How EFSI benefits SMEs in Europe - Almi case study: Quinyx (Sweden), ICT, Software as a Service

The best business ideas often come from grappling first-hand with a given problem. This is the case with Quinyx, a Swedish company that offers workforce management software solutions: “When I was in high school, I had a summer job at McDonald’s in my hometown of Örebro”, explains Quinyx founder Erik Fjellborg, “and I realized how much time our managers spent juggling staffing requirements, organizing and re-organising schedules”.

Convinced that there had to be a better way to manage this process, Erik worked on developing software that enables management and employees to interact more efficiently and smoothly, with significant benefits for both sides. “My idea was to develop an application where every employee could log in, see schedules and interact,” Erik says. It was a success and McDonald’s became the company’s first customer. Quinyx’s solution quickly expanded to other McDonald’s locations in Sweden, Denmark and the UK. Soon, the company was working with businesses across a broad spectrum of industries, such as Debenham’s, DHL, London City Airport and Papa John’s.

Quinyx offers web-based software that provides a fast and easy-to-use solution for scheduling, time reporting, task management, budgeting and employee communication, with significant benefits for sectors that rely on shifts and part-time work like the hospitality industry, retail or healthcare. “We’ve found that, from an employee perspective, the added flexibility in work arrangements is often more appreciated than an increase in remuneration” Erik says, “this is crucial because our objective is to create a happy work environment”.

With the success and expansion came the need to secure financial support, both for further product development and to fund the international expansion process, for which ten new persons were hired. To this end, Quinyx secured a EU-backed loan from Almi, backed by EIF under the Investment Plan for Europe. “When you are building your own business, you have to seize opportunities” Erik explains. “It’s not easy to find financing in the early stages of a company’s growth, so this support was very helpful”.

The company currently employs 120 persons across the Nordic countries, Germany and the UK. With 300,000 active users, Quinyx is now focussing on international expansion and growth.

Company: Quinyx (Sweden)

Type of business: ICT, Software as a Service

EIF financing: InnovFin SMEG, EFSI

Financial intermediary: Almi

For further information about EIF intermediaries in Sweden, please refer to: http://www.eif.org/what_we_do/where/se