Ocado Technology signs five year lease to expand its software development team in Sofia, Bulgaria
Ocado Technology, the technology division of Ocado, has signed a five year lease for two floors in a new building currently under construction at 13 Henrik Ibsen street in Sofia, Bulgaria in order to expand its existing team in Bulgaria. Totalling 2,000 m2 of floor space, the office will become home to a diverse group of Ocado technologists based in Sofia from July 2018.
The Sofia software development center will ultimately house around 150 engineers working on Ocado Technology’s world-class systems and solutions in the areas of robotics, machine learning, simulation, data science, warehouse control, in-store picking, and more.
Richard Haywood, head of Ocado Technology Sofia, comments: “While our partnership with Questers has been very helpful to establish ourselves in Sofia, the time is now right for Ocado Technology to set up our own dedicated and standalone software development center here in Sofia. I am very proud of what the team has achieved so far and I am very excited that we are now moving into a brand new office. This will help us grow further and build a collaborative environment to enable the team to continue to solve challenging problems.”
Ocado Technology initially opened the Sofia development center in 2016 by collaborating with Questers, a technology “build, operate and transfer” services company. Ocado Technology Sofia has successfully attracted nearly 50 highly qualified employees in little over a year. Based on the quality of technologists hired, Ocado Technology has decided to create a significant independent presence in Sofia.
The development center in Sofia is Ocado Technology’s fourth location outside the UK, alongside two offices in Poland and one in Spain. Working with Colliers International, a leading real estate consultancy, Ocado Technology have found a great location for the office situated next to Paradise Mall, with easy access to the city center via the Vitosha metro station, the Ring road and local buses and trams. The building is developed by Artestroy, which has vast experience in construction completing 39 residential and office projects in Sofia since 1993.
About Ocado Technology
Ocado Technology is developing world-class systems and solutions in the areas of robotics, machine learning, simulation, data science, forecasting and routing, inference engines, big data, real-time control, and more.
Ocado Technology enables Ocado.com, the world’s largest online-only supermarket, to serve more than 645,000 active customers in the UK. The fusion between the Ocado retail and Ocado Technology divisions creates a virtuous circle of innovation that leads to disruptive thinking. Ocado Technology also manages the online presence of Morrisons (the UK’s fourth largest supermarket chain) as well as that of Fabled by Marie Claire, Fetch, and Sizzle.
For more information about Ocado Technology, visit www.ocadogroup.com