UK-based Ocado Technology to Triple Its Team in Sofia For a Standalone Software Development Center in Bulgaria

Industry: Technology division of Ocado Group, 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

In Sofia since: 2016 

Employees: 425 /aiming to grow to 735 by 2022/

Investment: 75 million euro

UK-based Ocado Technology, the technology division of Ocado Group, to expand its existing team in Sofia from 50 to 150 engineers thus setting up its own dedicated and standalone software development center in Sofia.

The company has signed a five-year lease for two floors totaling 2,000 m2 of floor space in a new office building close to Vitosha Metro Station and Paradise Center. The Sofia software development center will work 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.

Ocado Technology initially opened the Sofia development center in 2016 by collaborating with Questers, a technology “build, operate and transfer” services company, also based in the UK and present in Bulgaria since 2007. 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.

Several teams in Sofia will work on The Ocado Smart Platform – the company’s end-to-end solution designed to power all aspects of a grocery retailer’s e-commerce business, Richard Haywood, head of Ocado Technology Sofia said in the official press release of the company. According to Mr. Haywood, moving into a brand new office will help Ocado grow further and build a collaborative environment to enable the team to continue to solve challenging problems.

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 Center Mall, with easy access to the city center via the Vitosha metro station, the Ring road and local buses and trams.

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.