Dynabyte, a Swedish software company, has opened a space in St. Petersburg to serve as its U.S. headquarters.
The company is based in Stockholm, Sweden and develops software systems for companies. It officially opened the St. Pete location in September and will start to build its customer and employee base, said Jonas Hedman, the general manager of the new U.S. branch of Dynabyte.
Dynabyte was founded in 2001 and has provided software system support for the music streaming service Spotify and the furniture chain Ikea. The company has more than 40 employees in Sweden and 1,000 worldwide. It is part of the larger Q-Group, a structure of 36 companies in over a dozen countries.
Hedman is currently the only employee in the U.S., but the company expects to hire 10 employees in St. Pete in the next two years. The office is located at the Industrious workspace in downtown St. Pete.
Dynabyte CEO and founder Anders Lentell met Hedman through mutual acquaintances in July.
Lentell contemplated a Tampa Bay expansion after a Dynabyte employee moved to Florida. He considered Miami, Orlando and other Florida cities and eventually chose St. Pete because of its “inviting” nature and tech market, Lentell said. With Hedman leading the U.S. enterprise — Hedman said he, coincidentally, is Swedish, too — Lentell decided to join forces and open the new branch.
“We’re starting to open pretty wide,” Lentell said, “and then, as we go along, we will see what is needed here in the local market.”
It was challenging to get started in the U.S. not being a U.S.-based company or citizen, but everything — insurance, payroll, 401(k), agreements — is set now, Lentell said. He will visit regularly and plans to relocate to St. Pete by the first quarter of next year.
“We see ourselves a little bit as a general practitioner at this point when it comes to the technology space and modernization for our customers,” Hedman said.
The new branch’s goal is to grow a U.S. customer base and establish the company in the U.S. market. It’s researching companies that might need Dynabyte’s services, including business process automation, modernizing outdated applications, and updating company technology or software. Hedman is set on using his knowledge of the area and network to develop a client base, employ local talent and grow Dynabyte’s reputation.
“Those first sales, that’s kind of our top priority right now,” Hedman said.
