Fintech
Israeli-Swiss Fintech Startup Okoora Expands to Poland
Okoora, the Israeli-Swiss fintech startup, has announced its expansion into the Polish market. The company, which has developed an AI-powered cloud platform for global payments, banking and risk management, aims to expand its operations within the European Union through this strategic move.
Okoora’s operations in Poland will include sales offices, a marketing team, customer service, and a research and development center to support further product development. By entering the Polish market, Okoora intends to assist businesses in planning, managing, and executing cross-border foreign exchange transactions. The company’s Automated Business Currency Management (ABCM™) platform helps businesses manage risks associated with volatile exchange rates. Additionally, Okoora offers Banking-as-a-Service (BaaS) via API, enabling fintechs, banks, and other financial institutions to provide banking services that integrate transactions and risk hedging.
The expansion into Poland follows the opening of Okoora’s offices in Limassol, Cyprus, aimed primarily at ensuring the platform’s compliance with EU regulations. However, Poland is the first major European market where Okoora plans to market and sell its services to the local business community. One of the reasons why Poland was chosen as a launching point for the European market is its membership of the European Union while maintaining its own currency, the złoty. Furthermore, Poland has a thriving fintech sector. According to research sponsored by Okoora and Mastercard (Map of Polish Fintech), Poland is home to 368 fintech companies, and global fintech companies such as Binance, Curve, Kevin, Revolut and Tink have established research and development centers there.
The total assets of all banks in Poland are estimated at 564 billion euros. Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), Okoora’s main target audience, make up 99% of the Polish economy, export around 50% of their products and services and represent 45.3% of GDP. Beni Avraham, founder and CEO of Okoora, said: “We are entering the Polish market with the belief that foreign exchange management solutions can and should undergo a revolution. When we evaluated the European market, Poland scored high thanks to its developed banking sector, extensive foreign trade and other economic indicators. Furthermore, Poland offers economic incentives that make it feasible to establish a research and development center in the country. We believe this is the best place to start our expansion in the market European.
Beni Avraham added: “Another reason why we chose Poland as an entry point to the European market is the substantial volume of currency exchanges between the Israeli shekel and the Polish zloty carried out on our platform, which ranks fifth among EU countries, ahead of countries such as Spain and France.”
Since the launch of the ABCM platform, Okoora has saved businesses in Israel over NIS 11 billion in international forex transactions, while addressing the increased financial risks in Israel in 2023 due to judicial reform and the war in Gaza. The platform achieved an 83% growth in the number of customers in 2023, with approximately 15,000 customers registered so far. Over the past year, the company has seen a 465% increase in payment transactions from its customers and a 161% increase in the volume of exchange rate hedging transactions.
Founded in August 2021 by Beni Avraham, founder of Ofakim Group, the leading financial risk management firm in Israel, Okoora achieved profitability in 2023 and operates as a bootstrapped company with no external investor funding. The company employs approximately 100 professionals in Israel, Switzerland, Germany, Cyprus and India and is recruiting dozens more employees for its Israeli subsidiary to support its growth domestically and internationally.