Friday, Nov. 12 was the first time Claus Johansen visited Orlando.
The software firm founder and CEO from Denmark was pleased to feel the sun when he stepped outside his hotel after coming from the chilly weather back home. For two years, Johansen envisioned an expansion of his company, Copenhagen-based eloomi, into the U.S.
While that was hampered by the Covid-19 pandemic and restrictions on international travel, eloomi still was able to select the future home of its first U.S. office: Orlando. After spending time walking downtown Orlando, visiting Winter Park and biking in Winter Garden, Johansen was satisfied with the choice, he told Orlando Inno.
“I think it's a cool place. I think the people here are super friendly, super open,” Johansen said. “I could see myself living here.”
As a result, eloomi will establish a sales and customer service hub in Central Florida that will create up to 50 high-paying jobs. Founded in 2015, eloomi’s platform allows businesses to easily provide employees with training and workplace development content.
The company’s small presence currently is based in the Industrious coworking facility in downtown Orlando, but Johansen was in town as recently as Nov. 17 looking at potential offices, he said. Orlando will be eloomi’s third office, along with its Copenhagen headquarters and London office.
The Orlando Economic Partnership and city of Orlando played key roles in facilitating eloomi’s move to Orlando. Newmark Executive Managing Director Jason Schrago is helping eloomi with its search for permanent office space.
Here’s more from Johansen on eloomi’s growth plans in Orlando:
Why did eloomi want to expand to the U.S.? When we hit around 300-400 clients, we could suddenly see an interest coming in from the U.S. The business model at eloomi is we don't have any field reps or anything. We do everything online. We can actually work with clients around the globe. But we saw this small thing that became a big thing, and that's the time zone issue. We simply need to be in the same time zone when handling our U.S. clients, and that was the main reason why we wanted to establish an office over here. The plan was only to have maybe a handful of people handling our existing customers over here. Then it just took off suddenly… Our number one focus is 100% U.S. from now on.
What are you looking for in a local office? Downtown Orlando is the place we are going to be... I'm looking for a lease for the next year or two, because I don't know how much space I need. There's super cool tech offices and the more financial, banking type offices and all that. I'd like to go for some of the cool tech stuff, but they are not easy to find.
What’s the hiring timeframe for eloomi in Orlando? Right now I have four or five open positions already. I think in the near-term, at least 20 people we will hire super fast. A couple of recruitment companies more or less promised me that I will get at least 10 within a couple of months, and then take it from there. I predict we will very soon hit 50 employees if everything goes as planned.
Will eloomi hire a mix of international and U.S. talent? We will relocate one guy that is a sales manager out of Copenhagen. The rest will be hired here in the U.S.
How much will these new jobs pay? The main thing here would be our sales reps… The base level is around $60,000, then commission up to around $100,000 and so forth.
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