e-invoices, and automatically adjusts accounting records. Our software robots do the lion’s share of the work which is today done by hand. Our advantage over our competitors is that we’re sufficiently small yet fast and flexible,” adds Mr Lohk.

As a member the Pan-European Public Procurement On-Line (PEPPOL) organisation, which supports and facilitates e-invoices throughout Europe, Fitek is looking to offer more solutions to state organisations. This will be vital to the company’s operation in the UK due to the UK’s movement of its health care system to e-invoices via PEPPOL.

“We have already applied similar measures in Estonia. We would like to offer the same services to the government sector elsewhere in Europe,” concludes Mr Lohk.