Untested software can turn out to be not only of little value, but above all dangerous. The founders of TestArmy Group know this, and so do their clients. There are already several hundred of them, and the business, founded just 3 years ago, is one of the fastest-growing technology companies in Poland. In June it will debut on the NewConnect stock market. Meanwhile, it is effectively pursuing foreign expansion.

Who are the founders of TestArmy Group?

The idea behind TestArmy Group came from Damian Szczurek, Wojciech Mroz and Marcin Luczyn - Wroclaw residents, software testing specialists with experience in venture capital and private equity. They founded the company in 2015, developing the business with their own funds, and then thanks to EUR 460,000 in capital raised from investors - Tomasz Szpikowski, co-founder of Work Service, and Krzysztof Czuba, who managed investments at TFI and now, together with Tomasz Szpikowski and Bartlomiej Sobolewski, long-time CEO of Navi Group, runs Prime Fund - a private fund investing in B2B companies.

"We provided additional capital to TestArmy Group because of the combination of an exceptional team - and such teams don't come along every day - a rapidly growing software QA market, and the company's excellent position in the cybersecurity sector, which is only now developing on a broader scale," explains Krzysztof Czuba, CEO of Prime Fund.

Today TestArmy Group is one of the fastest-growing technology companies in Poland (9th place in the latest Computerworld TOP200 ranking). What does it do? It provides Software Quality Assurance and Cyber Security services, or to put it simply - testing software for functionality and security. Because, as the founders say:

"There is no application without bugs."

On the one hand, these are functional bugs affecting how software works, and on the other - user experience issues that reduce the comfort of using a system. The most serious ones, however, concern cybersecurity, and this is the division of TestArmy Group's business that it is developing most strongly. Testers verify the correctness of applications - in other words, they look for any bugs and holes that could create the risk of a successful hacker attack. In Poland, they have already tested for Samsung, Philips, RWE, PGE, Cinema City, EdF, Credit Agricole, TUI, Techland and Empik. Abroad, they have clients in Sweden, Norway, Denmark, England and France, among others.

"Having worked for over half a decade mainly with Silicon Valley, I can confidently say that security testing is and will be in incredible demand, especially since every minor software functionality can be an entry point for a cyber thief. The threat does not only concern companies producing software, but also all organizations that have access to valuable resources. Intruders look for money in every sector, not limiting themselves to the technology industry. Therefore, the need for deep quality verification and ensuring an appropriate level of security is and will be present wherever technology is developing dynamically," says Dawid Balut, head of the security department at TestArmy Group.

On the way to the NewConnect market and Northern Europe

Currently TestArmy Group employs 70 people in its Wroclaw office, although over the next 2 years the team is to grow to 150 employees. As they themselves describe it, this is the general staff. In the field, they work with an army of more than 7,000 crowd testers from Poland and abroad, who test software in their local markets. If the ambitious plans are realized, by 2020 the army of testers will number no less than 20,000 people.

30% of the company's revenue comes from abroad. By the end of 2018 this share will reach 40%, and in 2019 - 50%. Interestingly, their source will not be Silicon Valley or London. TestArmy Group, unlike most IT companies, is focusing on Northern Europe, especially Norway, Sweden, Denmark and Finland, because that is where there is very high trust in Polish specialists.

In June 2018 TestArmy Group plans to debut on the NewConnect stock market. In February the company successfully completed a private offering, in which it raised more than EUR 350,000 (USD 400,000). These funds will be mainly allocated to foreign expansion. As Wojciech Mroz, a member of the TestArmy Group management board, says, the goal of entering the stock market is not to obtain capital, but to strengthen its market position and present itself as a credible and transparent partner for cooperation.

"We want to repeat the story of another Wroclaw IT company, PGS Software. It debuted on NewConnect in 2008 with a share price below 20 groszy. Over the last 10 years, year after year, the company developed its business and improved its financial results, giving investors stable profits, and today, with a share price above PLN 12, it is worth more than EUR 83 million. Our business philosophy is very similar. From the very beginning we were meant to be a company that earns money despite large investments. That is happening - in 2017 alone we generated nearly EUR 120,000 in net profit with revenue growth of more than 100 percent. Just as PGS Software was once one of the first software houses in Wroclaw, today we are one of the first companies in all of Poland focusing exclusively on software testing. That is why we believe we are in the right place at the right time," explains Damian Szczurek, CEO of TestArmy Group.

Interestingly, this is another stock market issue this year by a Wroclaw company operating in the IT industry - Brand24 debuted in February. This is also where Livechat Software was founded, valued at nearly EUR 230 million. As can be seen, Wroclaw is a true hub of technology companies.

They want to protect the world from hacker attacks

Cybersecurity - a key area of activity

Today TestArmy Group's services are used by large companies obliged to carry out acceptance tests or specialized performance and security tests. On the other hand, more and more smaller companies see the value in having an application well tested before its market debut. The company's success lies in the presence of testers in more than 50 countries around the world, who test how products or services work in local conditions. This is important, because a Pole will approach an application serving a taxi corporation in Norway differently than a Norwegian would. A tester must know the specifics of the environment in which a given product is to operate. They must test it in real circumstances, on real devices - in other words, in real conditions, not in a sterile laboratory.

Alongside software testing for usability and performance, the issue of cybersecurity is key.

"Awareness in the area of protection against cybercriminal attacks is still very low. In 2017 we carried out more than 60 security audits - for the largest companies in Poland, several ministries, the energy sector and technology companies. We have never come across a system that had no gaps or vulnerabilities to attacks. The situation may get worse, because we are dealing with a shortage of programmers in Poland and worldwide, a problem with the availability of experienced developers, and enormous pressure for new applications to be created quickly," summarizes Marcin Luczyn, founder of TestArmy Group.

They started in 2015 with a 20-square-meter office equipped with three desks, three computers and three phones. Today they have everything they need - both tools and ambitions - for rapid expansion and achieving the position of one of the largest testing companies in this part of Europe.

Summary

TestArmy Group, founded in 2015 by Damian Szczurek, Wojciech Mroz and Marcin Luczyn, is one of the fastest-growing technology companies in Poland. It specializes in software testing and cybersecurity, and its clients include Samsung, Philips and PGE. The company plans to debut on NewConnect in June 2018. Interestingly, this is another stock market issue this year by a Wroclaw IT company - Brand24 debuted earlier, and Livechat Software was also founded in Wroclaw. TestArmy Group is focusing on expansion into Northern European markets, from which 30% of its revenue already comes. The goal is to achieve the position of one of the largest testing companies in this part of Europe.