Ciklum
London-headquartered engineering company of about 4,000 people with deep Ukrainian roots
What is Ciklum?
Danish entrepreneur Torben Majgaard started Ciklum in 2002 in Kyiv. It is now headquartered in London's Shoreditch and employs around 4,000 people. Its investors have included Horizon Capital, a fund associated with George Soros, and Dragon Capital, but current ownership is not publicly documented. Delivery is concentrated in Ukraine and Poland, plus the Czech Republic since its 2021 acquisition of Prague-based CN Group.
Ciklum works primarily with clients in Financial services, Retail, Healthcare, Media, Travel sectors. What sets it apart: London headquarters with a long history of large dedicated teams in Ukraine and Central Europe.
Ciklum tech stack and services
| Service area |
|---|
| Custom Software |
| Cloud & DevOps |
| Data & AI |
| QA & Testing |
| Dedicated Teams |
Ciklum pricing
Short answer: Ciklum uses a dedicated team, time and materials, managed service pricing approach. Minimum engagement is not publicly disclosed; a discovery call is required.
| Engagement model | Typical range | Best for |
|---|---|---|
| Dedicated team | Variable; depends on team size | Large programmes or team augmentation |
| Managed service | Variable; depends on team size | Large programmes or team augmentation |
| Time and materials | Variable; depends on team size | Large programmes or team augmentation |
Ciklum pros and cons
| Advantages | Things to consider |
|---|---|
| +London HQ makes contracting simple for UK buyers | -Ownership has changed hands between investors several times, and the current cap table is not public |
| +Twenty years of experience running large remote teams | -A large Ukrainian workforce means continuity plans need review |
| +Several delivery countries spread location risk | -Mid-sized clients may find the sales process heavy |
Ciklum vs alternatives
How Ciklum compares to the other top Software Development Outsourcing companies.
| Company | Best for | Main difference | Rating | Compare |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lemberg Solutions | UK product companies, software plus hardware, nearshore rates. | One team can own firmware, electronics, cloud back end and the user-facing app, managed from a London office | 4.7 | Full comparison |
| Future Processing | UK insurers and financial firms, long-term nearshore teams. | Twenty-five years of delivery from Poland with UK-based account leadership in the City | 4.6 | Full comparison |
| Endava | Large UK programmes, payments and banking, nearshore at... | UK headquarters and governance with more than 10,000 engineers in lower-cost nearshore locations | 4.5 | Full comparison |
| Godel Technologies | UK mid-market firms wanting a UK-run nearshore team. | UK management and contracting with engineers spread across four EU and EU-adjacent countries | 4.4 | Full comparison |
| ELEKS | Data-heavy custom software, Ukrainian rates, mature processes. | Three decades of outsourced delivery with an in-house research and development unit | 4.4 | Full comparison |
| Amdaris (Insight) | UK firms on Azure, .NET modernisation, Eastern European... | A UK base in Bristol with delivery from Moldova, one of the lower-cost locations in Europe | 4.3 | Full comparison |
| Scott Logic | Capital markets and government, UK-only delivery required. | Trading-system and capital-markets engineering from teams based entirely in the UK | 4.3 | Full comparison |
| Softwire | UK media and charities, bespoke builds, onshore teams. | Long-standing onshore bespoke development that trains its own graduate engineers | 4.3 | Full comparison |
| N-iX | Large dedicated teams, data and cloud engineering, Ukrainian... | A 2,400-engineer pool that can staff large data and cloud teams quickly | 4.3 | Full comparison |
| Spyrosoft | Automotive and industrial software, UK-led Polish teams. | Polish engineering capacity with a UK co-founder running the UK business | 4.2 | Full comparison |
| Equal Experts | Senior engineers for complex delivery, government and retail. | Senior-only teams drawn from a large associate network | 4.2 | Full comparison |
| STX Next | Python back ends and data products, Polish rates. | Deep Python specialism across web back ends, data engineering and machine learning | 4.2 | Full comparison |
| Kainos | UK government digital services, Workday programmes. | Combined government digital delivery and Workday partnership, listed on the LSE | 4.2 | Full comparison |
| Infinum | Consumer apps where design quality matters. | In-house product design and mobile engineering with a strong portfolio of consumer apps | 4.1 | Full comparison |
| Made Tech | UK central and local government buyers. | Public-sector-only focus with a growing contracted backlog | 4.1 | Full comparison |
| Zühlke | Regulated industries, medical devices, banking. | Swiss engineering discipline in regulated sectors with a UK team of about 150 | 4.1 | Full comparison |
| Codurance | Legacy modernisation, engineering-practice improvement. | Craftsmanship-led delivery that also coaches in-house teams | 4.1 | Full comparison |
| BJSS (CGI) | NHS and government programmes, large onshore delivery. | Large UK onshore delivery capacity, now backed by CGI's global network | 4.0 | Full comparison |
| AND Digital | Companies building in-house digital capability. | Delivers products while explicitly upskilling the client's own staff | 4.0 | Full comparison |
| SoftServe | Big cloud and data programmes, Ukrainian rates at... | Scale and cloud partner status combined with Eastern European rates | 4.0 | Full comparison |
| DataArt | Travel and finance firms, long-term nearshore teams. | Two decades of London presence and specialist travel-industry engineering | 4.0 | Full comparison |
| Sigma Software | Broad-scope outsourcing, Scandinavian-owned vendor. | Swedish group ownership with Ukrainian and Polish engineering | 4.0 | Full comparison |
| Apadmi | UK brands that need flagship mobile apps. | Mobile-only specialism with a client list of household UK names | 3.9 | Full comparison |
| Thoughtworks | Complex modernisation, engineering culture change. | Thought leadership in software practice, backed by a large global delivery network | 3.9 | Full comparison |
| Hippo Digital | Public bodies wanting user-centred service design. | User research and service design led delivery for UK public services | 3.9 | Full comparison |
| EPAM Systems | FTSE-scale programmes, strict compliance, huge teams. | The largest delivery capacity on this list, with mature compliance and security processes | 3.9 | Full comparison |
| Version 1 | Oracle and Microsoft estates, public-sector managed services. | Managed services for Oracle, Microsoft and AWS estates with Indian and Spanish delivery | 3.9 | Full comparison |
| Box UK | Mid-sized web and e-commerce builds. | Small Welsh team with long-standing enterprise web clients | 3.8 | Full comparison |
| Itransition | Budget-conscious buyers, broad generalist work. | Low rates across a wide catalogue of development and platform services | 3.8 | Full comparison |
Ciklum FAQ
What is Ciklum?
London-headquartered engineering company of about 4,000 people with deep Ukrainian roots
How much does Ciklum charge?
Ciklum uses dedicated team, time and materials, managed service pricing. Minimum engagement is not publicly disclosed. A discovery call is required to get project-specific quotes.
What tech stack does Ciklum use?
Ciklum works with Java, .NET, Python, AWS, Azure, React, Salesforce. Primary industries served include Financial services, Retail, Healthcare, Media, Travel.
Is Ciklum right for enterprise?
Large dedicated teams with a London contract. 3,000–4,500 team size. Main consideration: Ownership has changed hands between investors several times, and the current cap table is not public.
What are the best Ciklum alternatives?
The best alternatives to Ciklum depend on your use case. Top options are:
- Lemberg Solutions: one team can own firmware, electronics, cloud back end and the user-facing app, managed from a london office
- Future Processing: twenty-five years of delivery from poland with uk-based account leadership in the city
- Endava: uk headquarters and governance with more than 10,000 engineers in lower-cost nearshore locations
Compare Ciklum with other Software Development Outsourcing companies
Verify all details directly with Ciklum before making a decision.