Saudi entrepreneur invests in Oivan, the rapidly expanding digital transformation and cybersecurity company behind NHC’s Sakani service
The digital transformation and cybersecurity consultancy Oivan announced a 9 million SAR growth funding round by the Saudi businessperson Mr. Bader Othman Alabduljabbar, Finnish tech investor TCG, and several Oivan employees participating.
Oivan expects its team to grow from 160 experts in 2021 to over 250 experts in 2022. The company’s service catalog ranges from design, web, and mobile development to cybersecurity consultation and mission-critical operations teams. For example, since 1998, Oivan’s operations team has managed critical components of the internet infrastructure in Saudi Arabia.
Oivan has strong Nordic roots and regional offices in Saudi Arabia, UAE, Finland, Thailand and Vietnam. Oivan operates with its proprietary Enhanced Distributed Teams, in short, the EDT model. Oivan’s CEO, Mr. Rami Korhonen, explains:
“We started Oivan with the idea that by bringing together technology and design talent from around the world, we can solve some of our client’s biggest challenges and to become the digital force for good.”
“We created the EDT model to combine the best aspects of expert onsite consultation and internationally distributed development work. Today, our clients, such as the National Housing Company in Saudi Arabia, use Oivan to develop national e-services with the EDT model. 10-15% of our senior experts work onsite at the client, while 85-90% of our production experts work at our international offices. The Sakani platform we developed in cooperation with NHC has helped over 400 000 families find and buy government-subsidized homes in the past four years. Furthermore, the EJAR rental agreements platform we develop in partnership with NHC has digitally processed millions of rental agreements.”, he continues.
Despite the travel restrictions imposed by Covid and benefiting from the EDT model, the company is expanding rapidly and has enabled its Saudi clients to maintain compelling development momentum.
“Being able to grow profitably throughout 2020-2021 is a testament to the tremendous talent and drive we have at Oivan. Getting the investment from our trusted business partner Bader allows us to take on even larger opportunities for our clientele’s benefit. Furthermore, the investments from Finnish tech investor TCG, and our valued team members, shows the strength of the story we are building”, comments Mr. Rasmus Roiha, the Chairman of the Board of Oivan.
The company expects its revenue to grow over 30% annually in 2022 and is actively hiring new talent to join its international team of over 20 nationalities.
“I have cooperated with Oivan since 2020 and been amazed by the skill and commitment the company has shown in serving its clients National Housing Company, Communications and Information Technology Commission, and Digital Governance Authority. The opportunity to bring Nordic quality digital transformation and cybersecurity expertise to Saudi Arabia is enormous, and I am delighted to be a shareholder, and a close partner, in the company’s future growth” comments Mr. Bader Othman Alabduljabbar.
Oivan’s CEO Rami concludes: “We are proud of having continuously played a part in Saudi Arabia’s digital transformation journey since the launch of public internet in the Kingdom in 1998. This year we opened our Riyadh office and hired many highly skilled Saudi men and women to expand our local capabilities. We look forward to being the trusted digital transformation and cybersecurity partner for both public sector and private sector organizations in Saudi Arabia on their journey to reach the Kingdom’s Vision 2030 goals.”
